Home NAS or DAS

[xllms]

Hi,

I am undecided between setting up a NAS or DAS for my homes, would like to seek experts advice in planning my next step.

Home 1 (city):
2012 Mac Mini (Roon+HQplayer) + 2.5” SSD (music)
55” Xiaomi TV 4
2.5 mobile SSD (movies+TV serials) on exFAT format

Home 2 (retirement house):
Apple TV 4K
75” TLC X11G TV
Karaoke system

At the moment, me and my wife are watching TV serials and movies by connecting the mobile SSD direct to the 55” TV at home 1. And music are played via Mac Mini through Roon+HQplayer.
Home 2 is newly set up and have yet to successfully play movies/TV serials from the mobile SSD direct to TV (cannot detect) nor via Apple TV 4K through VLC.
Would like to set up a home storage which allows me to access the files from all different locations to watch the films/TV serials, play music, view photographs, etc. Which option is better?

Option 1:
NAS - 2 x 10TB 3.5” NAS (eg. UGREEN DXP-2800)

Option 2:
DAS - add 2 x 10TB 3.5” DAS to Mac Mini

any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Kegler]

I think either Nas or das is ok for your case
You probably thought about how home2 going to access the Nas or das in home1 right?
Why not do a little speed test first while you are at home 2? Since you already have roon running on your mac mini, try put some 4k on the SSD and try streaming from home2. If performance not up to expectations then neither das or Nas will work for you
Have you considered how will you access home1 from home2?
I would personally setup a nas, as I'm more inclined to setup VPN, VM and home assistant to play

 

[kamsani0]

The easiest way to watch movies and tv series that I ripped from my DVD/Bluray collection is via Plex.

I install Plex on my Synology NAS. Movies and TV series are played/streamed to my Mac using the Plex application, or the Plex app on my iPad.

Locally, the streaming of the movies and tv series is good, not laggy.

Externally, like in your case, two separate locations, may be a challenge.

Ripping my old DVDs and Blu-ray that I bought since the 1990s was rather cumbersome and time consuming.

Now I just buy Movies and TV series from Apple Store. Can watch from any where.

 

[xllms]

i have Infuse and Plex on Apple TV 4k.
If use NAS (placed at home 1), will just access files in home 2 via Apple TV from NAS. Pardon me if my understanding isn't correct as i have no NAS experiences.
If use DAS, will configure file sharing on mac mini (home 1) and remote access it from home 2 via apple TV.

 

[xllms]

I think either Nas or das is ok for your case
You probably thought about how home2 going to access the Nas or das in home1 right?
Why not do a little speed test first while you are at home 2? Since you already have roon running on your mac mini, try put some 4k on the SSD and try streaming from home2. If performance not up to expectations then neither das or Nas will work for you
Have you considered how will you access home1 from home2?
I would personally setup a nas, as I'm more inclined to setup VPN, VM and home assistant to play

yes, in my next trip to home 2, am planning to access the movie files from files in mac mini (both hdd within and via attached mobile hdd) and see it they work well. if this works well, then there is probably no need to set up NAS.

 

[xllms]

been researching on NAS past few days, don't seem to find a NAS to fit my requirement
- compact
- reliable
- good OS and useability
- nice looking
- good specs
- affordable

synology's spec isn't attractive
i like qnap's TBS-h574TX, too ex
ugreen's spec looks good and affordable, but OS not reliable yet
now reading about 极空间 dual drive Z2pro.

 

[Kegler]

been researching on NAS past few days, don't seem to find a NAS to fit my requirement
- compact
- reliable
- good OS and useability
- nice looking
- good specs
- affordable

synology's spec isn't attractive
i like qnap's TBS-h574TX, too ex
ugreen's spec looks good and affordable, but OS not reliable yet
now reading about 极空间 dual drive Z2pro.

How techie are you? Consider diy? Unraid or truenas are 2 very good os.
I moved from qnap to unRAID and I'm very happy with the build

Test the speed from home2 first then decide.... not sure where is your home2 but countries like china blocks certain type of VPN. I was in Shanghai last month, I had to use ipsec VPN as my OpenVPN didn't work
Speed was ok to stream movies but I didn't had 4k to test.
I was on mobile 4g network

 

[xllms]

How techie are you? Consider diy? Unraid or truenas are 2 very good os.
I moved from qnap to unRAID and I'm very happy with the build

not technie, totally clueless about NAS.
at the moment, no idea what is UNRAID

 

[TanKianW]

not technie, totally clueless about NAS.
at the moment, no idea what is UNRAID

NAS start with the letter “N” which means “network”. You probably need to sort out your network before going for the next step to decide whether you need a NAS or DAS. And how you want to connect both home (servers) together.

Not techie yet, can go network section ask for advice first. Then when become more techie liao, then decide how you want to set this up.​

 

[xllms]

NAS start with the letter “N” which means “network”. You probably need to sort out your network before going for the next step to decide whether you need a NAS or DAS. And how you want to connect both home (servers) together.

Not techie yet, can go network section ask for advice first. Then when become more techie liao, then decide how you want to set this up.​

can you elaborate what do you mean by sort out my network？pardon my ignorance

 

[Kegler]

can you elaborate what do you mean by sort out my network？pardon my ignorance

he meant how do you intend to access your mac remotely from home2
VPN? remote desktop?
Please dont put your mac mini in DMZ

 

[Phen8210]

can you elaborate what do you mean by sort out my network？pardon my ignorance

Watch all the videos in the playlist to learn the basics of networking. Most of the fundamentals are covered. Free of charge.

 

[xllms]

Watch all the videos in the playlist to learn the basics of networking. Most of the fundamentals are covered. Free of charge.

thank you

 

[chiu2000]

NAS has a very steep learning curve, and off the shelf NAS are also very expensive.

I would suggest you tackle the issue of accessing files on your home network first, which most likely involves setting your own VPN server, or use software like Tailscale.

Then you consider whether to go the NAS or DAS route.

 

[Apparatus]

Those who have NAS and DAS. For backup do you connect

1) DAS to NAS
2) NAS to NAS. UGREEN don't have DAS only NAS
3) DAS directly to PC/laptop

and why?