# NAS PC vs Windows PC + Home Sharing



## Julius Burton (Sep 1, 2017)

What are the benifits of having a NAS. As aposed to just having a regular PC full of hard drives and sharing them using windows home sharing.

For home use.

Seems like having a regular pc would be better because you could do other things with it like rendering.


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## FreedomEclipse (Sep 1, 2017)

A standard NAS is usually quite compact so you can set them up and hide them almost anywhere


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## VulkanBros (Sep 1, 2017)

If you run via Windows PC (Win 7, Win 8, Win 10 and so on) you can max have 10 concurrent connections.
Are you running Windows Server editions or a Linux based NAS (FreeNAS or other NAS boxes) there are no limitations.


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## Aquinus (Sep 1, 2017)

When I hear "NAS" I think a device dedicated to being just network storage. It's not likely to be faster than a tower but, it's likely to be more quiet, use less power, and have an interface geared towards being a NAS. You can always build your own machine to act as a NAS but, you're on the hook for setting it up and managing it.

If you plan on doing other things other than just being a NAS, then go with a full machine but understand that you're on the hook to configure it. I did this with my late gateway server which acted as a NAS, VM host, gateway but, I also built it in a way that was intended for that purpose, such as adding an extra dual port network card, having a dedicated boot drive aside from the RAID-5, stuff like that.


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## newtekie1 (Sep 1, 2017)

Both a NAS and a PC has its advantages.  Personally, I'm a build a PC and use it as a server type of person(but I get the Windows license for free).  I'm also comfortable configuring Windows 7/8/10 to work as a server, and setting up the necessary functions.  Obviously the PC is more flexible, but there are a lot of NAS solutions out there that offer quite a bit of add-on software features to let the NAS do a lot of things.  NAS devices aren't just dumb file storage devices anymore.

Usually, a NAS is going to give you more for the money if the primary goal is to just have a central place to store and access files on the network.  Most of them offer hot swap drive bays, which is nice when a drive dies(and they will die).  They offer RAID, especially RAID5, which a lot of cheaper PC motherboard don't. A NAS is easier to just setup and get going. They also, usually, take up less space.  They also tend to consume less power than a full PC does.



VulkanBros said:


> If you run via Windows PC (Win 7, Win 8, Win 10 and so on) you can max have 10 concurrent connections.



It is actually 20.  And each device that connects to the server counts as one, no matter how many connection a single device actually creates, if they are all coming from the same device it only counts as one connection to Windows.


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## neatfeatguy (Sep 1, 2017)

I was checking out some NAS systems for a while. Eventually I figured with the extra hardware I had I could spend another $400 or so and build a high-end PC to use as a HTPC that'll work well for my needs and double as a second gaming PC for the kids or my younger brother if he visits.

I had a second 980Ti that's not really necessary in my gaming build. I had a spare 1150 MB from the whole issue of the board dying on me (bought a new board and got the dead one replaced via RMA). I had extra 8GB DDR3, an extra 750W PSU.
A $125 in Amazon gift cards I picked up a CM HAF XB Evo case (just big enough to allow my 980Ti to fit) and a Win 10 OEM - spent around $75 of my own money after the gift cards were used. I bought 2x 4TB RED drives for about $280 and have them running RAID1. And I found a deal on an i5-4460.

I have the computer setup using Windows Home Sharing and a user account the kids can access without accessing the internet or adult rated movies I've got copied to the system. Now I'm just in the process of ripping all my DVDs and Blu-Ray movies and copying them to the HTPC. Other nice thing, I can stream any movie from the HTPC to my networked blu-ray players in other rooms in the house. I like to think I've made a good choice in going this route over buying a NAS system.


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## londiste (Sep 1, 2017)

I do not have or want HDD-s in my computer, so couple of those went to NAS that is stashed away


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 1, 2017)

Define a NAS. It could be anything from what some people call a NAS which is a RPi hooked up to an external USB drive to a rack mounted device with 16+ drives.

Imho, anything with less than two drives is not a NAS. 

Core features that I think matters and that makes a NAS different from a PC in general terms is that it's a dedicated machine where you store files that aren't needed on a daily basis, where you store your backups and that has some form of redundancy in case of a drive failure.

Sure, you can RAID a couple of drives in Windows as well, but normally a NAS is a smaller device, I have a small 2-bay unit now (but kind of need to upgrade to a 4 or 5 bay unit) and it takes up less than 1/10th of the space of my PC.

As above, I don't have any mechanical drives in my PC any more, so most of my files are stored on my NAS.

These days the NAS manufacturers have turned their products into so much more more though, as they're media streamers, sometimes even media players and can do basic server duty, be it hosting a Wordpress blog or a database. Even DIY NAS software offers much of the functionality you find on commercial NAS products today.

These days a PC is a Server is a NAS is Workstation, as even a fairly basic processor today is so much more powerful than even a decade ago. A lot of higher-end NAS appliances can run VMs natively as well, so again, define a NAS...


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## Kursah (Sep 1, 2017)

Julius Burton said:


> What are the benifits of having a NAS. As aposed to just having a regular PC full of hard drives and sharing them using windows home sharing.
> 
> For home use.
> 
> Seems like having a regular pc would be better because you could do other things with it like rendering.



I do the latter as it is more affordable, and parts more readily available. I do like Synology and Qnap but their cost and proprietary designs also mean limitations that don't necessarily need faced by someone capable of building and maintaining their own home-grade systems for the same purpose. Those that want turnkey should get the pre-fabbed devices, they work well, are pretty reliable and support is usually decent. 

I am repurposing an old gaming PC that has an i3-2105, 8GB DDR3 and an H61m Asus board into a NAS coming soon. The case has room for a 4x3.5 cage, and then room for 3 drives in front of the cooling fan. It is an old Rosewill case..I forget the name. I'll toss in a spare Perc 6i card I have...toss on either Windows or Linux server OS and go. 

You don't even need to use a server-based OS, Windows 7 (8, 10, or really any consumer OS that can perform network file sharing) is fine for a NAS OS as well...though depending on how you're using the NAS, you may want to make some simple *registry tweaks* to allow Windows 7 to better operate as a file server. If you're using the NAS purely to dump backups to then the adjustments aren't needed. They do help when you have a handful of users accessing various shares. 

Depending on what you plan to do with the NAS, what your budget is, and if/when you decide to re-purpose it into something else can all play a factor here. Everyone will have a preference, and frankly there are many good ways to approach using a storage device as a NAS (Network Attached Storage).


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## Sasqui (Sep 1, 2017)

I have a QNAP TS 253 Pro and it's the tits.  Aside from just being a file server, it's also cloud storage, media server and a whole bunch of other things I don't even know about lol.  Turnkey and they're constantly updating software (almost too much)

You can do all that with a PC, but managing it all takes time and a lot of knowledge.  Someone who's not an IT pro will have a learning curve, usually a lot more than a stand alone NAS unit.

I also like the size, it sits on a shelf and only once and a while can I here a few clicks of the drives.   Not to mention it uses next to nothing for wattage.


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