Network attached storage

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Thinking of moving over to NAS rather than the current system of hosting a SATA drive on a single machine. Should make file sharing easier, and simpler with less hiccups ideally.

Anybody else doing this?
Anything I need to be aware of?

Only downside I can currently see is I use Windows File Sharing currently which allows easy security of files. NAS storage would mean I'd need to also do something (hardware wise) to segregate the private and public parts of the network.
 

rollestonpark

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Burton on trent
I've run qnap NASes for years and highly recommend them. If you have a few quid to spend try to get a mirrored array as hard drives always break at some point, so this reduces recovery problems due to drive failures. Always buy purpose build NAS drives for your nas, else you'll definitely run into problems. Think the western digital red drives are the most reliable, but some might dispute that.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
run a 6 bay NAS in the office - replaced a expensive and complex server as our shared file share and back-up location, very simple, reliable and cheap solution

run it mirrored as drive do fail occasionaly

workstations can then run smaller SSD which makes them loads faster but without spending more than you would buying a large HD

also use similar at home for movie and music storage however cloud services are starting to make such a thing a little irrelevant these days
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
Having had a 4 Bay NAS at home I can't really fault it. Have had 2 drive failures in 4 years, but they just hot swap out and rebuild. So nothing lost, which is the main thing. Used for films, pictures, videos and individual machine backups.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
This sounds exactly what I need.

Anybody like to suggest some specific hardware that might suit?

and/how to set it up?

Part of me things it would be good to implement it with a new PC too so then like @Clive says you can use SSD properly.
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
I have a Western Digital EX4 - with 4 x 3TB WD Red drive - Fully Raid 10 config - which is mirrored and striped IIRC. This looks to be the latest version:

40807585_max.jpg


https://www.alza.co.uk/wd-my-cloud-pr4100-8tb-4x-2tb-d4402141.htm

Its pretty much plug and play to get going in simple fashion (well I could do it).
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
This sounds exactly what I need.

Anybody like to suggest some specific hardware that might suit?

and/how to set it up?

Part of me things it would be good to implement it with a new PC too so then like @Clive says you can use SSD properly.

Mine are Netgear, with western digital drives

The NAS is pretty cheap it’s the drives you end up spending on and if you want mirrored you need double what you want to store
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
You just hard wire it into the router. No need for WiFi. Can sit anywhere in the house.

Router isn’t in the most helpful of places for adding a chunky NAS box.....hence the query.

I see some have USB ports so may support a WiFi dongle, or homeplug if not. Just another layer of complication/potential unreliability though.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
What make/model router do you have?
Some of them have a USB port to enable items such as storage to be connected.

Just using a standard Sky router.

Gone away from running my own purchased router as most deals nowadays include a “freebie” you have to have for £6 or so that’s ready set up.

Swap provider each year and you’ve always got warranty.

It’s the only farm machine I can afford to change year in year out. ;)
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
Router isn’t in the most helpful of places for adding a chunky NAS box.....hence the query.

I see some have USB ports so may support a WiFi dongle, or homeplug if not. Just another layer of complication/potential unreliability though.

Ok, it isn't a big bit a hardware. I used the network "plugs" in my last house and they worked fine too (TP Link one's I think). Wouldn't suggest them for a business solution, but I had to reset the system every 3 months or so to keep it working. So no big issue.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Ok, it isn't a big bit a hardware. I used the network "plugs" in my last house and they worked fine too (TP Link one's I think). Wouldn't suggest them for a business solution, but I had to reset the system every 3 months or so to keep it working. So no big issue.

I found the same with the plugs-they seemed to forget each other. I tried turning off power saving on them which may have helped since.

QNAP (as per @rollestonpark) and Synology (@Pheasant Surprise) seem to “brands of the moment” in NAS from some quick Googling.

I’d probably get away with a 2bay but think 4 might be the logical future proofed option even if racking up cost a bit more. I’d happily run it on two drives for now.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
I'm glad I went 4 bay. 4tb drives give you a lot of flexibility. Go for good drives though.

Thanks. That’s settled then I think.

Just the brand/model to choose. Being a first unit user friendly-ness (simplicity!) is probably one of the most important features.

I read Synology is simpler and more user friendly (think Apple) and QNAP better value.
 
This was my Christmas / New Year IT project, setting up a new 8-bay Synology unit. This one is replacing my old 4-bay desktop unit (2.5” drives) which was good but a bit slow and getting limited in storage.

I’ve gone for Seagate IronWolf Pro drives, 7200 rpm but with 5-year warranty. I have/had Western Digital drives before - the NAS specific types have been OK since I learnt my lesson with a simulatenaous three out of four drive failure using PC spec drives.

Synolgy all the way for me.
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
Drives with a 5 year warranty is a very good idea - I've lost a few. However, never lost more than one at once. However, soon as you lose one on a 4 bay then you need to turn the thing off and not use it until you have a replacement. As a second drive failure could cause loss of data. More drives you have, the better of a safer you are. 8 Bay Synology with 8 drives must be close to £2k inc vat - hell of a bit of kit though.
 

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