NAS - to get started with

[noblejose]

I'm looking to purchase a NAS to place my nearly 500GB+ music files.. what is the best and affordable way to get started...
(Currently my files are in Laptop and I use 'minimserver' to make those available in network/DLNA - and using 'mconnect lite' player to browse and play to Allo USBridge Signature > Chord Qutest.
Will a basic Synology is good to start with/ or any pi based ones?

thanks,
Noble

 

[sim_tcr]

I am also in same situation.

I already have pi 4 4GB, was thinking of running openmediavault or any other open nas software with QZ SATA to USB 3.1 Adapter for HDD. I have a 1 TB HDD and 120 GB SSD to try with this.

My requirement is, I should be able to stream HDR, Dolby Vision downloaded movies from it.

If this works, the main advantage I see is, pi draws very less power.

 

[headcase]

If the general idea is to create server only then HDD can also be connected to modem/router USB port and enable upnp on modem/router.

 

[sim_tcr]

If the general idea is to create server only then HDD can also be connected to modem/router USB port and enable upnp on modem/router.

Tried that, but high bit rate movies dont stream well.

 

[headcase]

Tried that, but high bit rate movies dont stream well.

Ok. I used it for music only purpose.

You can consider Nvidia shield then. Has 2 usb 3 ports and hdd can also be put on network.

 

[mbhangui]

I am also in same situation.

I already have pi 4 4GB, was thinking of running openmediavault or any other open nas software with QZ SATA to USB 3.1 Adapter for HDD. I have a 1 TB HDD and 120 GB SSD to try with this.

That will work quite well. You just need to enable nfs4 or samba on your pi4. My entire house runs with a pi4 with a 3 Tb disk connected to on its usb3.0 port and the pi4 connected with a lan cable to a gigabit port on the switch. Just make sure that you don't format the drive as NTFS. You an use exfat, ext4, zfs anything, but not NTFS because the linux NTFS driver has very bad performance

NFS4 gives you very good performance for linux clients. But for windows or macbook to be able to access the content on the disk you will need to configure samba. With samba, it doesn't matter what your filesystem is.

Install mpd, the pi4 will become a music server and you can control it from phone, tablet, laptop
Install raspotify the pi4 can play music from spotify and you can control it from phone, tablet, laptop
install kodi the pi4 will become a media server and you can watch movies apart from playing music
install minidlna the pi4 will become a media server and clients can use upnp to access it
install LMS, the pi4 will become a logitech media server
instlal squeezelite the pi4 can be controlled from anywhere and play music
Install shairport-sync, the pi4 becomes an airplay device. However this will not be as good as a real apple hardware.

All above with just apt-get install program_name.

Tried that, but high bit rate movies dont stream well.

Almost all routers are linux based. The trouble with them is that the firmware has been coded in a way to allow only NTFS, FAT or exFAT. This is because of interoperability and less complications for end users. But moment you connect NTFS disk you have drastically reducted the IO performance. See this post https://www.hifivision.com/threads/help-in-building-raspberry-pi-with-dac.87420/post-997994.

For music the router is ok because even for DSD playback you don't require > 100 mbps speed. The routers have a puny processor and is no match for the PI4 processor. So transferring large 4K movie files on a NTFS disk will give you bad performance using the router port.

 

[sim_tcr]

That will work quite well. You just need to enable nfs4 or samba on your pi4. My entire house runs with a pi4 with a 3 Tb disk connected to on its usb3.0 port and the pi4 connected with a lan cable to a gigabit port on the switch.

Is it an external 3 TB usb hard drive? Or normal SATA HDD connected via sata to usb dock?

 

[mbhangui]

Is it an external 3 TB usb hard drive? Or normal SATA HDD connected via sata to usb dock?

It is a seagate usb 3 Tb Sata hard drive inside the seagate enclosure. But what you listed above is exactly what is inside the so called drives that come with an enclosure. One can also buy such enclosures (good quality ones) and hard disk separately. The advantage of doing this DIY is that you can put good quality hard disk.

 

[sim_tcr]

I did setup this.
I am getting around 60MB/s copying speed to the NAS from a windows 10 PC. Both pi and windows 10 connected to Gigabit ethernet.
Its is 4TB WD Mypassport USB 3.0 HDD formatted as ext4.

 

[Amarendra]

I'm looking to purchase a NAS to place my nearly 500GB+ music files.. what is the best and affordable way to get started...
(Currently my files are in Laptop and I use 'minimserver' to make those available in network/DLNA - and using 'mconnect lite' player to browse and play to Allo USBridge Signature > Chord Qutest.
Will a basic Synology is good to start with/ or any pi based ones?

thanks,
Noble

After loads of DIY attempts I picked up a Synology DS 220+. No brainer and buttery smooth operation. It has LAN aggregation as well and RAM can be upgraded (never felt the need to so far). Will be more costly than DIY but will provide ultimate peace of mind. I use 2 X 4TB Ironwolf drives in RAID. If possible try to pick it off line in the local store so that its much cheaper than online prices. I can no longer be blackmailed by Google photos or Apple to buy online space

 

[AmK]

I'm looking to purchase a NAS to place my nearly 500GB+ music files.. what is the best and affordable way to get started...
(Currently my files are in Laptop and I use 'minimserver' to make those available in network/DLNA - and using 'mconnect lite' player to browse and play to Allo USBridge Signature > Chord Qutest.
Will a basic Synology is good to start with/ or any pi based ones?

thanks,
Noble

If you would be interested in experimenting a different path, I would suggest the following. A few audiophiles I know (with very high end systems) have tried this, and find it to sound the best.

Load Euphony operating system on any PC. Hardware requirements are very minimal (it will work with 8 gb ram and even with a pentium processor). Euphony has it's own player/library manager called Stylus.

For your 500gb library, store the files on the interall ssd/hd of the PC, or connect an external hard drive to the PC (using USB).

Connect your PC to the Allo USBridge via usb.

You can google Euphony Audio for more details. I use a similar setup as described above, and it sounds very good.

 

[rdevakumar]

My requirement is only sharing Audio files between my devices (Streamer, TV, Laptop) and manage the audio files centrally. Setup the the old Raspberry Pi 2 with Open Media Vault with mini DLNA plugin. Followed the below YouTube video for the setup instructions. All went smooth except the setup took more time considering the old version of Pi.

 

[ajuvignesh]

I recently installed openmediavault on an rpi3 and also purchased the mconnect app on ios and android to play qobuz and local NAS files on my stereo setup.
The problem is that the OMV doesn't show up on mconnect. I could play songs using the iphone's file manager app, computer, android phones, etc. But only mconnect app on both iPhone and android doesn't see OMV.
I have a TP-Link router with USB and when I connect the same HDD to the router, it shows up on mconnect. What could be the issue?
I am attaching the settings of OMV.


Shares settings

 

[ajuvignesh]

@mbhangui Any idea about the issue above sir?

 

[mbhangui]

@mbhangui Any idea about the issue above sir?

can you cut/paste the lines of /etc/samba/smb.conf from your raspberry pi.

 

[ajuvignesh]

Thanks for your reply. Hope the below is what you asked. I am not strong in coding but I navigated to /samba and used the comment 'open smb.conf'

# This file is auto-generated by openmediavault (https://www.openmediavault.org)


# WARNING: Do not edit this file, your changes will get lost.


#======================= Global Settings =======================


[global]


workgroup = WORKGROUP


server string = %h server


dns proxy = no


log level = 0


log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m


max log size = 1000


logging = syslog


panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d


passdb backend = tdbsam


obey pam restrictions = no


unix password sync = no


passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u


passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .


pam password change = yes


socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY


guest account = nobody


load printers = no


disable spoolss = yes


printing = bsd


printcap name = /dev/null


unix extensions = yes


wide links = no


create mask = 0777


directory mask = 0777


use sendfile = yes


aio read size = 1


aio write size = 1


time server = no


wins support = no


disable netbios = no


multicast dns register = no


server min protocol = NT1


ntlm auth = ntlmv1-permitted


# Special configuration for Apple's Time Machine


fruit:aapl = yes


fruit:copyfile = yes


fruit:nfs_aces = no


#======================= Share Definitions =======================


[nasty]


path = /srv/dev-disk-by-uuid-6147-17EF/nasty/


guest ok = no


guest only = no


read only = no


browseable = yes


inherit acls = no


inherit permissions = no


ea support = no


store dos attributes = no


vfs objects =


printable = no


create mask = 0664


force create mode = 0664


directory mask = 0775


force directory mode = 0775


hide special files = yes


follow symlinks = yes


hide dot files = yes


valid users = "pi",@"pi"


invalid users =


read list =


write list = "pi",@"pi"

 

[mbhangui]

Thanks for your reply. Hope the below is what you asked. I am not strong in coding but I navigated to /samba and used the comment 'open smb.conf'

hmm. The correct way is to login to the raspberry pi using ssh if you are using a macbook or linux. If using windows, there is a ssh client called putty.

You are not using official way to setup samba. You are using a third party product open media vault. That's ok when you have no idea of linux. But there always will be few things that get messed up when you don't using native tools to setup native linux software. For creating a NAS using linux the thing that does it, is a daemon known as smbd, and the configuration file for that is /etc/samba/smb.conf. Remeber that open media vault is not the software that is providing you NAS. It just creates the file /etc/samba/smb.conf. It is actually like the notepad editor that helps you create a text file on windows. The thing that provides NAS is smbd and if you set it right, you will be able to access your nasty share from linux, windows and mac.

If you are using a macbook or linux, fine. If you are using windows, install putty and come back. We will fix this issue step by step

This is the smb.conf I would like you to try. You can make a copy of current smb.conf before proceeding. But first thing is you need to be able to login to your raspberry pi using ssh or putty. Let me know when you can do that. If you face any issue, let me know. I'm enclosing the copy of smb.conf that we will ultimately have

[nasty]
comment = Music Folder Share
path = /srv/dev-disk-by-uuid-6147-17EF/nasty/
browseable = yes
create mask = 0664
directory mask = 0775
valid users = pi, root, nobody
guest ok = yes
admin users = pi
writeable = yes
; public = yes
; locking = no
; oplocks = no
; kernel oplocks = no
; posix locking = no
; guest only = no
; read only = no
; inherit acls = no
; inherit permissions = no
; ea support = no
; store dos attributes = no
; vfs objects =
; printable = no
; force create mode = 0664
; force directory mode = 0775
; hide special files = yes
; follow symlinks = yes
; hide dot files = yes
; invalid users =
; read list =

 

[mbhangui]

Why connecting a usb disk to your router works is because your router probably has an insecure option which allows everyone and anyone in your network to access the shared drive. public=yes and allowing guest in smb.conf will have the same effect. In fact your router too runs using linux and uses smbd and /etc/samba/smb.conf

 

[ajuvignesh]

Thank you mbhangui. I use a macbook pro. I used this comment to login to pi. ssh pi@ipaddress. Yeah, I am ready. Lets do this

 

[ajuvignesh]

Why connecting a usb disk to your router works is because your router probably has an insecure option which allows everyone and anyone in your network to access the shared drive. public=yes and allowing guest in smb.conf will have the same effect. In fact your router too runs using linux and uses smbd and /etc/samba/smb.conf

Yes, My router USB was configured as public share and that is why it worked. However, it wasn't showing up on Volumio.