# What's the best NAS for mac,



## smellybook (Aug 31, 2006)

since I bought my Apple T.V last month my itunes library went from 7 Gig's to 55 Gig's and growing.

So I'm thinking of getting a Network Hard Drive, but I'm totally clueless here.

Would I be able to completely erase my itunes library from my macbook and store it on NAS?


Thanks in advance,


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## i4detail (Mar 11, 2008)

You would. There are file naming issues with NAS and Mac. I tried converting an old G4 into a NAS with mixed results. I could have muscled it into doing what I wanted, but I chose instead to get a drobo. 

You might also want to look at the Time Capsule. No naming issues there....


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## TornStar (Feb 13, 2006)

I just bought a Time Capsule today and so far it's working well. Backing up the iMac and iBook with no issues. 

Set up was easy with my D-Link router. I also have a D-Link DNS-323 NAS but I think I'm going to make the TC my main backup NAS.

I don't know if the TC can be used to stream your iTunes library to the Apple TV? Would be very cool though.


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## i4detail (Mar 11, 2008)

The way it would work, not having a TC myself, or an Apple TV, but the way it should work is that your computer's version of iTunes controls the stream, so you move your music and files over to the TC, change iTunes so it looks over there for the files. It is supposed to be fast enough to stream wirelessly, but if not, you can always just drop the movies you want to watch over on the Apple TV....


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## smellybook (Aug 31, 2006)

*If the Time Capsule could be partitioned in two,*

could I use half of the drive for backups and the other half for storing my itunes library?

If that was possible, would I be able to erase my itunes library from my macbook & stream it from TC to ATV?

If so, I'd get the Time Capsule tomorrow, but I don't think it works that way.


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## i4detail (Mar 11, 2008)

Should; I know with Drobo I just create a folder for Time Machine to back up into and it just does it. I've got all sorts of stuff elsewhere on the drobo. 

But I'm talking out of my experience. Here's some threads on the issue elsewhere:

Macworld: Apple TV and Time capsule ? Can they ...
Multiple Apple TV + Time Capsule - Mac Forums
Apple - Support - Discussions - Apple TV and Time Capsule ...
Apple - Support - Discussions - Apple TV accessing Time Capsule ...

So, what I'm seeing is it works, but with a few gotchas to keep an eye out for. There seems to be more discussions over at discussions.apple.com on the topic, too.


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## John Pryor (Feb 13, 2008)

smellybook said:


> could I use half of the drive for backups and the other half for storing my itunes library?
> 
> If that was possible, would I be able to erase my itunes library from my macbook & stream it from TC to ATV?
> 
> If so, I'd get the Time Capsule tomorrow, but I don't think it works that way.


I'm using the TC for both backing up with TM and for file sharing, with out having to partition it. The backups are single files for each computer. As for streaming I have played movies to quicktime from the TC so it should work just fine.


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

Drobo is overkill. Basically it's a proprietary "RAID 5 like" device. You don't need RAID for serving media on a home network. I wouldn't spend the money. I see two solutions:
1. A NAS can not serve content to your AppleTV; you need a Mac running iTunes. Get a regular external drive and connect it to your Mac.
2. If you really want a NAS for other reasons, I like the Lacie models. They're cheaper than a Time Capsule but can't be used for Time Machine.


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## Silv (Mar 28, 2008)

My plan is to get a Drobo or better yet, a ReadyNAS (ex Infrant, now Netgear) device.

Yes, it's overkill, but having a redundant array of inexpensive disks is nice to protect against hard drive loss.

This will eventually be connected to a new Mac Mini to stream HD from, including TV shows, movie rentals, iTunes, etc.


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## nick24 (Jul 11, 2006)

The guys on Mac Break Weekly go weak in the knees over the Drobo, so much so, that after talking about it so much, Drobo are now a sponsor of the show. Yes, conspiracy theorists may have their own views on what came first (the money or the hype) but given what it does, it seems to be a great product that's simple to use. The only draw back is that it's $500 asking price (give or take $20 - and the $50 MBW-rebate is USA only) EXCLUDES any storage (ie hard drives).


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## smellybook (Aug 31, 2006)

*I checked the website last night and it looks great,*



nick24 said:


> The guys on Mac Break Weekly go weak in the knees over the Drobo, so much so, that after talking about it so much, Drobo are now a sponsor of the show. Yes, conspiracy theorists may have their own views on what came first (the money or the hype) but given what it does, it seems to be a great product that's simple to use. The only draw back is that it's $500 asking price (give or take $20 - and the $50 MBW-rebate is USA only) EXCLUDES any storage (ie hard drives).


the only thing holding me back is the price. Now if it was made by Apple I'd prob buy it a flash.

But I am considering it, it does look easy and I like the fact that it has 4 bays or expandability. And it works well with mac and OSX, now I'm torn between the Time Capsule & the Drobo


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## harzack86 (Jan 30, 2005)

As discussed in previous similar threads, there is also the Synology line of products, working well with the Macs.
I own the 207+, and it's a wonderful NAS.


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Alternative: Get a MacMini G4 used, an external whompin' big Firewire drive, and go native Apple file system all the way. That way it will stream your iTunes without needing your main machine to be on, and there will be no filename/path issues or FAT32 limits.


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## JSvo (Nov 12, 2007)

The Drobo is *NOT* an NAS. It's purely a multi-drive enclosure that connects to your computer via USB 2. (And ONLY USB 2, no eSATA, no Firewire, no networking).

In order for it to gain NAS functionality, you have to buy a companion NAS unit from Drobo for around $200 or so, at which point you've paid around $700 for the whole thing.

If you're going to pay that much, you may as well buy a real NAS for a bit more $ that has all the features, IMO.


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## Fastcoder (Apr 22, 2005)

*did I mention it's slow?*

From a reader report at MacInTouch: timely news and tips about Apple Macintosh, iPhone and iTunes

Rob Wyatt

A few months back I wrote to praise the Drobo "storage robot" as a worthy alternative to more expensive RAID solutions. My, how things have changed...
STAY AWAY FROM DROBO! Unless you want to LOSE ALL OF YOUR DATA! I was loving Drobo at first. It looks slick and performs as advertised - until one attempts a firmware update. The first firmware update I applied resulted in my Drobo volume disappearing. The Finder recognized the device, but claimed the disk was not formatted and asked if I wanted to Initialize, Ignore, or Eject. Not good.

I called Drobo and they walked me through a troubleshooting procedure that involved removing all drives and re-inserting them one by one. At first this didn't work. I tried it a few times, finally placing each drive in a different bay. Drobo ultimately recognized all drives and proceeded to repair itself. It took about three days.

Of course, I should have ditched the little black nightmare right then and there, but I foolishly believed all was well. Until the next firmware update...

Once again, Drobo lost my primary volume. This time, however, nothing saved it. It took Drobo about 12 days to "repair" itself. When all was said and done, the volume was gone, along with my entire media server library. I still have most of the CDs and DVDs that I ripped, but I've now lost hundreds of hours of time spent setting up my server. I've also lost a number of non-essential files that I chose to store on the Drobo. They're gone for good.

DO NOT BELIEVE THE HYPE! Drobo doesn't work. I've encountered a number of other Drobo users on various forums whose data has all suffered a similar fate. Bottom line, if you're a cheapskate and buy Drobo over a RAID solution, you'll get what you pay for: a serious headache and lost data!!! The few hundred bucks I saved on Drobo isn't worth the hundreds of hours of re-ripping ahead of me. And, then there's the data that I didn't have backed up. Gone for good.

Needless to say, I retract my enthusiastic endorsement of Drobo and urge anyone looking for a storage solution to skip this nightmare box and go with a tried and true RAID solution. Or, at some point, you'll be very sorry!


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## RISCHead (Jul 20, 2004)

getting serious with storage is not a cheap proposition, but in the low end consumer space, the standard brand name players all have reasonably priced entry level NAS products.
e.g. 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure - DNS-323 by D-Link
Linksys.com - Products/Wired/Network Storage/Storage Systems/NAS200


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

harzack86 said:


> As discussed in previous similar threads, there is also the Synology line of products, working well with the Macs.
> I own the 207+, and it's a wonderful NAS.


Totally concur. The Synology 207+ rocks in so many ways!!  :clap:


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

i4detail said:


> There are file naming issues with NAS and Mac.


What type of file naming issues?

As for Drobo, I also looked at it and ruled it out as I've read a few horror stories on the internet of Drobos failing.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

Kosh said:


> What type of file naming issues?
> 
> As for Drobo, I also looked at it and ruled it out as I've read a few horror stories on the internet of Drobos failing.


Yeah I saw that too and forgot to post back about this. There are no Mac related NAS file naming issues that I am aware of.


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

hi smelly,

good for you! fun stuff i bet. I hope to make this move soon, but it won't be for a while.

that said, run a search for NAS in this forum. there was a very detailed discussion just last month with loads of great info.

cheers,
keebler


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Hmmm. The Synology Cube Station CS407 looks good. I might add that to the list of solutions to look at. I probably won't look at a NAS until later in summer/fall anyways.


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