NAS for Home...

RedvGreen · 25 Oct 2018 at 13:05

Hi all,

Since moving in, I've had a bag full of old NAS HDDs and important files/docs/pics that aren't available anywhere else. I'm looking to build a robust setup that will allow for the following:

- Internal Network Drive with folders: [Audio*] [Docs] [Photos] [Misc]

*Audio is to be used for SONOS to read/play music from

I was also looking to have this NAS automatically create a backup to either a separate HDD or another NAS. Cloud cannot be used as our internet upload is abysmal and will take forever.

Might anyone have any recommendations for achieving this setup, or any comments/criticism of my proposed setup (for NAS, for backup and for SONOS media)?

Thanks,

Snapshot · 26 Oct 2018 at 07:42

We need some extra information first. To start with, how many 'old NAS' drives do you have, what format are they, how much data is on them and do you want to re-use them?

RedvGreen · 26 Oct 2018 at 09:06

Snapshot said:
We need some extra information first. To start with, how many 'old NAS' drives do you have, what format are they, how much data is on them and do you want to re-use them?

Thanks for your reply; I have around 6TB, but they are not at capacity by any stretch. I do not wish to reuse them, so it is quite an open and flexible build.

Avalon · 26 Oct 2018 at 11:42

Budget? Does the NAS need to run anything other than basic file sharing/backup?

BigT · 26 Oct 2018 at 12:25

If I assume you only want to backup a subset of your NAS to an external HD then I personally would do the following.

Get hold of an HP microserver, 3x 4TB drives and a copy of Unraid. This will give you an 8TB NAS resistant to one disk failure and a very powerful and extensible NAS OS.

I’d then get a 4TB external HDD if that’s enough and use one of the many excellent extensions/apps in Unraid to do your NAS backup periodically and store the HDD somewhere other than your home.

This isn’t likely to be the cheapest and I suspect using a Synology enclosure is going to work just as well for you but I personally don’t have any experience so can’t help on that front. However I read plenty of good things about it and many on here do use them and so am sure will be along to advise.

Snapshot · 26 Oct 2018 at 21:02

Okay, so what you now need to decide is whether you want an actual NAS, such as Synology as BigT mentions, or something essentially PC-based. If the latter, do you want to build your own or buy something like an HP Gen 8 Microserver as BigT recommends (so do I BTW). Unfortunately Gen 8s are now getting expensive as the Gen 10 is, comparatively, a disappointment.

If you do go for a NAS (Synology, QNAP or Asustor and nothing else) you need to choose between two- or four-bay. Four-bay units are much more expensive but can use smaller, cheaper drives to give the same capacity. For your needs I'd suggest two 8TB drives in RAID1 in a two-bay NAS and four 4TB drives in RAID10 in a four-bay.

If you don't go for a ready-rolled NAS the next choice is operating system. There are free choices like XigmaNAS (my choice), FreeNAS or OpenMediaVault, not-quite-free like UnRAID or you could go for Windows Server but, to be honest, you might be quite happy with just Windows 10.

I see you work on a helldesk so it really depends on balancing how much work you want to do at home against budget.

RedvGreen · 27 Oct 2018 at 15:57

Snapshot said:
Okay, so what you now need to decide is whether you want an actual NAS, such as Synology as BigT mentions, or something essentially PC-based. If the latter, do you want to build your own or buy something like an HP Gen 8 Microserver as BigT recommends (so do I BTW). Unfortunately Gen 8s are now getting expensive as the Gen 10 is, comparatively, a disappointment.

If you do go for a NAS (Synology, QNAP or Asustor and nothing else) you need to choose between two- or four-bay. Four-bay units are much more expensive but can use smaller, cheaper drives to give the same capacity. For your needs I'd suggest two 8TB drives in RAID1 in a two-bay NAS and four 4TB drives in RAID10 in a four-bay.

If you don't go for a ready-rolled NAS the next choice is operating system. There are free choices like XigmaNAS (my choice), FreeNAS or OpenMediaVault, not-quite-free like UnRAID or you could go for Windows Server but, to be honest, you might be quite happy with just Windows 10.

I see you work on a helldesk so it really depends on balancing how much work you want to do at home against budget.

I'm going to go Synology at the moment. My First/Second line days are past me now as i'm in a totally different IT field, thankfully.

Going to go for WD Red x 4 initially, (4 bay Synology unit which will be in the loft) then i'll get the 2-bay backup-backup unit, which i'll install in the Lounge behind the TV. Figuring that the exact opposite area of the house is safer, and on a different ring too.