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need help moving to NAS and RAID

Looking for some helpful suggestions and guidance:
I currently use 3 3TB Seagate portable Hard drives, linked via USB to my PC laptop running JRiver 21, and connected via USB to my Playback Design DAC5 as my digital music library. I am concerned that these portable HD's are not that reliable, and would like to migrate to an integrated NAS/RAID storage device, and connect that to my laptop for JRiver access. Please provide some easy thoughts on best method of transferring all my files, creating auto back up, and importing the new library into JR. I am not very computer literate. Also would like recommendations on which brands/devices are reliable, and sound good.
Question 2: I am not that happy with the new Media Center 21...when I access my library via the PC, I used to be able to create new random playlists by opening an album, and only selecting a few tracks...now it doesn't let me; and upon clicking, it moves the entire album to the Playing Now song list...but from iPad, I can still create playlists from specific tracts. Do folks know of how I can regain my prior functionality? The MC forum has not been helpful. Should I consider the new AUrender N10 or N100H instead of laptop and JRiver, but still use the NAS, and RAID? Would it sound better, and be easier to use and import music, and Tidal?
Thanks..just an old fashioned audiophile, trying to deal with these new fangled options of listening to music.
Happy Holidays...
mribob
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
I tried the Western Digital NAS and returned it. It was slow and did not seem to work reliably with J River. I never figured out why, but it was so slow I did not really pursue it. Instead I got 2 4 TB drives, one for storage and one for backup. I set up daily backups (Syncback free) of all my files, including the music files and the J River library.

Jriver just announced support for QNAP systems. I am not familiar with the details, but having a Jriver supported product might be a good option. You might look at that.

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=101823.0

hevac1
812 posts
 
I use 2 Western Digital NAS enclosures in my system and have no issues with them.
1 is the DX4000, I do not recommend it because it will only accept certain drives and they are not cheap as it is meant for business.
The 1 I would recommend is the DL4100 it is fast up to 107 to 117 MB per second I get 115. Do not get the one without drives as it is harder to setup. Western Digital has great tech support and you should call them as you are setting it up. I would call at the first setup screen so they can walk you through it.
Stay away from the Western Digital EX series as it is a dog 25 MB per second, I returned it.
After you get the NAS up and running you will just copy your files, drag and drop to the NAS as your system will see it as just another drive. You will need to still hold on to those drive you have so you have a backup, just power them up from time to time.
mribob OP
229 posts
 
Really appreciate everyone's helpful suggestions, and recommendations. I'll update once I take the plunge. Thinking of the Synology Diskstation DS214, with 2x4 TB HGST drives...good pricing from B and H photo, with free shipping and no sales tax to CA
sc53
719 posts
 
Not sure why you think a NAS will be more reliable than the external USB drives. All drives can fail. SSD drives at least don't have the spinning hard drive, so I've been trying to migrate more to those as the price comes down. I too use JRiver and my Macbook Pro laptop for a music server, but I stayed with JRiver 20 rather than upgrading to 21. I love the way 20 works, and so far, it's still working. BTW I use a Mac so this is JRiver 20 for Mac.
vegasears
1,173 posts
 
Re-ripping huge numbers of music is a pain. I’ve had a few Hard Drive failures over the years so I’ve gone a little back-up crazy.

I use a QNAP TS-251 NAS for whole house back-up’s and streaming ripped movies on multiple smart tv’s. The enclosure is dual bay and configured for RAID 1. It will stream music to iTunes but I currently don’t feel the need. The QNAP was easy to install thanks to a YouTube video produced by the QNAP people. I also use a USB single drive for daily BU’s along with the NAS. Two full daily back-ups on separate devices.

Please note: I’ve previously used a Western Digital “My Book II” NAS devices. It failed within a year but the biggest issue was speed. It was configured wireless and to back-up 750 GBs it took 5 days and crashed at few times. The QNAP did the job in half the time.

When I went looking for an new NAS, Synology and QNAP were the only ones I looked at based on my limited tech skills, needs and customers reviews.
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