Best methods of implementing NAS storage

Hi

I am looking into getting some sort of NAS system put in place as well as buying some new hard drives to increase my available disk space and future proof my storage and back up system for the next few years.

I have several computers and laptops that at present all access data stored on a hard drive in my main computer; thus this computer is powered on 24/7. No sleep or hibernate. This drive is 1TB in size but I want to replace this drive with a 3TB drive. This computer is a Mac by the way.

Connected to the Mac are two 1TB external USB hard drives. These serve as backup drives (yes two separate drives that back up independently). One drive is backed up using Apples Time Machine software, while the other drive is backed up using another piece of software that creates disk images of the various partitions contained on the internal 1TB drive and also backs up the SSD with the OS on it

Now I would love to be able to take the internal drive that has all the data accessed by the computers on the network, and place it in a NAS box so that I can access all the data when the main computer is on. I would need fast access to the data on the drive from the Mac and assume a gigabit Ethernet port on the NAS box would allow me to achieve this.

I would probably want to get another two drives sized maybe 2TB as new backup drives. They are smaller, but there is stuff I do not include in my backups so 2TB would cover the stuff I do backup.

I am really unsure of how to proceed. I have a friend who knows a lot about this stuff and says I need to be looking at a Synology or qNap 4 bay box and using raid to create backups of the " master" drive. He says getting a NAS box with an Intel CPU would also be preferred as it allows more freedom in what you can do with the NAS box re apps and says performance would also be improved.

Now im not stupid and have a good understanding of computers, but I've never delved into NAS before and raid has always sounded like a headache waiting to happen. I also can't help but think that he might be going overkill on his recommendations.

Can anyone offer any suggestions on the best way to achieve what I am after? I don't want a half arsed system that falls over every time you ask it to do something. Quality is important to me, but I don't want to be spending hundreds and hundreds if I don't need to.

Any advice welcomed as always. Thanks

You've basically got 3 choices:

1. Buy a NAS device such as your friend suggests. Most of them should do some form of RAID natively so it shouldn't be that much hassle.

2. Buy something like a HP Microserver which gives you 4 HD bays and can function as a NAS. If you like tinkering around with home labs or VMs or whatnot you can also do this with this box.

3. Build a cheap, low power PC yourself in whatever configuration you like and use it as a NAS with some free software such as FreeNAS.

Remember that RAID is only insurance against failed hard drives it doesn't replace a good backup strategy (which you seem to have in place already). Personally If I were you I would go look into the Microserver option as you can get one for around £100 when the cashback offer is on. It is probably more hassle to get set up initially but it is more flexible and gives you more options to play about. If you just want a no hassle approach then a ready made NAS device is the way to go.

Best bang for buck would be an Asustor four bay nas imho

QNAP wise you'd be looking at a TS-451 or Synology a 415.

Your friend is right about Intel chips. Although costlier they give you freedom to transcode on the fly and will offer in many cases faster performance all round. You have to balance this with your budget.

The Asustor 304 for example is powerful and can be hooked direct to your tv as a media player.

I've used all three brands, most in the high end models and they all have unique ups and downs. If you just want a simple box to store and serve up your files then perhaps am Asustor 204TE.

The advice above from Clav is sound, with a nas being the easiest option which requires the least input form you.

Drive wise the western digital reds are highly recommended. The red pro's or even the SE versions depending on budget.

One thing to note when you do put drives in the nas and set it up, it's not like a caddy, it will wipe the drives then install its os and file structure, usually ext4

Hi guys

I am sorry to dreg up an old topic like this but I am after some more advice. I am giving the NAS thing a bit more consideration, but am still really unsure of how to go about this.

I understand that having an Intel Atom CPU would obviously be more powerful than the Marvell CPU's that seem to be common place in most NAS enclosures. I understand too that having an Intel CPU offers me more freedom to install other software, as pretty much all software is designed to run on that CPU architecture.

So, if that is the case, and lets say I buy a NAS with a Marvell or ARM CPU; am I severely limited as to what I can do with the NAS? My research has shown that even the 3-400 pound enclosures use Marvell CPU's as well as everything else that is cheaper... so surely given that the vast majority of users will be using a NAS enclosure with be using a Marvell CPU, there must be an absolute crap tonne of apps out there designed to be used and enhance these NAS enclosures?

Just to outline how I would envision me using my NAS box:

1. Serve files to my computers. I would want my main PC to be directly connected to the NAS to get the fastest possible speeds. I would be putting my 3TB WD Red into it, which is currently inside my PC. All my music, photos, installation files... everything... is on that drive.

I would presume that even using gigabit ethernet or USB 3, I am never going to get the same read/write speeds using a direct cable connection to the NAS? What speeds could I expect?

I would also want to serve files from the NAS out to my wireless devices. My Macbook Pro, Mac Mini, iPhone etc. I take it I would plug the NAS into my router and it would appear as a computer on the network?

Can I use protocols like Apple's Bonjour service?


2. I want to be able to run a torrent client and an NZB/Usenet downloader on the NAS. I want to be able to leave downloads running without my PC which currently handles this, being switched on.


I am sure what I say I want to use it for now is quite simple and could be handled by a low spec NAS enclosure. I worry though that I am going to buy one, and then suddenly realise that I want to do something on it that I can't because it doesn't do that one thing.


Can anyone offer any advice so I can get some perspective on what I really need to be looking at buying to suit my needs?

Thanks.

Synology 414j
6tb WD Red drives.

I'm unsure about apples bojour service but both your need will be covered by any off the shelf device. The Synology units seem to get the most love.

As for speeds, over gigabit I see 100MB/sec which is not far off the speeds of a directly connected drive and as much as you'll ever see from gigabit networking

everytime ive looked at buying a nas, its always been cheaper to BYO.
especially if you have any of old atx motherboard, psu and cpu...and can accept a slightly lower level of hot plug ability.

Benefits of BYO
Quieter (larger fans)
Cheaper (especially as number of disks grow)
More flexible/more powerful cpus/os.

Benfits of NAS
Off the shelf/no need to build
Hot plug as standard without expensive chasis.
more flexible raid solutions as standard, easier expansion/migration
easier to use...clear led/health status per drive.
Lower power consumption.

All the NAS units I have seen recently have been very quiet and easy to setup and have a lot of options. Yes going for an Intel chip in it will help with speed and transcoding if required but the Marvel chip versions are still good. All the Asustor range have Intel chips in as standard. We sell plenty of the Synology DS414 or DS414j models and don't have any complaints.

You will need good drives in it as well and you will not be able to put your current 3TB drive in as the master disk as it will wipe the data and then put the software on it. Put new drives in and set up and then transfer the data across and then add the drive to the NAS if needed.

i dont think an 80 or sometimes even 40mm fan will ever have the agreeable noise profile as 120-200 mm fans...
those asus store with 6 bays do seem to be driving the price in the right direction for the larger units, but even then its a bit of premium.
one should also consider that BYO will be cheaper to repair and perhaps easier to repair and even possible to repair.
£569 can build quite a powerfull quiet nas with a lot more than 6 bays.
that said BYO probably averages in region of 25-50W more which adds up.
It just seems there should be a market for a more competitive product..given the price of individual BYO components at retail.

Given the success that OCUk has had at addressing shortcomings in GPU market....maybe OCUK could source a NAS build using more standard PC components..might sell quite well.

ginjaninja said:

i dont think an 80 or sometimes even 40mm fan will ever have the agreeable noise profile as 120-200 mm fans...
those asus store with 6 bays do seem to be driving the price in the right direction for the larger units, but even then its a bit of premium.
one should also consider that BYO will be cheaper to repair and perhaps easier to repair and even possible to repair.
£569 can build quite a powerfull quiet nas with a lot more than 6 bays.
that said BYO probably averages in region of 25-50W more which adds up.
It just seems there should be a market for a more competitive product..given the price of individual BYO components at retail.

Given the success that OCUk has had at addressing shortcomings in GPU market....maybe OCUK could source a NAS build using more standard PC components..might sell quite well.

Click to expand...

Largely irrelevant for the most of people. I'm on slating off the shelf units due to fan boyism either, I run a homebuilt server.

However for the OPs needs then a Synology/QNAP/Asustor fits the bill.

Not sure where you get almost £600 for build your own unless you are including drives on that price as you can build a more than powerful enough system to server as a NAS/home server for around £350, which is of course £50 more expensive than the Asustor 4 Bay NAS unit, will take time to build, install an OS and configure it.

By comparison buy NAS unit, insert drives, create shares. Much quicker, cheaper and less hassle

Frozennova said:

Largely irrelevant for the most of people. I'm on slating off the shelf units due to fan boyism either, I run a homebuilt server.

However for the OPs needs then a Synology/QNAP/Asustor fits the bill.

Not sure where you get almost £600 for build your own unless you are including drives on that price as you can build a more than powerful enough system to server as a NAS/home server for around £350, which is of course £50 more expensive than the Asustor 4 Bay NAS unit, will take time to build, install an OS and configure it.

By comparison buy NAS unit, insert drives, create shares. Much quicker, cheaper and less hassle

Click to expand...

like i say i was considering the 6 bay asustor, and also cost as drive numbers increase...

the 4 bay asusstor at £350 is more comparable/attractive if youre never going to have more than four disks but perhaps not cheaper..
HP used to be selling their microservers with cash back for £100 and four bays...not sure if they still do...

Proper NAS - Simpler, Quicker, Less hassle but not necessarily cheaper or quicker or quieter....

not to take anything away from what might be best for op...not making any assertions in this regard. more so saying that the premium for off the shelf NAS is to my mind, disappointingly high compared to what component can be bought at retail by end users...but more so what performance and quietness and expandability and functionality you can get for less money from BYO.

i had heard recently that intel have realised a mini itx 8 core atom all in one board with 8 sata ports ...might be perfect for a self build if 8 drives are required..will see if i can verify

not certain but something along these lines
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?p=3695113#post3695113

not the cheapest but when get to 8 drives the costs accelerate upwards for non byo..

I just built an htpc with low energy components and serve my media off of that. Also adds the benefit of having an htpc to watch movies and play games on thanks to steam in home streaming. Chuck a bunch of HDDs in and away you go.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6315/asrock-rack-1u12lw-c2750-12-bay-storage-server-review/index.html

these are the new breed of NAS as a more attractive price point with some cpu horsepower...my borther in law picked one up for £300 offf ebay, £900 new...not hotswap