Storage and Serving Architecture

[Robert_Siegel]

New Roon user here, currently with a mid-2010 MacBook Pro (i5) which works running RoonServer but not “perfectly”. I’ve ordered a Nuc to run ROCK, and I’m trying to plan out the best way to handle my file storage.

I have a mesh network in my home (Netgear Orbi system) with the Orbi router in my living room (where my audio equipment resides) and an Orbi satellite in my office (where my computer and storage resides). The router feeds ethernet to my Sonore UltraRendu, with USB to my DAC. I have a NAS, and a Drobo (the Drobo is 10+ years old and no longer supported).

From an audio performance perspective, is there a difference between directly attaching storage to the Nuc via USB, then serving over the network, as compared to serving over the network directly from the NAS? I need to replace a drive in the Drobo, but before I invest further in this older product I want to determine the best path.

[Rugby (aka Daniel or Big Dan)]

From an audio performance perspective, is there a difference between directly attaching storage to the Nuc via USB, then serving over the network, as compared to serving over the network directly from the NAS?

Roon streams everything from the Server, so the music on the NAS will first be streamed to the NUC, processed and then distributed to the end points; music is never served directly from the NAS.

I keep the music either in (internal storage) or attached to the Server directly and leave the NAS as a backup location. IMHO, this simplifies the chain and makes troubleshooting easier.