NAS / Device + Streaming Photos to TV

professorhat

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Dec 28, 2007
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So I have a friend who wants a device with the following requirements:

1. Provides ability to backup data from PC so easy to restore PC in event of failure. Also, ideally an automatic mirror of data (photos etc.) to another drive.

2. Ability to stream photos, movies (and music) to TV and speakers.

The way I see it, there's two ways to go with this:

1. Buy a NAS with built-in mirroring (RAID 1). Keep all data on the NAS (e.g. Synology DS211J) and access it from the PC + use backup software (e.g. Acronis TrueImage?) to allow backup of PC to NAS for easy restore of everything as is. Purchase separate streamer (e.g. Sony SMP-N100?) to connect to TV to stream photos etc. from NAS via DLNA.

Advantages - Does everything in requirements.

Disadvantages - Price (I guesstimated about £400) and complex to setup.

2. Buy a streamer with built-in storage (e.g. Western Digital WD TV Live Hub?). Manually move photos, music etc. to storage on streamer.

Advantages - Much cheaper solution (about £180) and far less complex to setup.

Disadvantages - No backup for PC, no automatic mirror of critical data so doesn't fully meet requirements.

The examples I've listed are products I've recommended to her from reviews, but I've no direct experiences of them (apart from Acronis, but would like to hear what other people use).

So, my questions are:

(A) Are there any other options people can think of?

(B) In the two options above, does any one have experience of the products listed and any products which might be better?

(C) Someone else has recommended her an Apple TV2. I've shown her mine and she likes it, but I have a Mac so photos integrate really well with iPhoto on the Mac. I've no experience with how this works with a PC though - since it doesn't have iPhoto on the PC, how does it work? Or does it not?!

Thanks all!
 
A

Anonymous

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I would swear that I'd already replied to this. Well anyway, here it goes again:

Assuming that the TV is not DLNA-capable, I'd go for option 2. I would expect any network-capable device with storage to support at least some form of networking, so Acronis TI should work with any of them. But since the WD website does not list the Live's networking capabilities under "specs", I haven't been able to confirm that. At least the Mede8er series of streamers (MED450X2, MED500X) do support simple networking.

If the TV does support DLNA, you should verify that it actually does output bitstreams to the receiver (via ARC or digital out). My dad's Samsung tv can understand AC3/DTS streams just fine, but the digital out to the receiver always carries the downmixed 2ch pcm, not the original 6ch surround stream :(

All network media players I've seen come with 1 drive slot maximum, so if you're looking for RAID solutions you'll always end up with a 2-box answer.
 

professorhat

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Dec 28, 2007
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Thanks for the reply.

No DLNA in TV and no receiver either, just an older CRT TV, but they want to stream photos and music to it.

On your first point, not sure I understand - are you saying Acronis will be able to backup the WD streamer device? I was thinking of using Acronis for backing up the PC to a NAS, rather than backing up the streamer, but it's an interesting idea if possible.
 
A

Anonymous

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Well, theoretically, Acronis should be able to back up a network drive too. But I meant that you can use Acronis to back up the PC to the WD Live, as long as the WD Live has basic NAS capabilities.
 

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