elysion
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Post by elysion on Jul 13, 2012 0:59:49 GMT
Nice to see that you have done the next step. But, to be honest, a NAS from Buffalo wouldn't be my choice. They don't have a good reputation. Synology, QNAP and others are the market leaders there and this with good reason.
That doesn't mean that the Buffalo won't do the job. You'll see that it doesn't takes so much to achieve what you want. Even a quite basic NAS will do the job in most situations.
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elysion
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Post by elysion on Jul 13, 2012 1:12:43 GMT
IMVHO, it's more like a day (Synology/QNAP) and night (Buffalo) difference. But as mentioned above, this Buffalo NAS can do still the job. It's just not state-of-the-art (to say the least). Jumbo packets are only available in Gigabit Ethernet, you need a router with a Gigabit LAN port or a Gigabit switch before the router. A cheap 5 port D-Link, Netgear switch will do fine and won't break the bank. Edit:I've just checked and it looks like the E4200 does have Gigabit but its firmware does not support Jumbo frames. You'll need to add a switch Jumbo frame capable before it or wait until they publish a firmware revision adding that feature (if they ever do). Ah, thanks. This Cisco is supposed to be a highend wireless N router and with no jumbo packet support, damn it! I will write to them to ask whether they will have a firmware upgrade with jumbo in it later. I wouldn't be so loyal now. Only thing is Cisco nowadays is real nice and slim looking. The best look of all the wireless N routers. Btw, there is nowadays link aggregation too in NAS or client equiped with it. Is there any in switches with that feature as well for future proofing? Technically should be twice the speed but as we know specs wouldn't tell us all. Those cheap CISCO Linksys routers are crap, more exactly the SOFTWARE on it is crap (really!). Is this also one of the routers which require you to be part of the "Cisco Connect Cloud" (which is a TOTAL bullshit)? I have also a older Cisco Linksys wirless router around. It's a WRT54GL. It's only for 54Mbit, but it's possible to use a custom Linux firmware with it. I use "Tomato". It's not spectacular regarding the used hardware, but the software IS. It's a VERY professional router firmware which gives you almost every feature you can wish, including a very good implementation of QOS (Quality of Service). Oldie but goldie. The software/firmware on that router is absolutely outstanding and very professional. Cisco/Linksys is still selling this oldie router (the WRT54GL) since it became so popular. You can choose out of dozens of open-sourced firmware variants for it. There are also alternative firmwares for other routers available, but you have to carefully check models and revisions on the compatibility list of the respective firmware.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 13, 2012 1:47:50 GMT
If you rely on old crap like this 20GB drive, you don't have to wonder if your data gets lost. Time to get rid of that crap. You are asking always about NAS/storage to play "AV" files without any glitches and then you use such crap? That will be destined for data transfer and storage only. Not AV. Like I had wrote earlier, I need the "AV" computer for gaming too. So the next MB must be the most "kilat", Malay word for most extreme, too that I can afford when earning again. There is NO 5400rpm speed limit. It's only a question of the controller, interface and the driver (for the size). Size limits are mostly a thing of the past. The ONLY current size limitation is for SATA storage with more than 2TB. SATA storage with more than 2TB NEEDS UEFI firmware to be bootable, but can also used without problems in BIOS mode (but you can't boot this media in BIOS mode). You can also use a 3 or 4TB disk to boot with a BIOS, BUT then you can only use a maximum of 2TB space on that disk/partition and depending on your OS/drivers/firmware you could also run into issues. In practice, you can't boot 2TB media without UEFI firmware on your PC. I don't intend to go until such size for the "AV" PC. A SSD, I will. But only until about 250 to 500 GB will be more than enough for AV apps and games. Remember the PC will be a dedicated "AV" PC and not like Alex's PC loaded with whatever softwares he fancy that he can find. Those tera HDD will be for storage only. I will "upgrade" the NAS to 4 2TB Hitachi HDD SATA3 when fund permits again. Anyway, how do we do a RAID 5 upgrade to 8TB with 4 new 2TB HDDs? Speed is only limited by the interface itself. The interface doesn't care at all if the platters are turning with 5400, 7200, 10000 or 15000rpm. FORGET about any PATA/IDE media nowadays. This is crap from the past. No problem though to use a PATA interface if you have still working old PATA hardware and for optical drives the speed of the PATA interface doesn't matter at all. It's still fast enough for all optical media beside Bluray drives (which have been sold only with SATA interfaces IIRC). SATA was released in 2003! That's almost ten years back and SATA has been improved already several times. Yeah, I realise that my Samsung F4 DAS is a 5400rpmer and it preforms as good as the Seagate benchmark HDD at 64MB cache, 7200 rpm, SATA 3 and 3 platters HDD. But only on PAPER TEST and NOT in real world usage. In real world, the Seagate is the king of all HDDs in test. FORGET wireless if you want a really fast network. Most likely, the NAS won't be your problem. And what you mean with "AV" files exactly? Audio itself can't be the problem. The used bandwidth is neglible. And video? Decoding HD videos uses a lot of CPU and/or GPU power. If you don't have a fast computer, then a fast network and a fast NAS are senseless. You'll need to be a lot more specific with "AV" files and "Full HD video" to make an exact answer possible. If you want absolutely no jerks under any circumstances, then go for a really fast intel K-Series CPU, a good motherboard with fast RAM, a high-end GPU and a good and reliable SSD like one of the Crucial m4 series and play the stuff locally. Why use a NAS when you use only one computer? The computer will be a dedicated "AV" one. AV with quotes as games are now also included. Well, actually, I had given up on Wifi for "AV" since last week, as PMed to some members here, as always crash when loaded with AV stuffs. Being OCD, I still want the Wifi to work to the best that it can provide. What better test than those "kill" tests with AV files? Now I'm somewhat happy after much adjustments, as it can do HIREZ audio up to 353-24 and in what ever fromat on que without any jerk, slow loading and worst blue screen crashes. As written above, now I need the best that can be as now games are involved. What's the best VFM Intel chip MB that you can recommend to kepe me in tune with the current MB loop? Btw, how do we check the Intel chip number with Win 7? For comparison: I have a couple of older Synology NAS around (a DS508 and a DS209+ for example, both with an 800MHz PowerPC CPU and 512MB RAM and some older Samsung F1 7200rpm harddrives): I can play easily ripped HD videos (in various formats in 720p or 1080p) over my fast Gigabit-Ethernet network (jumbo frames enabled and switching on a HP ProCurve switch) on a 2007 MacMini with GMA950 graphics that has got faster Kingston Hyper-X RAM. The GMA950 is quite slow, but the faster RAM makes it possible to decode even 1080p (although that's quite at the limit, depending on the video format some frames are dropped and framerate isn't perfect) although his should be only possible for 720p. This 2007 MacMini wouldn't be able to decode a Bluray disks, but it is able to decode some video formats in 720p and 1080p resolution. My faster PC's can do things like HD video decoding and scaling with almost no CPU usage since most of the decoding is done by the GPU. Oh, NAS already settled as I bought a NOS Buffalo Tetrapro 2 with a Marvell 500MHz with 256MB RAM, I think. I need it cheap at this stage. So cheap it was that can do the work will suffice. Really, I wanted a Synology as stated before as all the hifi nuts locally are craving for one. More so for Synology than Qnap. But being out of job can't achieve a SOTA "AV" one at VFM. Buffalo is just that. A poor man "SOTA" NAS. Heh, heh, heh ............ I have not read fully the manual yet as to whether the ram can be upgraded to higher. Sorry, I can't remember exactly what RAM size as I have blur vision of that spec now. I bought a NAS as that's part of my level 1 to 3 backup strategy. Preferably, I don't need to play from the NAS but downloaded to a DAS next to the "AV" PC with a linear PSU with super Vregs if possible at all. Oh, the 2007 MacMini can't do bluray disc. Quite surprise on knowing that. Hope the post 2012 can. Aiyah, 2012 ............. Disaster too for new Mac Mini? Btw, I wouldn't accept anything less than 1080p for my "AV" setup. I will give you the hardware specs directions I have. Just a humble Dell Vostro 430 i7 DT and a HP G4 i5 LT to just give you a thinker. Hope those meet the minimum requirements for my needs. Of course, I will not be playing games thru the LT. Don't be crazy. Just hirez audio and video playbacks will do for the LT. IIRC, I've never suggested using RAID 10. Since you don't have a lot of money now, why don't you go for a nice midrange Synology NAS with room for two drives and use them as RAID1 (mirrored). I'm almost sure that will do the job in most situations and you have still some money left for Gigabit Ethernet networking. Your PC specs would also be interesting. The fastest server and network are senseless if your client can't decode the stuff in time. A screwed up network config will also slow things down. RAID5 or RAID6 on a NAS is always a risk since these little boxes take often DAYS to recover a RAID set if one disk has failed. RAID6 allows two disks to fail but it takes just a long for the recovery of a RAID set. You'd need to keep also (preferably) at least one spare disk around (same type as in your RAID set), since disks types are changing quite often and compatability between different types of disks in a RAID set CAN be a problem with some NAS. It doesn't have to be a problem though, but you never know. Heh, heh, RAID 10 misquoted and I'm truely sorry for that. RAID 1+0? Ok, on a serious note, drop what I had written if you are not a fun guy. I think I will still stick with RAID 5 as firstly, that came already preconfigured for the Buffalo and secondly, as this NAS is for a home network, I can wait for it to rearray. For office critical uptime and safety, RAID 1 will be best as just put in another new HDD or SSD and just copy (mirror) over. Much faster at the expense of space wastage and parallel speed as everything needs to be 2 for just one volume. To me RAID 5 is still the best for home usage. I will go to heck with the money saving and go RAID 1 to protect my job if I'm an IT administrator. I have taken note of the one extra same brand and specs HDD to be around. Good one there! So 5 2TB Hitachi to be bought. If you ask me, then go out an have a real-world look on a NAS system a make some tests. I don't understand why you are so picky about no glitches when using AV or HD video files over a network and then you are using crap like the 20GB PATA drive mentioned above. Oh, I'm asking that as initially I was only going for AV. But now gaming, I need to relook in the direction of a much better HDD. So that will be demoted to just data storage. How we change with times and needs. I guess your main problem is that you can't imagine the scales we have been talking about in this thread for a long time. You simply need some practice to give you a feeling about the scales we are talking about.
I can understand that very well. I'm still a total soldering noob, but I have started soldering myself recently. The reason why I was hesitating so long was because I had no practice and no one was explaining it to me in the real world and no one gave me the needed practical advice here in Switzerland. It's not enough to read books, review or the get hints over the internet by experts. You (and me and everyone) need some practice to understand really how it works or for example how fast or big a certain value is.
Since I've got some real advice for soldering, I don't see it as a problem. I think it's fun now. It was a long way though and if I'm looking back, I was stupid because I didn't get that advice before. But that's not always easy. I had no one around to show it to me.Do you know some computer guys in Singapore or have you the possibility to join a computer user group there? I know there are very capable computer guys over there. It's probably only a matter of finding and getting in touch with them. I'm sure the answer will be much clearer for you with just a little bit practice. Your are also in the same situation as I am at the moment. We are both jobless. Time isn't our problem. Use that time and search for the practice you need. It's not easy to find it (at first), but it's possible (I'm a good example for that). I wish you a lot of luck with this and you can still always ask on RG if you have questions. BTW: Pass me over your PC specs. I'll have a look on the specs and I can tell you if your PC is able to decode the HD videos you want to use. Yes, you are right there as I'm not a network guy or have setup a network even for home use. I'm not building this network if not for AV and the almost lost (so it seemed then and really scared me into OCD action) large qty of music and video files that I had accumulated over the last year. I'm still a physical AV player kind. Yeah, talking of LP, CD, SACD, DVD, Bluray, TT, the physical AV stuffs and not in the computer. Only recently at RG I got interested in computer audio (ok, ok, computer AV with gaming to be more accurate) due to the mentioned case above. I study technical and so getting to know the framework of network will not be too much of a problem for me. I just need to ask and do to understand it better and how to optimise it. In fact, I had already optimised much of the Wifi N to reach this stage of hirez audio playback stability. Wiil be going into QoS, CoS, MTU and SKU soon after I find out more on the last 2 from some helpful local computer nerds and obviously professional in the local hifi forums. Good to know more from RG especially you and Javier. Thanks with deep appreciation. Job wise, I still can do my transport business if I wanted to. Only too lazy to do so and i must make a start back to work routine. My computer specs: Dell Vostro 430 DTi7-860 6GB RAM DDR3 1333 (I think) Nvidia GT220 with 1GB cache Seagate 500 SATA 3.5" HDD Win 7 64 Pro HP G4 LTi5-2410M 2.3Ghz 4GB Ram (What DDR and speed, not sure. How to check?) Radeon AMD HD6470M 1GB cache Hitachi 500GB SATA 300 (I thnk) 2.5" HDD HTS545050B9A300 Win 7 64 Home Premium I can't check the Dell further as I'm downstair with the HP. I will update the specs when I go to my Dell.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 13, 2012 2:04:07 GMT
I don't notice a problem with latency when I play streaming audio from Soma FM over the internet. In fact, it sounds great although it is a crappy audio stream with only a mediocre quality. But my Xonar Essence STX is upsampling that crap an it sounds awesome. Oh, that's still wired over the Internet and at mp3 or lower rez, I presume. I don't have a problem with 44-16 over Wifi N. Only with HIREZ. Wait till you play, 354-24 wav at about 17Mbs and the Wifi not dropping after and blue screen comes out. It's still a question of optimisation and access point placement. Fyi, my Wifi router is downstair and I'm playing HIREZ upstair thru Wifi after some layers of wall and floor. Signal strength still excellent but dropping. Arrghh, all the indicators don't tell me much. Only excellent but dropping with blue screen fireworks.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 13, 2012 2:18:19 GMT
Nice to see that you have done the next step. But, to be honest, a NAS from Buffalo wouldn't be my choice. They don't have a good reputation. Synology, QNAP and others are the market leaders there and this with good reason. That doesn't mean that the Buffalo won't do the job. You'll see that it doesn't takes so much to achieve what you want. Even a quite basic NAS will do the job in most situations. Well, a poor man "SOTA" NAS to just achieve what I want. My next NAS will be a Synology! But when? I don't know.
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elysion
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Post by elysion on Jul 13, 2012 2:32:32 GMT
Once again: FORGET WIFI IF YOU WANT A FAST NETWORK!
Have you read (I mean really read) what I've wrote in the posts before. You're still mixing up a lot of things. Your F4 harddrive is a low-end drive, it makes no sense to compare it with a faster one. It's not (only) a matter of the manufacturer. You can't compare apples with pears.
I'd really suggest you to get some pratice. I'm sure you have a lot of guys in Singapore that can help you with that. Sometimes it's very helpful to see different/hardware software in practice.
Partially, this thread reminds my of the "harshness of tubes" thread that Krisno has started long ago. I'm not angry or whatever, but it's a bit frustrating since you don't even READ respectively UNDERSTAND the suggestions we are giving to you.
To be honest, you've bought a lot of cheap crap and expect it to perform like a champ. That's simply not the case. You have ingnored almost every suggestion we gave to you. I don't care though, it's not my money and I don't have to live with that equipment. But if YOU want to have good computer gear, the you should perhaps read what we write in the posts. I really have the feeling that you don't understand most of the stuff discussed in this thread.
BTW: I makes absolutely NO sense to give suggestions for a new mothboard unless you want to buy one SOON. Motherboards are changing quickly, just as CPU or GPU technology does. You should also KNOW what you really want before you buy something. It also doesn't depend only on the motherboard. A computer is built from several components: Motherboard, CPU, RAM, GPU, storage, network, PSU, case, input devices etc. You need to make sure that these components do match.
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elysion
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Post by elysion on Jul 13, 2012 2:34:57 GMT
I'm almost sure that a 2-bay Synology NAS wouldn't cost more than one with 4-bays from Buffalo.
I don't say that Synology makes the best NAS'. But they are well know for easy to use and very reliable systems. Buffalo is quite the contrary.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 13, 2012 3:38:34 GMT
Those cheap CISCO Linksys routers are crap, more exactly the SOFTWARE on it is crap (really!). Is this also one of the routers which require you to be part of the "Cisco Connect Cloud" (which is a TOTAL bullshit)? I wouldn't say the Cisco router I have is crap as it's working fine with the HP except for the upstair Dell. Really, I'm not sure it's with Cisco Connect Cloud or not as I didn't use any of that. I have also a older Cisco Linksys wirless router around. It's a WRT54GL. It's only for 54Mbit, but it's possible to use a custom Linux firmware with it. I use "Tomato". It's not spectacular regarding the used hardware, but the software IS. It's a VERY professional router firmware which gives you almost every feature you can wish, including a very good implementation of QOS (Quality of Service). Oldie but goldie. The software/firmware on that router is absolutely outstanding and very professional. Cisco/Linksys is still selling this oldie router (the WRT54GL) since it became so popular. You can choose out of dozens of open-sourced firmware variants for it. There are also alternative firmwares for other routers available, but you have to carefully check models and revisions on the compatibility list of the respective firmware. I think I bought a cheap one to be meant for the Sony Bluray player. Let me check. Thanks.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 13, 2012 4:05:44 GMT
Once again: FORGET WIFI IF YOU WANT A FAST NETWORK!Now, now, you have also not read and understood what I had written. I just wanted to make sure the Wifi N is the best that can be. This is the same reply to Alex as well in another thread. What better ways to test then using hirez audio files? I will still download to a DAS with linear PS and super regulator from the NAS to play the audio files. Your F4 harddrive is a low-end drive, it makes no sense to compare it with a faster one. It's not (only) a matter of the manufacturer. You can't compare apples with pears. [/qoute] Oh, I bought since you mentioned Samsung is reliable. Same for the Hitachi HDDs that I will get for the Buffalo NAS. I'd really suggest you to get some pratice. I'm sure you have a lot of guys in Singapore that can help you with that. Sometimes it's very helpful to see different/hardware software in practice. That's what I'm doing now. Then why did I mention optimisation, crashes, jumbo, link aggregation, spanning tree, MTU, QoS, CoS, MTU and SKU that were not even mentioned here for some?. Those were from REAL situations and learning. Now the Wifi hirez audio play back is quite stable after many midnight oil and days at it. Really until the point of OCD from scratch for this even though WIILL NOT be used in actual hirez playback finally. Partially, this thread reminds my of the "harshness of tubes" thread that Krisno has started long ago. I'm not angry or whatever, but it's a bit frustrating since you don't even READ respectively UNDERSTAND the suggestions we are giving to you. I did read what you had written. Then why buy Samsung, Hitachi and finally even Synology even before buying Buffalo? I bought Biuffalo as it's cheap and I need cheap now to meet the basic AV needs that I need now. I will have a Synology finally. To be honest, you've bought a lot of cheap crap and expect it to perform like a champ. That's simply not the case. You have ingnored almost every suggestion we gave to you. I don't care though, it's not my money and I don't have to live with that equipment. But if YOU want to have good computer gear, the you should perhaps read what we write in the posts. I really have the feeling that you don't understand most of the stuff discussed in this thread. I need cheap now. What makes you feel and think that I'm not following your suggestions and reading what you wrote, btw? That's not true if you want the truth and nothing but the truth. God helps us. BTW: I makes absolutely NO sense to give suggestions for a new mothboard unless you want to buy one SOON. Motherboards are changing quickly, just as CPU or GPU technology does. You should also KNOW what you really want before you buy something. It also doesn't depend only on the motherboard. A computer is built from several components: Motherboard, CPU, RAM, GPU, storage, network, PSU, case, input devices etc. You need to make sure that these components do match. That's correct that all will affect. I know what I want, dedicated "AV" with gaming. Btw, the computers hardware that I mentioned above were already bought long before this discussion here. So don't misunderstand that I like to buy craps if you feel that way. Now is only cheap to do the basic work. Later, yes, a real SOTA NAS will come if I'm earning again. Hope I have clarified things up here. Thanks for "hearing" me.
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pagan
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Post by pagan on Jul 13, 2012 5:25:39 GMT
(this may upset some apple carts)
i7 for streaming 1080P is a waste. It's the network speed is priority, and 100MB net is easily enought.
I had a pc setup for media centre a while ago. Gigabyte 780 m/b 4 GB ram and either an AMD Phenom 9550 or a Athlon 240.
Either setup could stream 1080P or 24/192 without any problem. Either setup could play either also. Either setup could be/was clocked down also
It's the chipset/Lan on the motherboard that makes the difference, also if playing local it's the chipset/soundcard. If transcoding at same time it may need some processor capabilities, If there is not a decoder chip on board, but an i7? no. If real time video editing/playing the that's mainly the video card capabilities.
I use a D-Link DNS-323 for a NAS Highly hackable Linux O/S
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elysion
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Post by elysion on Jul 13, 2012 6:05:36 GMT
The "Connect Cloud" was a very bad idea from Cisco. They've tried to replace the standard firmware of a router with a cloud based firmware. I.e. you had only full access to your router by accessing their "Connect Cloud". I've had a quick look. Your model doesn't seem to be affected by "Connect Cloud" - at least so far. If you have an option in the router firmware, then DO disable "automatic updates". Those that have "got" the "Connect Cloud" firmware got it by an automatic update. The user have not been asked and downgrade was impossible afterwards. That "Connect Cloud" stuff is about the worst approach I've seen from ANY router manufacturer. With the auto update you are giving them the right to install the new firmware and afterwards they have more rights/control on YOUR router than you have. Your router is yours. You've payed for it. Cisco has to stay outside of your router. The WRT54GL is only so famous because it allows the installation of many open-source firmwares. I have total control about that router and a really excellent and reliable firmware. Of course, it's a bit outdated, but I use it only for some devices that need wireless internet accesss. As long as my internet connection is slower as the provided 54Mbit/s, it's still fast enough. For other tasks, I'm using wired Gigabit Ethernet, which is much faster than any wireless connection. It's so famous, that is has its own wikipedia entry in various languages: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_seriesOf course, I wish you all the best with your new gear and hope you'll have a lot of fun with it. The Buffalo NAS isn't a good choice IMO, but I agree that it has a low cost. I've seen very bad reviews of Buffalo NAS in the past and I've seen also often people selling them in auctions because they haven't been satisfied with it.
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 13, 2012 11:55:42 GMT
Is that the 6 cores one from AMD. I remember there was a 6 cores CPU from AMD but can't remember specifically which AMD range. Either setup could be/was clocked down also Btw, why clock down when people always talking of overclock? Really curious. I use a D-Link DNS-323 for a NAS That's quite a common NAS in Singapore too. Obviously Synology is number 1 in the Singapre AV scene from my writing. What's the speed of the 323 NAS CPU onboard and what ram was inside it? Just wanted to get an idea how my Buffalo Marvel 500MHz with 256MB rams will do. If around the same, then I have reason to be happy already as 1080p must be in the equation thru wire obviously and not Wifi. My hirez audio barely made it at 352-24 wav tbru Wifi N. But still it made it and I'm somewhat happy with that.
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pagan
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Post by pagan on Jul 13, 2012 14:14:34 GMT
Is that the 6 cores one from AMD. I rememebr there is a 6 cores CPU from AMD but can't remember specifically which AMD range. Btw, why clock down when people always talking of overclock? Really curious. I use a D-Link DNS-323 for a NAS That's quite a common NAS in Singapore too. Obviously Synology is number 1 in the Singapre AV scene from my writing. What's the speed of the 323 NAS CPU onboard and what ram was inside it? Just wanted to get an idea how my Buffalo Marvel 500MHz with 256MB rams will do. If around the same, then I have reason to be happy already as 1080p must be in the equation thru wire obviously and not Wifi. My hirez audio barely made it at 352-24 wav. But still, it made it and I'm somewhat happy with that. The 9550 is an old 4 core clocked at 2200MHz Clocked down means I was running it slower, usually 400MHz dns323 www.dlink.com.au/DNS-32310/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Port Hmmm didn't think mine was Gigabit port, always thought it was 10/100. I have had it for a few years though, not used that much though
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 13, 2012 14:55:50 GMT
Hi Alan, Thanks for the D-Link 323 NAS link. Nope, the CPU specs is not there and I have to find that on the internet. Here: As for hardware, it's a 500mhz ARM processor, 64MB RAM, a Marvell 88X7042 SATA controller and a Marvell 88E1111 gigabit network handler.Reference: www.osnews.com/story/22415/Review_Hackable_Linux_NAS_the_D-Link_DNS-323/So chances are extremely high that this Buffalo of mine will also work well with 1080p video streaming thru wired connection too. I have reason to be a happy bunny now. Thanks.
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elysion
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Post by elysion on Jul 13, 2012 16:02:16 GMT
Don't worry to much about the speed of your NAS. Most NAS should do that job easily since it doesn't take very much bandwidth. If you see problems, it's probably more a problem with the network connection and/or the decoding power of your PC. But if your PC isn't too old, it should be also no problem. Even for very basic setups which are also quite powerful today. My old NAS' still seem very fine. I don't have a reason to buy new NAS' at the moment (of course, I wouldn't have the needed money also. You can't compare the specs of a NAS CPU with those of a desktop PC or notebook. A NAS has only a small demand for processing power. It's quite impressive how much the manufactuers can achieve with the tiny CPU used in most NAS'. An Atom CPU for example can be quite fast when used for a NAS. The Marvell CPU in the Buffalo NAS is most likely a variant of an ARM Cortex CPU. Those Marvell CPU have been also used in some Synology NAS for example. My DS107+ is such a NAS, but it is a lot older than yours (five years to be exact). For all those, which have an old unused PC around, there's also a nice solution: www.freenas.org/A PC with FreeNAS won't be as energy efficient as some of the embedded CPUs used in commercial NAS system (mostly), but you can reuse your old PC.
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 13, 2012 23:56:54 GMT
My DS107+ is such a NAS, but it is a lot older than yours (five years to be exact). Actually, that's not accurate. The Buffalo Terastation (not the low and mid end Teralink meant for home) Pro 2 SMB NAS is a NOS from the era of about 2008 if I'm not wrong. I bought it real cheap and it's made in Japan. The real cheap was the deal clincher and I was just window shopping to find out more of what were available at ground zero then. As I just wanted a dedicated "AV" NAS for mainly the backup strategy implementation on AV files, I felt I had a fantastic deal on hand then and paid! For all those, which have an old unused PC around, there's also a nice solution: www.freenas.org/A PC with FreeNAS won't be as energy efficient as some of the embedded CPUs used in commercial NAS system (mostly), but you can reuse your old PC. Ah, thanks for the link. I had read about computer nerds doing diy NASs. Now I can read more of the intricacy for doing that. I think it will be more powerful than the commerical NAS as the CPU within old PCs definitely will already walk rings all over those puny Atoms if that is on the Pentium series.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2012 0:09:09 GMT
Allan Pagan has already mentioned down clocking. The fastest and latest processor isn't always the best for AV. I have a friend in another forum who has very good gear, including electrostatic speakers, and he said this to me recently, which is almost guaranteed to get a few resident RG sceptics very indignant:
Unfortunately, my friend has to presently use USB if he wishes to play DSD Audio. Alex
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XTRProf
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Pssst ! Got any spare capacitors ?
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 14, 2012 0:25:04 GMT
Unfortunately, my friend has to presently use USB if he wishes to play DSD Audio. Er, ??
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2012 0:42:57 GMT
NATIVE DSD. (Without conversion to PCM) I doubt that there are presently too many (if any) soundcards that can NATIVELY play DSD. There are a few expensive DACs now appearing that can natively play DSD Audio.
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XTRProf
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Pssst ! Got any spare capacitors ?
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 14, 2012 0:50:52 GMT
(Without conversion to PCM) I doubt that there are presently too many (if any) soundcards that can NATIVELY play DSD. Have. Matek, if I get the name correct. But obviously not cheap.
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pagan
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Post by pagan on Jul 14, 2012 1:19:50 GMT
Allan Pagan has already mentioned down clocking. The fastest and latest processor isn't always the best for AV. I have a friend in another forum who has very good gear, including electrostatic speakers, and he said this to me recently, which is almost guaranteed to get a few resident RG sceptics very indignant: Unfortunately, my friend has to presently use USB if he wishes to play DSD Audio. Alex Alex The underclocking wasn't something I did for noise problems. It was more for lower power/heat ideas. If a motherboard has a chip/card that has hardware decoders for a specific task, The software/cpu should direct that task to the chip ie offloading the cpu. Allan
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2012 2:35:23 GMT
Hi Allan I realise that. But you more than likely achieved gains by doing so. I am just pointing out that faaaast isn't always better. You of course, being employed in I.T. still believe that "bits are bits" and none of that mentioned by my friend from Costa Rica can possibly make any audible difference. ;D Neither can Linear PSUs for USB devices,Linear PSUs for CD/DVD Roms, etc. , etc. Kind Regards Alex
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elysion
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Post by elysion on Jul 14, 2012 3:38:48 GMT
Today, you have a very good choice between different motherboards and CPU types. Usually, there's not much reason for downclocking since you can buy already an appropriate CPU. But a couple of years back, that was the only choice to get energy-efficient, cool and silent systems.
The pity is: For really good downclocking options, you have to go for a K-series CPU (when we talk about intel) and those babies are intended mainly for the contrary, namely for massive overclocking. It's difficult to clock these babies very low. 1600MHz (the slowest speedstep setting) ist at least possible with a i5-2500K CPU. I didn't try to get below that, but at least that is possible. Standard clock for this CPU is 3300MHz though and some guys go even closely to 5000MHz.
Today, some low-power i3's or Atom CPU's are a good choice. Some AMD CPU's like the A-Series are also interesting, but not as energy efficient as intel. If you want to go much lower, you'll have to go with ARM or MIPS cores, which are still not very common for open plattforms. Most are used in the embedded market (which includes NAS systems). You can't buy much stuff beside the Raspberry Pie or similar projects.
I'd prefer intel and AMD though. You have much more options to build own systems and you have plenty of software available.
I have a realtively new ThinkPad X121e with an i3-2367M. This one is extremely efficient. The TDP of the CPU is only 17W. But intel is charging an impressive 250$ for such a CPU delivered on a tray when bought in great quantities. That's because it is about the best silicon they are making at the moment. It's not a really fast CPU, but it's almost the fastest one around in the low-power department. It also doesn't use an LGA1155 socket. I guess it's a BGA or rPGA989. Most likely it's BGA and this makes it unusable for building a PC at home. I can't check it since I have no intention to disassemble my ThinkPad down to the bones. Most components like the HM65 chipset are BGA though (I see the chipset when opening the case for access to RAM slots and SATA SSD).
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elysion
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Post by elysion on Jul 14, 2012 3:45:01 GMT
If you have it already, then simply use it. But if you are looking out for a good switch with all options, then don't take D-Link. I'd say the same about D-Link which I did say about Buffalo (TBH, it's cheap crap IMO).
I have a quite old and cheap Netgear Gbit switch in the house of my parents. It's still working. I've bought it in 2004. The quality is IMO slightly above one from D-Link, but it's still in the same category (consumer crap). But it shows that even such a low-end product can work reliable for years if it is good designed. This one also got a lot of heat since it is used under the roof of that house. It's getting somewhere between 35-40 degrees Celsius in the midsummer there (without air condition). Most likely, they've used good caps.
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elysion
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Post by elysion on Jul 14, 2012 3:47:57 GMT
BTW: Shall we start a FreeNAS thread? It could be a good option for those who have an old PC around. www.freenas.org/Sometimes, a lightweight Linux will be the better option though. But you have to do more by yourself.
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