If you ’re like me , you ’ve drive hundreds of gigabytes of digital sensitive files , everything from movies , to music , to tv set appearance , stash away across portable hard drives , old laptops , and various PCs . Would n’t it be great if all of that media could live in one berth and be able to be easy accessed by your other calculator and impertinent devices ? With the right apps and a electronic internet attached storehouse machine , you’re able to do just that .
Step 1: Buy or Build a NAS
To build your own ultimate home media host , you ’re going to need some form of meshing - bind store organisation , commonly called an NAS . This is fundamentally a mini computer with at a laborious driving inside , that will help corral all of your medium . It touch base to your home web , so you may then get at that media on other gimmick .
you could work up your own NAS from an former computer and concentrated drives , or you could buy an enclosure system . Whichoption you chooseis up to you , but unless you want to pass a lot of metre configuring mise en scene ( and you might ! ) or have very stiff budget constraints , I ’d suggest just buying an off - the shelf NAS . Not only are the units you buy off the ledge smaller ( which is gracious ) , most come with software that ’s easygoing to employ .
company include Synology , QNAP , and Western Digital all deal NAS units that store multiple hard drives . How many drives you need depends on your computer storage space and goal . The average substance abuser is probably all right with a two - bay system of rules that will store two 3.5 - inch hard driving force . What size drive you use are up to you , but know that most systems will require you apply the same size of it effort in both blot .
Illustration: Sam Woolley
Our friends atThe Wirecutterrecommend theQNAP Turbo NAS TS–251as their best NAS . It ’s $ 250 on Amazon , though anewer versionthat has more RAM is $ 340 There is also a$320 TS–251A , which comes with a remote control and is optimize for media playback . One of the nice things about the QNAP 251 serial is that it comes with an HDMI port , which makes connecting it to a TV or heavy monitoring gadget super easy . I ’ve in person had a lot of success with Synology ’s NAS systems , and theDS216 , which betray for $ 250 , is first-class . It ’s not quite as potent as the QNAP , so for your money you ’re probably good off with that unit , but it ’s by all odds deserving considering .
Keep in thinker , these prices DO NOT include hard drives . That be spare …
Step 2: Choose Your Hard Drive
Once you ’ve obtain your inclosure , you need to get severe drives for your NAS . Without getting too much into how RAID systems body of work , just know that for a two - bay system ( or any organization with multiple thrust ) , it ’s good to fill it with identical drives .
You do n’t have to get a NAS - certified hard drive , technically any 3.5 - column inch screen background drive will do , but in my experience , NAS drives run to work considerably because they are design to run 24/7 . And since you presumably want the data you put on your NAS to stay dependable , it ’s not a big mind to spend a bit more to get a NAS driving force .
I care theWestern Digital Red serial of gruelling drives , but theSeagate IronWolf seriesget good review too .
Image: QNAP
My advice is to buy as much space as you could afford , because once you set forth using your NAS as a medium server , you ’ll probably find that yourself using it more than you may have bear .
Step 3: Setup and Configure Your NAS
The apparatus process is going to be different for every NAS , but the pedagogy that amount with the unit of measurement should help you out . Generally , you just take to set up the gruelling drives ( which normally just means link up a cable and placing it in the housing ) , plug it into power , and connect it to your router via Ethernet .
Most modern NAS systems will work with wireless USB adaptors ( and some even have wi - fi built - in ) , but it ’s really best to touch base it directly to your router or switch . Do n’t concern , with the way the software is configure , all of your wireless equipment will still be able to get at subject matter remotely .
Then just follow the instructions provided by your NAS maker to continue with the frame-up process . That usually intend natter a web address on another computer ( unless you need to associate it to a monitor topically ) . If you ’ve ever instal an cyberspace router , the process is like .
Image: Western Digital
The system may ask you about how you require to setup your RAID configuration . The manual of arms should give you a good overview of what you want , but you could also await atthis guideoffers a ripe overview .
Step 4: Transfer your data
You likely already have a lot of files and data point scattered across tough drives , old electronic computer , and other equipment . The great thing about a NAS is that you’re able to put all of that data there or else and then every computer on your connection can get at it .
transfer data to your NAS will differ from system to organization , but once your NAS is aright configured on your connection , you should see it in your file manager on macOS or Windows . you may then transfer files over the web over wi - fi ( slower ) or Ethernet ( faster ) .
Most NAS ’s also have USB port , which means you’re able to plug in an external hard driving force and transpose information that way too , using the file coach build into the NAS .
Connect to your NAS over the network to transfer files over
QNAPandSynologyboth have pathfinder if you get put off .
Step 5: Install apps
Once you ’ve get your NAS setup , it ’s meter to install apps to make it sing . Apps are really what will ferment a NAS from a glorified Time Capsule into something that can make it exceedingly comfortable to enjoy your many files across many different devices .
The method for instal apps will dissent from NAS to NAS , but in general , you’re able to use a software system managing director – believe of this like an app store – to blame and pick out what apps you want .
Most of the apps we ’re talking about are in the QNAP and Synology app stores , so you’re able to research for those solutions and install them at once from the software .
Here ’s a summing up of the most usual things you ’ll want to do .
One of the best reasons to use an NAS is as a way to have your own metier server for music , moving-picture show , and photos . Plexis easily the best solution . you may install and configure the Plex Media Server on your NAS . Once configured , Plex will take all the content on your NAS ( or even your entire web ) , and make it easy to server and playback .
Plex is in the app storage for both QNAP and Synology , but sometimes the version there can be outdated . If you want to manually set up the app , you candownload the files from Plex ’s website . We ’ve run afew guidesabout getting themost out of Plex .
Plex is the easiest media server to apparatus , and it has apps for fundamentally every chopine known to adult male , meaning you could easily access content from essentially any twist — from your Android phone to your iPad , to the set - top - box attached to your goggle box .
Plex is free , but if you pay for the Plex Pass ( $ 45 a year ) , you could even remotely get at all of your subject . That ’s right-hand , you could cool down at the office staff while determine honest-to-god episodes of The Office . you could watch Airplane ! from an airplane .
OK , so you ’ve let Plex on your NAS , now you might want some extra mental object to go along with it . you’re able to plainly grease one’s palms orrip your mediato your scheme , but there are apps that will make the cognitive operation of procuring additional subject matter that much well .
As always , follow the copyright police force in your own nation or region . Ahem .
There is a great app calledSonarrthat make it well-fixed to essentially download any TV show you need . It will even automatically stay on to download each episode as it airs . Sonarr hasinstallation packagesfor major NAS platforms let in QNAP and Synology . Once you set up the service , you total dissimilar sources that can be used to monitor the TV shows you want . That subject matter can then be automatically ingest into Plex so you could see your TV shows on your own clip . If Sonarr is n’t your affair , a similar app calledSickbeardworks in much the same way .
BitTorrent is great , but maintaining a constant connection on a personal computer can be a pain sensation . you may setup your own BitTorrent guest on your NAS . Both Synology and QNAP pop the question an app called Download Station that lets substance abuser download files from BitTorrent , FTP , NZB ( newsgroups ) and more .
The app can continue to run in the ground while you do other clobber , so you could download new stuff and nonsense and upload to others while accessing files or streaming medium to your TV .
In addition to storing your media , you might as well apply all that strong drive space to back up your file cabinet . One of the best ways to habituate a NAS is as a backup solution for all the other files in your theater .
If you ’re a Mac drug user , you may even use yourSynologyorQNAP devicewith Time Machine . This means that all of your data will be safely salt away in guinea pig something happens to your mainmachine .
And if you practice Windows , bothSynologyandQNAPhave guides for back up your machines too .
Step 6: Have fun
It takes some clip to set up , but once you ’ve configure your NAS , it should black market like an contrivance . Feel free to tot newfangled apps – perhaps you want to campaign your own World Wide Web server or even Minecraft waiter – and wreak around .
Plex
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