I've got a 1TB hard-drive at home with years of films, tv shows and music on it. This is plugged into my LG smart-TV with a USB lead - I access
the files using the TV remote.
The HD is abit old now and I'm sure it's going to die anyday, so I want to replace it with a bigger 2TB version but I'd also like the
new HD to be able to be connected to my home network (ethernet not wirelessly) so that files can be accessed by the upstairs computers, and also
(ideally) via an app/phone/cloud etc when I'm away from home.
I know I can get WD MyCloud type things but this removes the USB connection. My TV will talk to a cloud media storage thing but if I can reduce
network traffic by going direct with a USB cable I'd rather do it this way.
Can anyone recommend anything or does anything that does cloud sharing just not have USB cables anymore?
Thanks
Getting a network connection away from home is the first stumbling block!
Being able to access it away from home is a bonus not a necessity - I'd use my mobile anyway; unlimited data.
Just received a BT hub 5 router and previously had a BT hub 4, It has a USB on the back that you can plug in an external hard drive and access the
files from anything connected to the network. Can't remote connect when out and about though. Some people have reported issues with very large
capacity hard drives, but others have for 1tb + working fine. Works great for me.
Should be pretty cheap to pick one up on eBay
EDIT: Both the BT hub 4 and 5 have the usb, possibly older ones but not sure
[Edited on 14/5/15 by dave_424]
My main PC has a drive set aside for media, and I run Servio DLNA server on there. This is then wired connected to the network, and phones, computers,
TV's etc can connect and watch the programmes. It just means that the one PC must be on pretty much 24x7, although I have set everything to run
on minimal power for most of the time. It can still be used as a PC while it's streaming video and audio.
I can also expose that DLNA server to the internet via my router, although I've not yet done it as I haven't figured out a safe way of
locking it down.
[Edited on 14/5/15 by Slimy38]
I've got a Synology NAS drive that has 2 1Tb drives in a raid configuration. Once connected to your network at home you can set it up so it can be accessed remotely from the internet. You will obviously be limited by your home broadband upload speed but easy access from anywhere plus being able to stream around the home.
The first step has to be use Clonezilla to clone the existing drive before it falls over, then think about your upgrade.
Any NAS type device I have come accross that has both ethernet and USB connections won't allow both to be operational at the same time but
things mat have moved on.
I'll need to check when I get home but I'm sure my 4TB WD Mirror Cloud NAS has a USB connection.
quote:
Originally posted by Worzey
I'll need to check when I get home but I'm sure my 4TB WD Mirror Cloud NAS has a USB connection.
Most NAS's (and broadband routers) can work with dynamic dns servers like no-ip.com, that way they keep a URL updated with your IP. I use one like bla.no-ip.org so wherever I am I can access the NAS, but you need to set up port forwarding on your router to get the contents out, and you want to be sure the NAS has sufficient security to be acceptable as WAN-facing.
I think you might be correct. I've tried to connect via a USB from my laptop to the WD Mirror NAS and it doesn't recognise it at all.