Want to get a proper NAS or equivalent

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hotshot05

hotshot05

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I have accumulated 2-3 external HDD's. Also I am looking to replace my laptop HDD with a SSD. I want to share all of my HDD"s over Wi-Fi.
I have a Raspberry Pi 2 already. I have a powered USB Hub. I have already set up Samba on my Pi 2. But I hardly get 2-3 MB/s transfer speed when I transfer files from Pi 2 to laptop via Wi-Fi. This is because of technical limitation of the Pi as far as I understand. So I don't think making a NAS using the Pi 2 and USB Hub is a very good idea.

I have seen a few HooToo routers which can share the contents of ext HDD's over Wi-Fi.
This one can share a single external HDD - http://www.amazon.in/HooToo-Wireless-Router-Access-Companion/dp/B00HZWOQZ6
This one supports multiple HDD's connected via USB Hub - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RVIGY1I

I can get any of these 2 direct from the US.
But are there other cheaper/better options which can support both external USB HDD's and internal HDD's?

Budget - As low as possible but power consumption should be low.
 
NAS speeds of course could be CPU-bound or disk controller bound or ram bounds.

Is your Pi 2 to router connection hardwired? Looking online, Pi 2 looks like it is capable of 10-11 MBps over wired connections. I think you should first figure out what the maximums at various points are in your connection.

If your laptop is connected via Wifi, what network type are you using? g/n usually have real world max of 20 Mbps/50-80 Mbps (2.5 MBps/6-10 MBps). What WiFi protocols do your laptop and router currently support?
 
whatsinaname said:
NAS speeds of course could be CPU-bound or disk controller bound or ram bounds.

Is your Pi 2 to router connection hardwired? Looking online, Pi 2 looks like it is capable of 10-11 MBps over wired connections. I think you should first figure out what the maximums at various points are in your connection.

If your laptop is connected via Wifi, what network type are you using? g/n usually have real world max of 20 Mbps/50-80 Mbps (2.5 MBps/6-10 MBps). What WiFi protocols do your laptop and router currently support?
Click to expand...
Router, laptop and wifi adapter on RPi 2 support 802.11 N.
The ethernet port on RPi 2 and my router are 10/100 Mbps only. So I guess I will get max 11-12MB/s theoretically if connected via ethernet.
Currently I am facing some issue getting the RPi 2 to connect to router via ethernet. I will check the speed once I can do that
Vasishta.Sushant said:
Check Synology, since you can already get stuff from the US.
Click to expand...
Synology seems quite costly. Looks like it starts from around 150$
vivek.krishnan said:
Budget and expected power consumption?
Click to expand...
Power consumption around 10W. Budget as low as possible. Actually I am looking to extract the maximum performance available from SBC like Raspberry Pi and Banana Pi or the HooToo.
Read the reviews of the HooToo. Users are getting speeds of 2-3 MB/s only. So I guess there will be no improvement if U use the HooToo.

In the RPi forum, I saw people were reporting transfer speed of around 6-10 MB/s.
 
hotshot05 said:
Power consumption around 10W. Budget as low as possible. Actually I am looking to extract the maximum performance available from SBC like Raspberry Pi and Banana Pi or the HooToo.
Read the reviews of the HooToo. Users are getting speeds of 2-3 MB/s only. So I guess there will be no improvement if U use the HooToo.
Click to expand...

I use a Banana pi as a torrent downloader using transmission and also have set up samba on it using a 500gb sata 2 hard disk. I easily get around 30MB/s transfer speed on multimedia files on a gigabit network. There would be no lags when I try to stream 1080p movies to my ipad (on 5GHz) or other tablets (mostly on 2.4GHz)

I just have housed this entire setup in an old smps and also have used the fan to provide for better air circulation if required. You should try getting a few pis and try it out.
 
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Ranjith Sai said:
I use a Banana pi as a torrent downloader using transmission and also have set up samba on it using a 500gb sata 2 hard disk. I easily get around 30MB/s transfer speed on multimedia files on a gigabit network.
Click to expand...

I am using Banana Pro and am getting the same speeds from a WD 1 TB Blue connected via SATA over wired Gig Ethernet. Your speeds will be slower on WiFi but much better than what you get with a RPi.
 
bobbyprajan said:
I am using Banana Pro and am getting the same speeds from a WD 1 TB Blue connected via SATA over wired Gig Ethernet. Your speeds will be slower on WiFi but much better than what you get with a RPi.
Click to expand...
Why?
What extra is there in Banana Pi Pro that will affect transfer speed over wi-fi ?
 
hotshot05 said:
Why?
What extra is there in Banana Pi Pro that will affect transfer speed over wi-fi ?
Click to expand...
I guess he meant the speeds would be less if you choose to connect the pro to your router via its inbuilt wifi module. The wifi module in pro limits the transfer speeds I believe. Then again the speeds might also be limited by your wifi router (on my tp-link archer c7 there are no delays while streaming and seek time would be dependent on the disk).
 
hotshot05 said:
Router, laptop and wifi adapter on RPi 2 support 802.11 N.
The ethernet port on RPi 2 and my router are 10/100 Mbps only. So I guess I will get max 11-12MB/s theoretically if connected via ethernet.
Currently I am facing some issue getting the RPi 2 to connect to router via ethernet. I will check the speed once I can do that

Synology seems quite costly. Looks like it starts from around 150$

Power consumption around 10W. Budget as low as possible. Actually I am looking to extract the maximum performance available from SBC like Raspberry Pi and Banana Pi or the HooToo.
Read the reviews of the HooToo. Users are getting speeds of 2-3 MB/s only. So I guess there will be no improvement if U use the HooToo.

In the RPi forum, I saw people were reporting transfer speed of around 6-10 MB/s.
Click to expand...

If you want great speeds and low power consumption, then the Banana Pi is what you need. Where you fall short is the number of HDDs - there is only one SATA port. If you dont mind, IMO the best is to pickup a x86 board and use it with FreeNAS/NAS4Free/etc. This is with cost perspective. A SATA port multiplier is not a best option, IMO.
 
vivek.krishnan said:
If you want great speeds and low power consumption, then the Banana Pi is what you need. Where you fall short is the number of HDDs - there is only one SATA port. If you dont mind, IMO the best is to pickup a x86 board and use it with FreeNAS/NAS4Free/etc. This is with cost perspective. A SATA port multiplier is not a best option, IMO.
Click to expand...
I think I will first try to make a makeshift NAS using whatever I have right now. I will try to increase the transfer speed to around 6 MB/s for now. Once I feel that is not cutting it, will go for an x86 board or more powerful Linux boards with Gigabit ethernet. Currently I don't own any router which can do Gigabit speed anyway. Let me see how much I can accomplish.
Just ordered a 4 pole RCA cable for my Pi. Will try to figure out the issue with Ethernet once I hook it up with my old TV.
 
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hotshot05 said:
I think I will first try to make a makeshift NAS using whatever I have right now. I will try to increase the transfer speed to around 6 MB/s for now. Once I feel that is not cutting it, will go for an x86 board or more powerful Linux boards with Gigabit ethernet. Currently I don't own any router which can do Gigabit speed anyway. Let me see how much I can accomplish.
Just ordered a 4 pole RCA cable for my Pi. Will try to figure out the issue with Ethernet once I hook it up with my old TV.
Click to expand...
Even in consider upgrading your network in future to gigabit purchasing a gigabit switch instead of a costlier router is better. If you intend to use a powerful wifi/dual band wifi then consider upgrading your router.
 
Ranjith Sai said:
Even in consider upgrading your network in future to gigabit purchasing a gigabit switch instead of a costlier router is better. If you intend to use a powerful wifi/dual band wifi then consider upgrading your router.
Click to expand...
But switches are ethernet based totally(as far as I know). So if I want good speeds, I will have to connect both Pi and laptop to same switch using ethernet. By this methodi won't get good trasnfer speeds via Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi is my primary requirement).
If I connect switch to present 10/100M router then speeds will automaticllly be restricted to 100M.

Connected the Pi to another router using Ethernet. Connected laptop to this router using Wi-Fi. Getting 5-5.3MB/s when transferring files via SFTP on FileZilla. For some reason, I am unable to connect to Pi using insecure FTP. Still working on fixing this. Samba was not working when connected via Ethernet. Trying to troubleshoot this too.

In Windows 7 in the properties for the Wi-Fi connection, it says 72Mbps. Any idea why? The new router that I used is Wireless N and supports upto 300Mbps. (Not sure if this speed is on 2.4 GHz band or 5GHz band). [Router = Asus N12 D1]
The previous router that I was using was a Tp Link MR3020. It was a 150N router and when connected to it, in Win 7 it showed 72Mbps connection only.
 
I was running this setup Freens>wired gigabit ethernet>WIFI @ 150 Mbps>HTPC. I my opinion if you want to stream HD, wifi isnt going to cut it. you can stream if the wifi router and the wifi device are in the same room maybe. In case you want to have a cheap freenas setup, I have one for sale. PM me if you want to buy one.
 
hotshot05 said:
But switches are ethernet based totally(as far as I know). So if I want good speeds, I will have to connect both Pi and laptop to same switch using ethernet. By this methodi won't get good trasnfer speeds via Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi is my primary requirement).
If I connect switch to present 10/100M router then speeds will automaticllly be restricted to 100M.

Connected the Pi to another router using Ethernet. Connected laptop to this router using Wi-Fi. Getting 5-5.3MB/s when transferring files via SFTP on FileZilla. For some reason, I am unable to connect to Pi using insecure FTP. Still working on fixing this. Samba was not working when connected via Ethernet. Trying to troubleshoot this too.

In Windows 7 in the properties for the Wi-Fi connection, it says 72Mbps. Any idea why? The new router that I used is Wireless N and supports upto 300Mbps. (Not sure if this speed is on 2.4 GHz band or 5GHz band). [Router = Asus N12 D1]
The previous router that I was using was a Tp Link MR3020. It was a 150N router and when connected to it, in Win 7 it showed 72Mbps connection only.
Click to expand...

802.11n will hit 300 Mbps only if you have channel bonding turned on in the router settings.

It should still connect at ~150Mbps though. Are you sure your laptop supports connecting to 802.11n networks? Alternatively, you can check if your router is running in mixed n/g mode instead of pure g mode.
 
whatsinaname said:
802.11n will hit 300 Mbps only if you have channel bonding turned on in the router settings.

It should still connect at ~150Mbps though. Are you sure your laptop supports connecting to 802.11n networks? Alternatively, you can check if your router is running in mixed n/g mode instead of pure g mode.
Click to expand...
I believe his laptop's wifi module is limiting the speed. Check the specifications of your laptop wifi module.
 
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