# NAS drive for usb and network?



## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

Hay all I'm looking for a solution for a client of mine. He is in his 60s and had never owned a computer in his life!!! I need to create a solution for him that will let him easily store and access his music without the need to load CDs every time. 

A little back ground:
We took on this job after his first custom integrators quit returning his calls (so often the case). His house is 4 stories of awesome with 2 cat 6 drops to every room in his house. All his equipment is located in a media closet on the 4th floor. He hid house is a combination of C4 for AV and Crestron for lighting (don't ask me why both these systems could do both aspects). 

The stack has a master controller HC-800 an atlona 4X4 matrix, 10/100/1000 switch, modem, distribution amp and audio matrix, appleTV (with DAC for matrix), Motorola Cable Box, DishNetwork box, 400 disc Sony (no data out). 

We ran a balun from the 2nd floor (for blu-ray) so he wouldn't need to go up to the 4th floor to access the player. 2nd floor has the main display. 

Back to the issue:
Client would like to be able to select tracks/artists on the fly but has no experience with PC/Mac. 

I think the best way to solve for my client would be to attach a NAS drive to his master controller so he can get artist/song data on his touch screens around the house and on-screen on his TV. 

I'm torn between setting up a cheap pc in the server room or somewhere else in the house and mapping a NAS drive as the location the files are loaded to. Does anyone know of a good NAS that can be both accessed via network and USB at the same time?


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

rab-byte said:


> Does anyone know of a good NAS that can be both accessed via network and USB at the same time?


That may be a tough one. If he can go all Ethernet, the Synology NAS is a very good choice. I am running a couple of DS-212Js as a music and video server and they work very well. About $200 plus the hard drives.

I am setting up one of the newer DS-213s right now. About $300 but faster processor, more RAM than the DS-212Js plus USB 3.0 for external hard drives instead of USB 2.0 on the 212 series.

Synology's DSM software is easy to use and offers video server, iTunes server, anti-virus and a whole slew of other goodies.


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

The master controller needs to be connected via USB. 

That's what's killing me.


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

Never mind I'm dumb 


I was thinking about this wrong. NAS on the network works just fine. 

Chalk this up to mental gas.


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