External Hard Drive Accessible via Wifi

[patrickBOOTH]

I have a ton of music on my computer, like many people, and I want to get an external hard drive to store it all on to free up some space. Is there an external hard drive that you can access via wifi? I think it would be irritating as all hell to have to plug it into my macbook every time I listen to music. Thanks in advance.

 

[MikeDT]

Depending on the devices you're streaming to, there are a few different options available.

Something like this perhaps?
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/05/500gb-seagate-wi-fi-hard-drive-streams-to-ipad/
WiFi HDD which streams to Apple iOS devices.

 

[Interzone]

Plenty of DLNA enabled hard drives out there. Don't know if they're any good though.

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-My-Book-World/dp/B001RB2L44
http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-LaCinema-Multimedia-Portable-301864KUA/dp/B002ZS1CDY

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Seagates stuff looks awesome actually. I think it is exactly what I need. Thanks, Mike.

 

[Interzone]

Just look for DLNA enabled hard drives, I guess.

My previous post with links isn't showing, for some reason...

 

[NorCal]

I use an Airport express. Plug my external hard drives into the usb port (on the Airport) and that's it.

 

[Blackhood]

I wanted this a few months ago.

Eventually I went for a Buffalo Linkstation Duo, plugged into my router. Got 2TB of storage, and I'm accessing it right now over WiFi.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



I use an Airport express. Plug my external hard drives into the usb port (on the Airport) and that's it.

Oh man, I thought you could only use a printer through it.

 

[zerostyle]

I've considered doing this for a while, but currently have an actiontec router from Fios.

My other concern: How bad is it to leave a hard drive running 24x7 like that? Those external drives can get pretty hot.

 

[Piobaire]

Here is what you want: http://www.netgear.com/home/products/storage/prosumer/default.aspx

These are mini Linux servers with hot swappable hard drives. You plug them into your router and it stays on 24/7, comes with cooling fan, and heat is not a problem. All your computers can see it and it is cloud ready. It also has a number of built in cool features, such as you can drop a bunch of pics into a folder, then have the device send and email to folks that gives them permission to view it, and the server automatically drops the pics into a webpage template. It will email you if it goes down, a drive starts to go, etc. The drives mirror each other so data is automatically backed up. We use our not just for media but to back up all our computers. We each have our own media library on the server so we can stream each other's music but keep the libraries distinct. These things are easy to use and if you have a modicum of computer savvy simple to set up.

 

[Blackhood]



I've considered doing this for a while, but currently have an actiontec router from Fios.
My other concern: How bad is it to leave a hard drive running 24x7 like that? Those external drives can get pretty hot.

The hard drives are taken care of a few ways.

Buffalo use Western Digital Caviar Green, which are a very low energy version. A good NAS will have software on board to turn the drives off when they aren't being accessed. This saves both power and heat. Additionally most cases have a small fan to aid airflow.

On top of this most (if not all) drives will be tested for however many thousands of hours before going into production. Most drives wont fail within 3 years, even when running smoothly at all times. Things like moving the drives, cutting power unexpectedly might increase risk, but if you just put it in a corner and forget that its there, you shouldn't ever have an issue.