Recommended equipment to run Subsonic on a NAS?

[Jort]

I am fairly new to all this, so bear with me please
At the moment I have ditched my mp3 player in favor of streaming my music from my desktop PC to my Android phone. I'm using the windows/android app Audiogalaxy for this atm.
I'm quite the audiophile, and I would like to get something set up so I don't have to leave my PC running 24/7/365. The ideal situation for me is to have a NAS drive that contains all my music, and runs firmware straight from the NAS so I can stream it from my phone/laptop/whatever, and leave my PC powered off.
I've been searching for such a setup for quite a while, and unlike what I initially thought, it doesn't seem as obvious to get this done with Android.
One of the only solutions led me here. I've seen a few posts around here where people have managed to get Subsonic running directly on their NAS drive.
I'm not that good with the technical side of all this, and I'd hate to spend money on a NAS specifically for this purpose, and then find out I can't get it working.
What would you guys suggest I purchase for this purpose? Which NAS is sure to work, and the easiest to set up with Subsonic?

[BKKKPewsey]

If you search the forums, especially the tutorials section, there are a number of posts there which may help.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8562&p=35480&hilit=nas+drives#p35480
One thing to bear in mind though is to think carefully what you may want to use SS for in the future.
Before buying specific hardware make sure that you do not want to stream/transcode video at a later date
as obviously the hardware requirements would change considerably.
As you are using Windows at present you might be better off with something like a Windows Home Server (WHS) based system
- check out Ebay

[GJ51]

A used HP MediaSmart Homeserver "can" be a good solution. I'd look for an EX490 or 495 that's in good condition at a reasonable price. The 495 would be my preference. I'd strip out all the HP "crapware" especially the Twonkymedia" that comes with it which was the application that led me to look for Subsonic. You can then install Lights out on it which will allow you to let it sleep until called. It's a bit tricky, but it can be setup to Wake on LAN both from within and from outside the network. The additional benefit is that it will also automatically backup all the PC's on your network everyday.

Perhaps, the best benefit is that you can put up to 4 - 2TB drives in it for a total of 8TB of storage. If you get a EX495 it can even handle some low to med. res video if you want to stream video later on.

I still have my original EX485 online running 24/7. It was my first server and it is now a dedicated Subsonic server plus a little bit of extra online stroage. Well maybe "original" isn't exactly right as I replaced the old Celeron CPU with a 3.0 GHz dual Core Xeon and put in a 4GB ram stick. i also replaced all the hard drives with a Segate 2TB 7200rpm XT and 3 Samsung 5400rpm 2TB drives. Still, a properly set up EX495 is a good place to get started, especially if you want to get your feet wet with server technology.

YMMV - Warning, servers and Subsonic are for tweakers and puzzle solvers - no whinning.

[Chad]

Also addictive. There is a learning curve. Like riding a bike. Err unicycle.

Rewarding nonetheless.