Which nas to buy??

**Grumpy Bob** · 2017-09-13, 08:43

Originally posted by saxon

OK I run a number of Squeezebox devices in my home and currently have an original Netgear Readynas which has been superb - unbelievably stable and reliable and currently runs 2x 2tb drives in it.

We use the server for photos, films and all sorts of other stuff as well as all my ripped flac music.

We're running out of storage on the server and this readynas cannot use drives larger than 2TB apparently.

I'm thinking of buying another NAS drive and am tempted to stick with Netgear - maybe a 212 or even 214 to give greater future proofing of capacity - I do some professional photography, models etc and so have a lot of photos to store.

I'm also open to changing brand though - perhaps Synology if people think they are significantly better.

It seems that running squeezebox server on some of the more recent NAS drives can be problematic with installs and configuration so can anybody recommend which to buy?

I guess another option might be to buy a second NAS drive and use the new one for photos and films and keep my existing readynas just for music. If I was able to move all the movies and photos from the old NAS then it's 2x 2TB drives would be more than big enough for all my future FLAC/Squeezebox requirements and as I say it seems to be a robust little unit actually.

I'd welcome thoughts from any experts!

Saxon

I'm not really in a position to recommend a NAS, as I only have experience of a QNAP (though it's been pretty much trouble free). However running LMS on the QNAP was a bit of a hassle, and some time back I went down the route of running LMS on a Raspberry Pi 3 (using piCorePlayer), pointing it at the music files held on the QNAP. This is an excellent setup and I recommend it.

Robert

**Stig Nygaard** · 2017-09-13, 09:19

Originally posted by saxon

OK I run a number of Squeezebox devices in my home and currently have an original Netgear Readynas which has been superb - unbelievably stable and reliable and currently runs 2x 2tb drives in it.

I recently moved from Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 2 to a Synology DS716+II. I was very happy with my ReadyNAS Ultra. Logitech makes official nightly LMS builds for it. Also the Intel processor gave full support for pretty much any plugins and add-ons, especially after I found out how to install IO::Socket::SSL on it.

But in the end I decided to make a switch for security reasons, because there's no SMBv2+ support on the old ReadyNAS (I have now disabled SMBv1 on all my network devices for security reasons) and the NAS doesn't receive security patches anymore. My choice was DS716+II because I have the impression Synology has a good reputation and keeps their devices updated for a long time. Again Intel processor for best possible support, and even though there are no official nightly builds for it, pinkdot had his LmsUpdate and LmsRepack projects for regularly updated nightlies. Also the of size of the NAS is perfect to fit in my CD-rack (like the readyNAS Ultra also was) ;-)

Unfortunately pinkdot ain't making new LmsUpdate/LmsRepack builds anymore, but I think there's a very good change mherger or somebody else will take over this task (If I get too desperate I might even try myself, it sounds like it shouldn't be too complicated if set up a Linux platform to do it on).

Well, just my reasoning for choosing the DS716+II. I'm sure there's very good reasons to make other choices :-)

**d6jg** · 2017-09-13, 16:29

Originally posted by Grumpy Bob

I'm not really in a position to recommend a NAS, as I only have experience of a QNAP (though it's been pretty much trouble free). However running LMS on the QNAP was a bit of a hassle, and some time back I went down the route of running LMS on a Raspberry Pi 3 (using piCorePlayer), pointing it at the music files held on the QNAP. This is an excellent setup and I recommend it.

Robert

I agree 100% with this approach.
Use a NAS for what it was designed for - serving files - and not as an application server (which is what LMS is).
Get a Pi3 for LMS and point it at whatever flavour of NAS is suitable for your other needs.
Premium brands are QNAP & Synology IMHO but anything that will serve files is now an option if you go the Pi route.

PS I can't see Michael having the time to pick up the Synology LMSrepack thing. I am pretty sure that he himself operates a Pi + NAS set up these days anyway.

**mherger** · 2017-09-13, 16:52

Which nas to buy??

> PS I can't see Michael having the time to pick up the Synology LMSrepack

Unfortunately... considering the fact that our existing build systems
are in havoc, there's no plan to add more... Need to fix what we have
first. When I find time :-(.

> thing. I am pretty sure that he himself operates a Pi + NAS set up these
> days anyway.

That's correct: in the office I'm using pCP on a Pi3 to serve files from
a ReadyNAS Duo v2 (though I got Spotty working on this today :-)). At
home I use a Linux PC for many server duties, incl. Samba and LMS.

--

Michael

**Stig Nygaard** · 2017-09-13, 17:16

Originally posted by d6jg

I agree 100% with this approach.

I don't disagree that taking a RPi is an interesting and fine way to go...

Originally posted by d6jg

Use a NAS for what it was designed for - serving files - and not as an application server (which is what LMS is).

But I disagree in this. Most NAS'es are (also) made to be application servers, and are often much more powerful than a RPi. But if you are going to use your NAS as a pure network storage, buy something cheaper than the one I suggested.

**meep** · 2017-09-13, 17:28

Maybe a little off the wall but I use a server running unRAID for a bunch of stuff and it's great to have everything in a single box;

-Parity protected raid array supporting multiple different drive sizes (throw in whatever you have to hand)
-Docker support for application serving (I run LMS in a docker along with a bunch of other apps)
-Full systems under VM (I run my main Windows workstation under a VM plus a bunch of virtual HTPCs around the house and a Linux VM or 2)
-I run my PVR system as a Docker (up to 8 sat/terrestrial tuners managed by TVHeadEnd) and leverage the storage array for recordings and a separate SSD for timeshifting.

There's very little you can think of that a sstem like this can't do and if you need a server running anyway, why not bundle everything else into it. (before you say reliability, I've been running the above on an 8 core AMD FX CPU with 32GB RAM for several years without issue.)

unRAID styles itself as a NAS OS with extra capabilities. It's cheap, is well maintained and has an amazing community.

**JohnB** · 2017-09-13, 18:54

I've been running LMS on a HP MicroServer (with Ubuntu Server installed) for some years and am very happy with it, though it isn't in my listening room. I also use the Microserver for saved videos in conjunction with a Humax HDR-FOX T2 (with custom firmware).

Rather than using RAID I have a second, backup, Microserver tucked away on which I mirror the main box.

Might not suit everyone.

**Stig Nygaard** · 2017-09-13, 19:36

Just got curious and did a little more searching on the subject. I'm assuming (and pretty sure?) that Logitech's current "official" nightly builds for ReadyNAS devices, doesn't work on any recent Netgear ReadyNAS models. But it actually sounds like you can install any .deb debian package on the latest ReadyNAS models as long as they are build for the right processor family, straight from the default administration web-interface without any "hacking".

Anyone knows if that is true?

If so, it would still make Netgear ReadyNAS models a very recommended choice in my head.

**mherger** · 2017-09-13, 22:57

Which nas to buy??

> Just got curious and did a little more searching on the subject. I'm
> assuming (and pretty sure?) that Logitech's current "official" nightly
> builds for ReadyNAS devices, doesn't work on any recent Netgear ReadyNAS
> models.

I can only answer this part. And yes, that's true. The packages are only
compatible with ReadyNAS up to the Duo/NV v2.

--

Michael

**Mnyb** · 2017-09-14, 05:06

Another server hardware can be an intel nuc which I'm currently using . I used to have a HP micro server.

**usbethjim** · 2017-09-18, 16:18

Originally posted by Stig Nygaard

Just got curious and did a little more searching on the subject. I'm assuming (and pretty sure?) that Logitech's current "official" nightly builds for ReadyNAS devices, doesn't work on any recent Netgear ReadyNAS models. But it actually sounds like you can install any .deb debian package on the latest ReadyNAS models as long as they are build for the right processor family, straight from the default administration web-interface without any "hacking".

Anyone knows if that is true?

If so, it would still make Netgear ReadyNAS models a very recommended choice in my head.

Maybe this will help:

I own an old ReadyNAS Pro Business Edition with 3GB RAM. I recently did an upgrade and put in 3 x 4TB drives. An unsupported upgrade to the latest ReadyNAS OS 6 firmware was recommended to me. I did the upgrade. LMS still runs but the install has an extra step. I manually upload & install the latest 7.9 "Logitech Media Server: Debian Installer Package (i386, x86_64, ARM EABI, PowerPC)" package from Michaels "official" nightly build page to the NAS. Then I have to install a ReadyNAS plug-in to be able to see the LMS install on the OS 6 gui. The plug-in is named "LMS_1.0.9_all.deb" and is available here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ie9pwk1wu...ver/7.8.0?dl=0. Once that is installed on the NAS everything seems to work just dandy.

If things ever get more complicated than this I be moving the LMS install to one of the previously mentioned solutions that don't depend on NAS firmware consistency (MAC, PC, RPi) and then point back to the files on the NAS.

Good luck
Jim

Which nas to buy??

Which nas to buy??

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