NAS for central multimedia share

[gmbaal]

So, I have a wireless router that has a USB 3.0 port. I am thinking about putting an enclosure with a large HDD in it to serve as a central area for all my multimedia for my network. I have three computers on the network that I want the music to be able to get from all 3 locations. As my main computer is the one I use for not only my general stuff, but I also use it for different purposes that tend to cause me to break it and have to rebuild it.

So I'm looking for options or ways to push this media into a central location that does not depend on my main machine to be in a fully functional state for the rest of the network to have access to media. So suggestions on the best way to do that, and could I utilize this usb 3.0 device with readyshare to work as a central location and if so what kind of setup would I need to do. Centralized playlist would be awesome.

[FDF]

Hi a small computer ased as a server is the solution for that. I use an old eeepc with a broken screen for that. the processor power is more than enough for sharing files, having an email server and a webserver (apache) running on it. So it is my own central point, with partial cloud options (webmail, sftp…) There are projects for full cloud, but I don't need it.

Otherwise you can use a NAS, but the options may be little more limited to what was designed at first. (Some NAS can actually run a common debian or ubuntu server, thus, it is back to the first case)

[wayne128]

The simplest way is buy a NAS and plug into LAN port.
Issue is price.


The cheapest is use your USB port on router.
the issue is firmware support ( of NAS) , some learning curve, and perhaps low transfer rate because router had limited cpu power and ram size ( this depends very much on router hardware specs)

You already have usb port on router, why not use it?
as long as its firmware can support USB flash/drive as a NAS you will be OK.
If not get third party firmware, such as dd wrt, tomato, open wrt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_w ... e_projects

[gmbaal]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll be implementing this at the end of the month after ubuntu 12.4 is released. Finally getting everyone in my house off of windoze.