Will I benefit from a NAS over FireWire 400?

[wmealer]

Okay, here's the deal. I have a core duo iMac (early 2006 - no wireless-N). I don't picture myself ever needing multiple macs. I currently store all my media (movies and TV shows for my tv) on a 1TB MyBook Premium II (Firewire 800/400 and USB2.0 - my iMac has FW400 not 800). It's about time to buy more space. Are there any NAS solutions out there that would give me any faster read/write speeds than already speedy Firewire? I realize there are Gigabit Ethernet NAS drives out there, but are they worth the extra money?

I bought a 1TB MyBook World Edition network drive, but I'm taking it right back. Had it hard-wired to the mac with a crossover cable. The few tests I did with it were excruciatingly slow. How the heck can a gigabit ethernet connection be that slow? I'm getting the impression that firewire can't be beat for my needs. Am I wrong? I'd like to keep the purchase under $300, but I could be swayed if I saw any additional benefit, with access speed being the priority.

 

[AliensAreFuzzy]

You really won't notice a lot of difference in speed from the FW400 to the gigabit NAS if all you're doing is streaming. FW will probably be significantly cheaper though.

 

[wmealer]

Since my iMac isn't N-spec, would a Time Capsule wired to the mac make sense for me? I have a D-Link N router, but it's across the room serving my DSL connection, which is also across the room. I realize my iMac with G is crippling my N network. I could probably get by cheaper by wiring another N router to the mac, plus an additional Firewire drive. Anything besides an additional router to get my iMac communicating at N speeds? I've looked into upgrading the airport card, without much luck.

 

[jeremy.king]

If you don't ever figure to add another mac to the mix, I'd say just get another external to tether to your iMac - a NAS device wouldn't really serve any purpose if only one machine is accessing it.

 

[wmealer]

If you don't ever figure to add another mac to the mix, I'd say just get another external to tether to your iMac - a NAS device wouldn't really serve any purpose if only one machine is accessing it.

The only reason I was considering a NAS was for the assumed speed increase, but my limited experience with the MyBook World kind of killed that assumption. Hard to imagine why a gigabit ethernet connection would be slower than even USB.

 

[Jeff Hall]

You are much better off getting an enclosure with FW400 *and* FW800. Your next computer (assuming it's a mac) will likely have FW800. Direct connect is going to be faster on average than ethernet.