Stick PC (compute stick) as file server // NAS

[Muradin007]

Hello,

Despite my best efforts to find a forum thread, I'm posting here.

I would like to know if this would be practical and would function well -

Purchase something like the intel compute stick, attach a super speedy microsd card in it, and act as a file server for at most one client at a time. Maybe even install linux on it.

I figure file transfer would be the bottleneck - so I wondered if having a high speed microsd card with wireless A/C would work well.

It would act as a file server to my desktop, or my laptop, or my Xbox 360. The main purpose would be watching videos stored on the file server, through my desktop, laptop, or xbox 360.

So a NAS for one client a time it would be, if i'm using the term correctly that is.


I've read about people reviewing the compute stick for its streaming capabilities, but I'm not interested in the little device doing the playback. I'm interested in the larger device playing back video it fetches from the file server.

Thoughts? Concerns?

If a fully fledged NAS would work better, toss me a few affordable suggestions for what I'm looking to do. I am looking to keep the budget under $300 though at the moment.

 

[navalweaponsofficer]

a micro sd File server would be pretty small. Do you have any spare hard drives? How are your devices connected to your router? what router do you have? some routers have a built in file share capability it is a matter of setting it up and plugging in a USB HDD.

 

[photonboy]

WD MYCLOUD: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1140

I've been using a 4TB version for a few years now. Smaller exists.

File transfer depends on the wi-fi router/receiver used. This device plugs into the router via an ETHERNET cable. It does get up to 90MB/second transfers though (I timed it copying a large video).

*The main issue will be video playback. Game consoles only support certain formats. If you have those then this will work fine.

The WDMYCLOUD can also act as a SERVER and can stream the audio or video to the device. I've not confirmed which formats work, though it's likely more than what the XBOX 360/One support.

Other:
My WDTV Live HUB works perfectly for video playback (either locally or accessing the WD MY CLOUD). Some points on that:
a) WD is dropping this, and other companies like ROKU have limited codec support
b) WD media devices can't import pictures and organize the files (basically just navigating the FOLDERS I made). It works fine for the internal HDD or attached USB, but not the WD MY CLOUD. I guess that makes sense, and perhaps there's a workaround.

c) *I'm planning to get an Intel Compute, Kanagaroo, or similar device and run a KODI-Linux setup, with videos again all on the WD MY CLOUD. I'm using this on Windows and I love the interface. Codec support is great too. No issues.

Summary:
So there is no perfect solution, though I would personally recommend the WD MY CLOUD to act as your local storage device that everything can access.

As said it can stream, though the "perfect" solution if needed is going to be something like a small KODI unit with remote control. (people are trying to get NETFLIX working natively through this because we want a one-stop solution for video playback if possible. BLURAY players can never be because CINAVIA audio protection means my personal BD rips don't work for some titles. Sigh.)

 

[why_wolf]

hmm maybe. But those things only have 1 usb port so I think it's ultimately a bad idea. Do you have hard drives you want to use already or is this all from scratch?

I'd look at a 2-bay unit either the Synology DS216j or the Qnap TS-231. I'd recommend getting two drives and put them in mirrored mode so the failure of one drive doesn't mean you lose everything. But you can just get one drive to start with to keep the initial cost down.

If you don't need to buy drives and that $300 is just for the NAS unit itself there are other better units higher up the scale you can look at.

 

[photonboy]

http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Personal-Network-Attached-Storage/dp/B00EVVGAD0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462397066&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+my+cloud

Most or all of the issues got solved in the first few months, unfortunately this still causes the score to reflect low and is NOT indicative of the product now.

You can add another USB drive (like 4TB WD Elements, My Book) as a backup or take your chances and add one for more storage.

*It may or may not be confusing, but here's how I access it from Windows->

File Explorer->
Network->
Storage (right-click)->
"OPEN"

Then a folder pops up to which you can use like a normal hard drive.

So...
I used MAKEMKV to rip a BD, then Handbrake to compress to a suitable format. Copied that over to the WD MY CLOUD, then finally sit in front of my HDTV and open the WD TV LIVE HUB (or other device) and watch movie.

 

[Muradin007]

Wow!

Thank you all for your responses!

1) Agreed microsd fileserver would be fairly small. I wouldn't mind occasionally cleaning out unwatched videos, my concern was mostly with disk speed transfer bottlenecks - which I feel might be better with this solution? (Not sure?)

2) The newer compute stick has two usb ports now, so that helps. Yes and no, I have drives I could use now - but I could also buy better ones for this project.

3) My router is an ASUS RT-N66U, everything is connected through the 2.4GHz/5.0GHz band on it. There is a file sharing opportunity on this router I am looking to investigate.

4) It looks like WD MyCloud is a popular choice here, I assume that I can view it like any other server on my laptop / desktop / any other computer device. Any limitations on video codecs / formats, or just restricted on my laptop being configured properly?


current options seem to be: newer generation compute stick, external hdd connected to USB on router, wd mycloud, and 2-bay unit

 

[navalweaponsofficer]

I highley recomend going the share using the router i have the same router and that should be the cheapest route to a file share. Personaly i have a DS410 for file storage but i started with using the router based system about 9 years ago.

The my cloude will not grow as your storage requirements grow.

If you go the compute stick route my recomendation would be to hook an external hdd to the to the usb 3.0 port and to get a usb to ethernet adapter and hardwire the compute stick to the router. This will be faster than going wireless but you will still be limited by the ethernet connection because of usb 2.0.

Personaly i would use the router and save up for at least a 2 disk NAS from synology.