New to NAS; need some advice

[fsh42na]

I'm planning on adding a NAS to my home network. Currently I am running 3 wired pc's off my Asus router: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320215. I was planning to add a 4th wired pc in the not too distant future.
The problem is I only have 4 RJ45 ports on the rear of my router so I only have one to spare

From my understanding, my NAS would have to be connected to my remaining wired router port. Is there any solution to this dilemma of mine. Most of the NAS units I've researched have a single RJ45 port. I did locate this Synology unit:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2108169&cm_re=synology-_-22-108-169-_-Product

It has 2 ports. Would this work for me?

Thanks in advance for any input or advice you have for me.

 

[justin_43]

You could get a 5 port router or better yet just add switch to your network, then you will have many more ports for your NAS and computer and anything else you want to add.

http://www.newegg.com/Switches/SubCategory/ID-30?&cm_sp=Cat_Wired-Networking_1-VisNav-_-Switches

 

[/usr/sbin]

Get a 8+ port gig switch.

 

[fsh42na]

Thanks so much for the replies.

I found this switch:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EVGIYG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2F6E975V906X0

What do you think? Is auto-negotiation the same as auto-sensing?

Thanks

 

[/usr/sbin]

Personally I'm partial to switches with metal housings.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-SG...ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1421007546&sr=1-4

^ Is decent, but if you look around you can probably find one at a better price.


Whatever switch you decide on - When you hook it up, run one wire from teh router to the switch, and then hook all of your PCs/NAS into the switch as well. Try to use only ports on the switch, it should prevent bottlenecks for Internet connectivity if you are transferring large files at the same time.

 

[fsh42na]

Personally I'm partial to switches with metal housings.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-SG...ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1421007546&sr=1-4

^ Is decent, but if you look around you can probably find one at a better price.


Whatever switch you decide on - When you hook it up, run one wire from teh router to the switch, and then hook all of your PCs/NAS into the switch as well. Try to use only ports on the switch, it should prevent bottlenecks for Internet connectivity if you are transferring large files at the same time.

Thanks Canna for that suggestion! I just ordered the switch you linked and I will definitely
follow your suggestion to run all pc's / NAS off the switch.

 

[fsh42na]

One more question, what can a 2nd lan port be used for? I'm deciding between the Synology 214 play and the 214+. The play has 1 lan port while the + has 2.

Thanks

 

[ashman]

You can do a few things with two LAN ports on a NAS, however one of them requires your switch to do advanced things that only a managed switch will do, but you can bond two ports on a NAS to double the throughput, or you can set them up on the NAS for redundancy so if one fails the other kicks in, otherwise they are of no real use to you if you don't want to use these features.

 

[Easius]

One more question, what can a 2nd lan port be used for? I'm deciding between the Synology 214 play and the 214+. The play has 1 lan port while the + has 2.

Thanks

You could use it to connect 2 different subnets to the NAS.

You could also use the 2 NICs for 802.3ad link aggregation. Unfortunately the TP-Link switch doesn't support that.

 

[fsh42na]

Thanks for the input and advice. I'll just stay with a model that has a single LAN port then. I don't want to make things more complicated than they need to be.

 

[Shadowhaxor]

One more question, what can a 2nd lan port be used for? I'm deciding between the Synology 214 play and the 214+. The play has 1 lan port while the + has 2.

Thanks

Like Easius said, you can use the two ports to connect to two different subnets or link aggregation. Also regarding deciding between the two, at least in CPU terms of power they're similar. And even though the DS214+ has 2 up-links, honestly it doesn't have the power to do link aggregation properly.

Lastly keep in mind that again these are only two bay drives and you may end up wanting / needing more bays later, so also check out the DS412+. Though it runs about $150-200 more, depending on where you look.

And one more thing... (Love saying that), I know you got your switch already but I wanted to drop this here for you to check out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002HAJQGA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

At that price I ordered two of them to replace the 2x8 10/100/1000 switches in my closet.