Another newbie needs help

[Erni]

Hi,
so I have read the NAS guide and I am still confused about what NAS to get.

Here is what I think I need my NAS to do:

• Stream movies to two TV's
• DLNA compatible
• Store music, maybee an iTunes server
• Hook up printer to NAS
• Backup 3 or so computers, running Windows

Some nice to have features

• cloud/web accessible content, for sharing with family
• second printer hookup
• encrypted disk or at least a share/folder
• IP camera (?) compatible, so I can check on my dog

I think I would like to have a RAID 1 setup, but I think a single drive NAS and a second NAS or USB drive might do.

Questions:
Single or dual or ? bay NAS?
How much storage do I need? I have ~200 CD's and less than 100 DVD's that need ripping. (yes I am old school...). But that may grow as we pick up more kids movies.
Is getting a two bay NAS and running only one disk for now a good way to go?

This is my first time building a home network and setting up a NAS. I am fairly tech competent, but clearly not enough to choose a NAS.

[jobongo]

There are quite a few NASs out there that can do what you are asking. The question is how much are you willing to pay? For my network I bought a Buffalo Linkstation Pro Duo. It is a gigabit NAS that works pretty well, IMO. I got the 2TB version which was just over $200. It does everything that you are looking for in your post and more except for one thing. The encrypted folder. I am not sure exactly what you want to do but I do know that you can hack the firmware to install optware which is great. There are many other NAS's that perform the same or even better but speaking from personal experience, I find this one to do great.

[nubyOz]

Hi,
Very happy here with my Synology 212J.
Does everything I need and by your list everything you need.
Put in two WD 2TB red drives and your have a great system.
I dont do RAID or anything.. just two separate discs, one for personal network folders and backup of PCs, the other for media sharing.
That way they have little interference with each other.
I hook up a basic 2TB USB drive for a secondary back of personal files, I don't back up my media.
Also used to share my printer before I hooked up a network printer.
DSM software has frequent updates. But read the forums before you upgrade, version 4.1 is better be skipped.
Otherwise can only recommend it.