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Basically I would like to know, if it is possible to set up an NAS in my house to be accessed wirelessly, that can reach equivalent real-life data transfer speeds to USB 3.0 or an internal SATA hard drive.
I have been wanting to do this for some time ( a couple of years now). Basically, this is what I want to do:
Plug in a number of hard drives in an array, somewhere in my house, to be left plugged in and never have to be monitored. Ideally several terabytes.
Whenever I am home, to have my computer and laptop configured to automatically find the NAS, as easy as plugging in an external hard drive - except completely wirelessly.
Data transfer needs to be as seamless and quick as having added another internal hard drive in my laptop.
Moreover, data should be able to accessed without having to copy it over - I should be able to wirelessly access the NAS and browse files, and open files directly from the NAS. For example, say I wanted to open a video - I should be able to play the video that is located on the NAS, directly from the NAS, completely wirelessly. If I wanted to open a .pdf file, I should be able to open it and read it directly from the NAS, as if it were located on my physical internal hard drive.
Cost is important as well.
Please tell me what equipment I need for this to be possible. I know you geniuses out there who can tell me if this is possible.
Would I be able to, say, stream a movie from my NAS to my laptop? The purpose if primarily one of data storage, but also seamless wireless access of the data. – superuser – 2012-03-30T05:05:00.690
I stream 1080p movies across 802.11n 5Ghz without any issues. Bitrates for video tend to top out at the 20Mbps rate, so accounting for overheads it fits. – Paul – 2012-03-30T05:25:59.797
1The highest data rate mentioned in Blu-ray specs is 72 Mbps. If a wireless N network can stream at even a third of it's rated speed, that's more than twice the required rate for any movie. In the real world, 25 Mbps is probably all you need for movie playback. – Dave Becker – 2012-03-30T05:28:23.927
1@DaveBecker Yeah, I was considering rips, which tend to be far more compressed than blu-ray native. – Paul – 2012-03-30T05:49:36.147