# Network USB Media Server



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

We just got a Linksys E4200 router that includes USB 2.0 and a built-in UPnP AV Media Server. What is the best storage device to get so that we can catalog and store all of our several hundred CD's we have... and be able to download and/or play/listen to the music?


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## sparky77 (Feb 22, 2008)

I would use something like the Fantom drives with triple connection capability, then it can be added to a faster system in the future when you decide a 100mb network isn't fast enough. Plus they're quiet and energy efficient.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

The E4200 already offers faster speeds, although I am not sure I would need it. 

I see were there are some others having issues with their computer recognizing the Fantom with the USB 2.0, so I am wondering if it is UPnP and will work with the E4200. I tried an Iomega external 2.0 drive I had last night and it would not work.


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## sparky77 (Feb 22, 2008)

After a quick read through the userguide I guess it does have gigabit wired networking. As far as your external not working it looks as though it has to be formatted in FAT32, if it's formatted NTFS that could explain why it doesn't work. Pretty much all the externals I've seen use the umsd driver so there shouldn't be much for compatibility issues.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Yep... I suspect it is formatted NTFS. I stuck a FAT32 USB thumb drive in there and it works fine.

I don't see the advantages of it being a "media server". It looks just like another drive on the network to me. :huh:


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Hmmm ... here is a list of compatible hard drives and several of the NTFS drives passed.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

The Seagate FreeAgent Go 500GB appears to be FAT32 and NTFS compatible for about a hundred bucks.


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## sparky77 (Feb 22, 2008)

You should be able to reformat your existing Iomega drive to fat32 by right clicking on the icon under "computer" and selecting format, make sure the file system is set to fat32 and uncheck "quick format," give it a label if you want to, and click start. If you want to save the files that are on there copy them to another drive before you format, then copy them back afterwards.

In order for dlna devices such as a Ps3 to see the drive you'll have to set up that feature in the routers configuration, which didn't look too complicated.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Yeah... I am planning on reformatting it.

I guess what I was getting confused about was the difference between a media server and a media player. The router will act as a media server when connected to a digital media player... otherwise it simply gives us a networked storage device when used with an external hard drive. I suppose that is all we really need.


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## KalaniP (Dec 17, 2008)

Media server simply provides a networked data storage location that is receptive to / compatible with software (or software built into a device) that is designed to look for network data sources of the right flavor. UPnP, DLNA, etc. are standards (although that term should be used loosely here since incompatibilities abound), so in theory, if you have a DLNA compatible media server, any software that is DLNA compatible should be able to find your networked media collection and use it as a data source.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

That explains it better for me. Thanks!

Now I just need to decide if just a USB hard drive is good enough... or maybe think about a media player with a built in drive. I could use the USB hard drive and Windows Media Player, but I have never been fond of WMP and its GUI.


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## KalaniP (Dec 17, 2008)

Sonnie said:


> That explains it better for me. Thanks!
> 
> Now I just need to decide if just a USB hard drive is good enough... or maybe think about a media player with a built in drive. I could use the USB hard drive and Windows Media Player, but I have never been fond of WMP and its GUI.


I don't know what you're looking at, but some media players have USB ports where you can simply plug in an existing drive. May be worth looking into.

For me, ease of use trumped all else (primarily for WAF reasons, since I'm more inclined to get the physical BR for all but the most casual viewing), so I went with AppleTV. Several inexpensive 2tb USB drives hang off a seldom-used iMac, which runs iTunes 24/7 and streams over the house LAN to the AppleTVs in various places around the house. VERY nice interface, compared to most I have seen, and very simplified setup needs since the drive just hangs off an existing computer.

If I was moving to a more formal setup capable of streaming full-quality BR rips all over the house, though, I'd probably be looking at a Dune. I haven't done all the legwork yet to compare interfaces, however, because it hasn't been a high priority yet.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

No movies... just music. We want to catalog all of our CD music onto a hard drive for downloading to our laptops and/or listening via headphones. It will be much easier than having to load one CD at a time when we are ready to listen, especially if it is merely a song or two off of the disc. We also don't want to use up all of our hard drive on our laptops and have to load all the CD music we have on each laptop.

I ordered a Seagate FreeAgent Go 500Gb USB drive, which is supposedly compatible with the E4200. I think will simply load all of the CD music on that drive and use Windows Media Player as our player.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

No movies... just music. We want to catalog all of our CD music onto a hard drive for downloading to our laptops and/or listening via headphones. It will be much easier than having to load one CD at a time when we are ready to listen, especially if it is merely a song or two off of the disc. We also don't want to use up all of our hard drive on our laptops and have to load all the CD music we have on each laptop.

I ordered a Seagate Flex Go 500Gb USB drive, which is supposedly compatible with the E4200. I think will simply load all of the CD music on that drive and use Windows Media Player as our player.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I sent the Seagate back... they actually have a newer model for less. However, I am considering another route.

I started a new thread on a computer build here.

I asked this question there, but in case some of you miss it, I will ask here as well. Would getting an extra internal hard drive for the computer and using the Ethernet connection from the computer to the router perform just as well as having an external hard drive connected via the USB port on the router?


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## KalaniP (Dec 17, 2008)

Sonnie said:


> I sent the Seagate back... they actually have a newer model for less. However, I am considering another route.
> 
> I started a new thread on a computer build here.
> 
> I asked this question there, but in case some of you miss it, I will ask here as well. Would getting an extra internal hard drive for the computer and using the Ethernet connection from the computer to the router perform just as well as having an external hard drive connected via the USB port on the router?


USB2 tops out at 400 mbps, although it often doesn't hit that theoretical peak outside of lab conditions, especially with other devices on the USB bus.

Gigabit Ethernet (assuming), is 1,000 mbps of course, so theoretically over twice as fast... but again, devices rarely reach potential speeds. Still, you can see it's likely twice as fast. BUT if the choke point is the USB2 connection to the router, in the situation you've outlined, you're going to be restricted to USB2 speeds, at best (and likely a bit lower than it would be if connected directly to your machine's USB port due to the various translations and hoops it will have to jump through for data to reach it's destination).

An internal computer hard drive, on the other hand, gets WAY WAY more bandwidth... 2-3 gbps for SATA2/3. So the gigabit connection out has the potential to carry as much as it actually can possibly manage, to its (again, theoretical) peak of 1 gbps.

So accessing an internal drive (somewhere) via gigabit ethernet should definitely outperform ANYTHING going though a USB2 data bus. USB3 is potentially a different story, but I haven't seen any routers with USB3 connections (yet).

The question is, what do you need this theoretical speed for? Even USB2 can easily carry a couple of full-bitrate BR playback streams. OTOH, if you're moving a lot of very large files around, the higher the speed, the faster your copies, for sure.

For me, the convenience of hanging cheap 2tb USB2 drives off a regular computer and accessing them via regular (and iTunes) shares definitely outweighs any speed advantages of networked and NAS drives, particularly since I'm not doing anything to remotely stress the throughput of the system (other than moving large movie files around, which is a click-and-walk-away affair anyway).


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Thanks for the info Kalani... I replied in the other thread.


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