Should I build a new desktop machine or should I build nothing more than Network-Attached Storage? Details inside...
August 8, 2010 3:35 PM   Subscribe

Should I build a new desktop machine or should I build nothing more than Network-Attached Storage? Details inside...

Current set-up:
storage: home-built XP desktop
Internet: Macbook Pro (spring 2008)

Future set-up #1:
storage: NAS
Internet: Windows 7 laptop

Future set-up #2:
storage: home-built Windows 7 desktop
Internet: Windows 7 laptop

Which future set-up should I go with? #1 or #2?

Originally, I assumed I wanted to build some sort of NAS device to go along with a new Windows 7 laptop I'm buying sometime soon. I wanted to have nothing on my desk but the new laptop, a keyboard, monitor, and speakers. The NAS would be somewhere else off of my desk.

Ideally, I want to be able to listen to my music and access my files anywhere in my apartment with the laptop. Also, I'd like to be able to access these files while I'm on travel with the laptop. I assumed these files would be located on the NAS.

However, someone just said to me "why wouldn't you just build a new desktop instead of a NAS for the storage half?" What would you do?

I want a minimalist set-up but I'm not sure what would provide the most benefit. Do I need 2 computers if I usually just surf the Internet and listen, download, and organize music. One thing I definitely require is one data repository.
posted by decrescendo to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)
 
Why do you want to buy a new laptop? Do you need a faster video card? The february 2008 macbook is still a very powerful computer, especially if you only want to surf the Web and listen to music.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 3:54 PM on August 8, 2010


Response by poster: Why do you want to buy a new laptop? Do you need a faster video card? The february 2008 macbook is still a very powerful computer, especially if you only want to surf the Web and listen to music.

I think I've realized I'm way more comfortable on Windows even after 2 years of playing with OS X.
posted by decrescendo at 3:56 PM on August 8, 2010


I have a laptop, desktop, and headless file server, but the laptop and desktop are for very different things. It doesn't sound like this would be the case for you. So why buy extra parts to run win 7's extra overhead when you can spend the money on more and better hard drives in your NAS?
posted by zjacreman at 3:57 PM on August 8, 2010


The main benefit of NAS is the ability to share data between computers. If you've got exactly one workstation, I'm not sure why you want NAS at all.

Put the extra money into a very large local drive for the laptop.
posted by FfejL at 4:13 PM on August 8, 2010


The main benefits of NAS are huge drives and RAID, to my thinking. Not to mention the fact that laptops are much easier to swipe. It's not crazy to build a file server with only one workstation.
posted by zjacreman at 4:21 PM on August 8, 2010


I think I've realized I'm way more comfortable on Windows even after 2 years of playing with OS X.

I'm not here to talk you out of a new machine, if that's what you want. But you are aware of Boot Camp, right? You can put Windows on an Intel Mac and never have to boot to Mac OS again.
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:24 PM on August 8, 2010


Response by poster: I should say, additionally, it would be nice to somehow stream music from the NAS to speakers that are not connected to my laptop with the laptop functioning as the remote, basically.

As an aside, anyone have a quick answer for how that would work? Somehow the speakers would need to be connected to the network.
posted by decrescendo at 4:25 PM on August 8, 2010


Response by poster: I'm not here to talk you out of a new machine, if that's what you want. But you are aware of Boot Camp, right? You can put Windows on an Intel Mac and never have to boot to Mac OS again.

Well, I love the hardware on this Macbook Pro so I should look into this. I'm running Leopard right now and I don't think I can try Windows 7 on here until I upgrade to Snow Leopard. I need to figure out how to upgrade to Snow Leopard.
posted by decrescendo at 4:29 PM on August 8, 2010


I don't see why anyone would want to build their own PC except in certain circumstances. Have you checked retail PC packages such as HP, ASUS, Dell, etc? I used top build all my own stuff in the days when they didn't sell things with SCSI host adapters, etc. But now days you can get a high-end retail machine for dirt cheap. I have a retail HP with a quad AMD CPU, 8GB RAM, I added two additional SATA drives and boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu Linux...total around $800. Before you build one, check out a hot PC and one or more additional drives. Bring them home, plug them in and turn them on.
posted by nogero at 6:48 PM on August 8, 2010


Why isn't the old XP desktop good enough to perform the storage functions? I mean.. It might burn a fair bit more electricity, and that could be a good reason to scrap it, but it has plenty of processor power to be a file server. At least figure out what set up suits you using the old machine before dropping new dollars. Then you can focus your investment more carefully.
posted by Chuckles at 6:53 PM on August 8, 2010


Response by poster: Why isn't the old XP desktop good enough to perform the storage functions? I mean.. It might burn a fair bit more electricity, and that could be a good reason to scrap it, but it has plenty of processor power to be a file server. At least figure out what set up suits you using the old machine before dropping new dollars. Then you can focus your investment more carefully.

I have some hardware problems with it. The USB ports don't work due to a grounding issue or a power supply problem. I'm not sure what is screwed up and what isn't. I could probably keep the processor but the HDs are at least 5 years old.
posted by decrescendo at 7:20 PM on August 8, 2010


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