Home NAS design?

There are a lot of questions about NAS here. I'm looking for input on how to expand my home network: with a (4-bay) NAs.

Current setup: 1x PC (gigabit ethernet), 1x Mac (gigabit ethernet), 1x media player, assorted iPads. Netgear DGN2200 ADSL Router (10/100 mbit).
At the moment, the "bottleneck" of the system is my (slow) ADSL Internet connection. When I install a NAS, I will want to have as much as possible using gigabit speed. Which means, somewhere in my proposed setup, I will need a gigabit speed router...

Questions:
1. Does anyone sell a combined 4-bay NAS and gigabit router? Or is this where I'd need to build a Server (which can also act as a router)?
2. While it would be simpler to replace the current router, it would be cheaper to add a small gigabit router. Assuming I went the cheap way, and then bought a NAS with 2 ethernet ports, could I use the NAS to bridge between the (new, fast) and (old, slower) routers?

Alan Campbell

Posted 2014-11-20T01:56:21.883

Reputation: 113

Answers

The Cheap way is to take any old Tower PC with at least 4 bays and 4 sata ports, put two ethernet ports in it and run (LInux) Samba for your file (NAS) services and iptables for your firewall.

You will have full gigabit speeds to the inside interface of the box.

You can run raid on your disks.

You can even configure openvpn and/or run a webserver on the outside interface, and with a free dynamic dns account, have access to features and functions on your box from anywhere in the world.

It is not plug and play, but the price cannot be beat.

Timbo

Posted 2014-11-20T01:56:21.883

Reputation: 390

Any reason why you have to have a "combined" NAS + router? Just buy a switch and NAS separately and attach all nodes to the switch.

What are you trying to accomplish?

osij2is

Posted 2014-11-20T01:56:21.883

Reputation: 1 937

You can buy multiple devices, and have them sit side-by-side (or on top of each other in a rack), taking up 2 power points, with wires connecting them. Think: home stereo with individual components. OR- you can have a single all-in-one device. Think: integrated media system. The integrated setup is easier to install, has less wires, and is (usually) cheaper than buying individual components. – Alan Campbell – 2014-11-20T02:11:31.293

1Integrated can also be a single point of failure. Don't forget that. Either the product you want is limited by vendors because no one wants it, or it's more expensive and too complex.

Why not just buy a firewall/router with 4+ ports and call it a day. NASes are meant to be an endpoint, not the switch itself. I fail to see just how much money or how much easier it is to set this up. Trying to make the NAS a network bridge is complicated and depending on the vendor, probably not feasible. That said, you still haven't answered my question. – osij2is – 2014-11-20T02:33:14.193

You asked what I was trying to accomplish. I'm looking for easy installation, less wiring & configuration, and low cost. Depending on my success, several friends will ask "how did you do it" or "will you set one up at my home". That's a perilous path, and it pays to have the answers ready beforehand. Hence my posting here on Stackexchange. – Alan Campbell – 2014-11-20T02:49:35.167