[mysticc]

Originally Posted by arttu I live in Finland and would like to buy Synology DS1010+ but at something over 700 € it´s out of my budget.

700€ plus 4 x approx 75€ for 1,5 TB gives 1000€ and a capacity of 4.5 TB for the start.
You can grow anytime you can afford with a 5th disk and step by step replace 1,5 with 2,0 to get 8 TB in the end.

In your budget, quiet, very fast (as I remember the fastest one out there at this time), and even expandable with extension DX510 (5 disks more) in case you want even more space.

I would not make any compromises here as long as you are willing to use your whole budget.

Transferring files via Ethernet to Dune is pretty slow. You might want to look in the HDI section for that.

[fld9]

I am not sure that USB3 is a good investment at this time when I read reports on performance compare to SATA. (See xbitlabs)

Originally Posted by arttu I searched the net and I came to the conclusion that I could probably use the Lian Li EX-50 in either of two ways. 1.) I would do something like what twol proposed. Stick a USB 3.0 pci card (if I go with EX-503) in my PC , attach Lian Li EX-503 or EX-50 to it, add all my Blu-rays, and then carry and plug in the 503 to my Dune. New movies could be added to Lian Li by ethernet from PC to Dune (can Dune do this?) which would see Lian Li as a 8 TB internal hard drive. Then I could sometimes carry the Lian Li to my PC for use of the various software packages for my media library and updates. 2.) I would keep the Lian Li plugged on my Dune´s eSata the whole time and Dune would use it as if it was it´s internal hard drive. I would transfer my ripped BLu-rays from the PC with some Dune application to Dune´s internal disk, which would be the Lian Li EX-50 RAID. Then I could play my 8 TB of usable BDs with some Dune app. -Are these choices possible? -Does Lian Li products format the hard disks, and if they do then to what format? Can Dune understand this format? Do I have to format the hard disks in the PC to NTFS first? -Will Dune understand and use the Lian Li RAID as a 8 TB storage and not 2 TB? -I couldn´t find Lian Li EX-503 from any online shop in Europe. Link would be appreciated.

I already use the Lian Li EX-50 connected to the eSata port of my DS1010+ (cheaper than buying a Synology DX510 extension). I will test the Lian Li EX-50 on the Dune this weekend.

The Lian Li EX-50 comes with a eSata card for your PC and a JMicron management tool. You setup the RAID 5 configuration with this tool and format the system with the Dune. Best is to use the native format of the Dune, not NTFS.

You connect the Lian Li EX-50 to your PC to transfer all your multimedia content and then to the Dune to play them.

Since you cannot upgrade your RAID 5 configuration (not as flexible as a NAS), I would recommend to invest right away in 5 * 2Tb disks. The Lian Li EX-50 supports disks up to 2 Tb (not like the EX-40...). In raid 5, this will give you 8 Tb.

But with NAS or hardware raid systems, always backup your data.

I will finish answering your questions this weekend

There is no compromise in choosing a hardware raid system compare to a NAS. More you should not have any firmware update to do with a hardware raid system: less maintenance than a NAS.

[twol]

[QUOTE=fld9;196522]I am not sure that USB3 is a good investment at this time when I read reports on performance compare to SATA. (See xbitlabs)


I use a MSI USB 3.0 card with a Samsung 7200 rpm disk, and the performance is excellent when ripping DVD's - the report indicates speed concerns with SSD's which could be down to the ASUS USB 3.0 card.
Also using USB is simple whereas Sata/esata connections on a PC are not always.

I would love to know where you bought the EX-50 l

[mysticc]

Originally Posted by fld9 There is no compromise in choosing a hardware raid system compare to a NAS. More you should not have any firmware update to do with a hardware raid system: less maintenance than a NAS.

I don`t feel comfortable comparing a pure RAID-device with a NAS.

Ouuh, doing a FW upgrade twice a year, this is maintenance, yeah

But may it be - less maintenance - yes, but more less possibilities.


However, if storing really is the only need and nothing else is requested a pure RAID-device will do at some bucks less, sure.

[arttu]

I think I´m going to go with Lian Li EX-50 (possibly EX-503 if it comes available in a trusted online shop) and 5 * 2Tb disks. eSata will provide me with fast enough speed when I´m transfering files straight from PC and it seems to me to have a potential of beeing a plug and play type of setup. This will also cost me somewhere between 400 to 500 euros less than the same amount of storage space in a NAS. Media library functions will be more difficult to keep up-to-date but you got to take a hit in something.

fld9
I´m looking forward to hearing from your experiences with Lian Li EX-50 and the Dune.



P.S. also wondering whether my Win 7 32 bit PC will understand Lian Li after Dune has formatted the hard drives to something other than NTFS...

[fld9]

Originally Posted by arttu I think I´m going to go with Lian Li EX-50 (possibly EX-503 if it comes available in a trusted online shop) and 5 * 2Tb disks. eSata will provide me with fast enough speed when I´m transfering files straight from PC and it seems to me to have a potential of beeing a plug and play type of setup. This will also cost me somewhere between 400 to 500 euros less than the same amount of storage space in a NAS. Media library functions will be more difficult to keep up-to-date but you got to take a hit in something. fld9 I´m looking forward to hearing from your experiences with Lian Li EX-50 and the Dune. P.S. also wondering whether my Win 7 32 bit PC will understand Lian Li after Dune has formatted the hard drives to something other than NTFS...

Hi Arttu,

I confirm the Lian Li EX-50 works with the Dune Prime 3.0.

I installed 3 Seagate LP Barracuda 1.5 Tb disks, set the configuration to Raid 5, format it from the Dune (about 10 minutes), copy files from Dune internal drive to Lian Li EX-50 and play video files from Lian Li EX-50.

I recommend the drives to be prepared before installing them in the Lian Li EX-50 - especially if they are desktop-class drives (NAS people will know what I am talking about): writing 0s across the all disk for example for the drive to remap any bad sectors. They are good freeware tools on the Internet for this.

It should work fine if you format in NTFS from your PC.

Cheers.

[fld9]

[QUOTE=twol;196523]

Originally Posted by fld9 I am not sure that USB3 is a good investment at this time when I read reports on performance compare to SATA. (See xbitlabs) I use a MSI USB 3.0 card with a Samsung 7200 rpm disk, and the performance is excellent when ripping DVD's - the report indicates speed concerns with SSD's which could be down to the ASUS USB 3.0 card. Also using USB is simple whereas Sata/esata connections on a PC are not always. I would love to know where you bought the EX-50 l

Hi twol,

The Lian Li EX-50 comes with a eSata card fyi.

I bought the EX-50 in Paris. PM me if you want more info.

[clueluzz]

Drobo FS looks like a simple and nice setup.

[fld9]

Originally Posted by clueluzz Drobo FS looks like a simple and nice setup.

Way too expensive compare to a hardware raid system like the Lian Li EX-50.

Also too expensive compare to a DS1010+. For 90€ more for a DS1010+, you have an additional LAN port (total of 2), 4 USB ports, 1 eSata port and much more features (firmware) and applications (ipkg) with 3-year warranty. And I am not even comparing the chip...

Source drobostore.com: Drobo FS at 589€
Source MagicPC.fr: DS1010+ at 679.90€

[mpywisme]

I use this :-

http://www.icydock.com.tw/eng/goods.php?id=69

but my setting is JBOD and not using RAID, however it says it does support RAID5