Which NAS for Sonos ZP90

[simonthesaint]

I plan to buy a nas to be able to stream music through my Sonos ZP90 player to my Hifi system, but it will also be used as storage unit for movies and photos.

I can't make up my mind since all the options makes me dizzy. Thus it would help me a lot if someone could give me tangible suggestions on good NAS units based on following requirements:

Price: max. around £170 (re-calculated from Swedish currency) without built-in disks or[/I] around £220 with 1 built-in 1.5 or 2TB disk

At least 2 disk bays
RAID 1
DLNA (Necessary, right?)
SMB/CIFS (Sonos requirements ?)
Smooth software for sync and backing-up purposes.

Reliable operation

Many NAS units are shipped with capacity of 1 or 2TB (which brings 0.5 or 1TB when using RAID 1) but as my storage needs most likely will exceed this capacity within short, I'm planning to buy 2 disks with 1.5 eller 2TB capacity each.

Can anyone give me hands-on suggestions on NAS units which complies to my requirements? It would save me tons of headache

Cheers!

 

[The_Lhc]

All Sonos needs is the SMB/CIFS compliant share, and that's almost every device on the market, so you don't really need to worry about that, just pick one that meets your other requirements and don't worry about Sonos.

 

[simonthesaint]

Thanks for the input!

But what troubles me is that I can't figure out which nas units are compatible with 2x2TB disks or possibly 2x1.5TB ones. Searching for this information is a dead-end - seems to be well hidden information, even when visiting manufacturer web sites.

Netgear Stora, Synology ds210j, Readynas duo, Linksys nmh410 all, more or less, match my criterias. Any thoughts on these units would be highly appreciated.

 

[The_Lhc]

Well I've got the Netgear Stora and after some initial enthusiasm I probably wouldn't recommend it, the software on the box is a little odd, in that it requires an internet connection to do anything. This is because, out of the box, it'll only allow PC connections from a restricted number of devices, any extra and any connection from mobile devices requires you to pay $20 per year for the "pro" upgrade. This means that the box will go off to a central Netgear website to check that the device trying to connect to it is allowed, which I just find a bit odd.

It's not especially flexible when it comes to the folder setups either, but then it is designed for the less techy user, whereas I'd quite like to get into the guts of the thing a little more. But it does everything I want of it, ie holds my music and feeds the Sonos Zoneplayers, I've never had any issues with it.

I've got a 1TB drive in mine, this lists three 2TB drives that are compatible, but no 1.5TB ones.

 

[simonthesaint]

the_lhc, thanks!

...meaning that it can hold 2x2TB disks, I guess. Is it very loud when operating?

 

[The_Lhc]

simonthesaint:
the_lhc, thanks!

...meaning that it can hold 2x2TB disks, I guess.

Yes either as a RAID 1 mirror or JBOD for 2TB but not safety net, obviously.

Is it very loud when operating?

Not that I've noticed, mine sits on the bottom shelf of my rack in my living room. The SkyHD box makes more noise, from what I can tell.

 

[simonthesaint]

That's what I wanted to know, whether or not it would allow for 2TB mirrored capacity with RAID 1.

Thanx for your assistance - highly appreciated!

Now I will concentrate on the World Cup - Unfortunately Sweden was elimnated in the qualifying rounds - it's up to Denmark, now!

A great shame Paul Scholes couldn't be persuaded by Signor Capello to join the England squad...

Cheers!

 

[JorisC]

I have a similar question but the other way around.

I bought myself a Synology NAS CS407e with 2x 2TB in raid1, in combination with a Belkin N-wireless router (NAS is connected to router by UTP). I don't think there would be any problem if I connected a Sonos ZP90 on this router?

However, I still can't connect my NAS properly on my PC. I can add files to NAS by using the Filemanager (webbrowser) but I'm not able to add a drive letter to my NAS so I can view/access files by Windows Explorer. any advice?

I don't get much help from the Synology forums or website.

Joris

 

[The_Lhc]

Well why can't you connect? What errors do you get when you try to map a network drive?

No problems connecting the zp90 that router although you will need the correct Ip address and share name on the nas for it to connect to.

 

[Anonymous]

I can wholeheartedly recommend Synology NAS devices. I myself am the proud owner of a DS409 and much as I have thrashed it over the last 8 months, it hasn't given me any problems.

I have 4 x 1.5Tb disks in it. There is a list of all the compatible drives on the Synology website.

I connect my laptop to stream movies, music, store documents & photos etc, I stream movies to my xBox and audio to my Yamaha RX-V3900, both of which are connected into the switch on my wireless router, as is the Synology box. I've connected other PCs to it and at times had a nice little network going on with downloads, backing up PCs, audio and video streaming all happening at the one time and it all works like a dream.

JorisC:

I have a similar question but the other way around.

I bought myself a Synology NAS CS407e with 2x 2TB in raid1, in combination with a Belkin N-wireless router (NAS is connected to router by UTP). I don't think there would be any problem if I connected a Sonos ZP90 on this router?

However, I still can't connect my NAS properly on my PC. I can add files to NAS by using the Filemanager (webbrowser) but I'm not able to add a drive letter to my NAS so I can view/access files by Windows Explorer. any advice?

I don't get much help from the Synology forums or website.

Joris

To reply to the post above about drive letters...here's how I do it.

1) You create a shared folder within the Synology Management interface (I'm running version 2.2, there are newer ones) For me it is in "Privileges" then "Shared Folders". You create a new folder, called anything you want (DEMO for example).

2) You then assign the User and Group rights to it, in case you want some people or devices to see it, but not others.

3) Go to your PC, and assuming you are one of the users who has rights to see it, go to "Start" then "Network", then choose your Diskstation (the Computer one, not the media device as that is actually just the media player application installed on the device) You should then see folders, including the one you have just created DEMO.

4) Right click this folder (I'm using Vista here) and you have the option to Map a drive. This lets you assign a drive letter (for example K

The next time you log on, you should have a drive mapped called KEMO. If you don't then go back and check your user and group access rights, and their passwords in the Synology management console. This is by far the most likely place for there to be a problem. If you log into your PC as "Dave" then make sure there is an account with proper rights for "Dave" and that "Dave" is in a group with proper access rights to that folder, and that Dave's password, if any, is correct. Remember, when you log into the management console the default login is admin, so you are potentially logging in to the NAS as one person to manage it but trying to map a drive to it as a different user. Access rights are almost always the problem if you can't see something you should be able to see.