NAS or Server... What's the diff.. which is best?

Personally, to ensure that any pc or device can access the data on the network without the need for a pc to be on, I would use a NAS connected to the wireless router. I have used a few and my favorite is Infrant ReadyNas NV. This NAS has 4 slots for drives so you could easily expand. Putting your NAS on the router also allows you to quickly add additional drives in the future.

Thanks folks...

I'm inclined to go with a NAS unit personally. On this site:

http://computershopper.com.com/external-hard-drives/netgear-readynas-nv-network/4505-3190_7-32464002.html?tag=prod.txt.1

Several are listed with read and write speeds in varying raid modes.

the Netgear NV+ is a bit more expense than I'd care to bite off right now. But I'm thinking amongst these listed one of these NAS units should fit well for me... I think.

The Iomega looks pretty tasty too, and so does the Seagate, due to the eSATA connectivity.

Support and cost will likely swing the vote.

I'm an audiophile and a real computer dealer with full a scale service dept for a large account base and have used the Infrant ReadyNAS, now owned by Netgear, running Linux at the NAS level and Slimserver, (now called SqeezeCenter byLogitech), with 4x250gb at my home and have one installed at a friends home. They are very quiet, reliable and have had absolutely no tech issues. I can not speak of the speed for video apps, but mine had not trouble sending 3 different signals to 2 Wifi, and 1 wired player at the same time using flac files. I also had no issues with my photo collection being stored and retrieved....( 12-30mb pics ). I have since given the ReadyNAS away to an employee and upgraded to an older HP Proliant Server running Win Server and supporting a pack of 300gb 10k drives in a raid system. My motivation for the change in configuration was the speed of indexing music and how long the application took to refresh, and searches for music. I believe this had to do with the Linux OS and SqeezeCenter running at the NAS level and not the Server or PC level. The difference was night and day, and worth the expense for my level of patience. The music of course didn't sound any different nor was the performance any better once a file was chosen. I would just get frustrated waiting for a new page to load when browsing. Downside is the noise a server makes..(mine in a remote part of my house thus not an issue), and the added overhead of Win Server and needing the tech ability to maintain it....obviously not a plug and play solution.

The entire project was very worth while for the reason that now my children have access to, and are influenced by my music collection and not reliant on their peers for new music...Example my 10yr old daughter listens to as much 70's rock as she does whatever that thumpy crap is she listens to the other 1/2 of the time.

Don’t know if this helps you any…but is my story to finding a solution that worked for my household.

Sgs
Thanks much... I'm pretty sure a server isn't necessary for me... although I do like the notion of having a printer being used from any PC... past that... no.

The backup software and raid arrays are more important for sure.

...and noise is a non issue for me too. Price continues to be an obstacle however.

I make a list of priorities and then act on them. Having heard yours, I like the direction you are heading.The Netgear ReadyNAS is a solid product. It hits your hot buttons...good dumbyproof array preformance and has great capability for easy back up routines. Remember...an array increases as you add drives because they hit all drives at the same time and while writting or reading; thus it's best to get the 4x250gb box. The ReadyNAS is packaged with decent backup utilities and comes with a USB port. What my guys set up at my freinds house...(because he lost some of his family digi photos once)...is the ReadyNAS and then we hung an external WD Hardrive and it copies all data to the external everynight. Now if you really want extra security for your data...(in case of home fire ect.)...buy two cheap external hard drives and keep one at the office, then rotate them every week or two.
Good luck with your project and happy listening.
SGS