Home NAS advice

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Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Home NAS advice

Yorkshirekid

21 posts

Geek

Topic # 106300 21-Jul-2012 13:10
I’m wanting to establish NAS at home for backup and file internet access and would appreciate some advice. I have an iMac and a PC desktop, iPhones and a few laptops, all of which I’d like to have access a NAS; probably 4TB. I want the NAS to be hidden in the house somewhere away from the desktops. I’ve read reviews on gear and the more I read the more confusing things can become as I’ve never actually seen a NAS setup or spoken to anyone who knows what one is. Even though I want the NAS hidden, I’d like to run ethernet to it as I believe read/write would be faster – I’m not sure? The of course, the cable is a giveaway that there’s more hardware to be found should there be a break-in at home. So, I’m in two minds here. Time Machine? WD My Book? Something else? Dunno what’s a good solution. Any help appreciated please

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127 posts

Master Geek

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Reply # 659528 21-Jul-2012 13:33
Hi, I've just recently been through a similar exercise. After reading/taking some advice here, I bought a Synology DiskStation DS212j, which is a two-drive NAS device. I bought an "empty" device, and populated it with a single 2Tb disk - it's my backup device so not too concerned about drive failure protection at this point. The device is sort-of on a wired connection; it's ethernet is connected to a D-Link Powerline, which carries the Ethernet over the house's 240V power to another Powerline device, which is ethernet connected to my WiFi router. Windows laptops are using Genie Timeline Home to backup; I've got a Mac using Time Machine. This combination is working fairly well for me; obviously initial backups over WiFi are slow, but I can plug the laptops into the Powerline box too (one end has a 4-port switch/hub), which speeds them up a bit.

freitasm

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Reply # 659543 21-Jul-2012 14:37
I have a Synology DS212j here, the one used for our review and couldn't be happier, for a small device with ample capacity. Check our Geekzone Price Comparison site for prices. Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure, my tweets, Web Performance Optimization) Geekzone Price comparison \| Amazon Kindle order page \| How to get the best out of Geekzone \| New Zealand IT Jobs \| Geekzone News \| Jinglebugs

billgates

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Reply # 659547 21-Jul-2012 14:46
Another vote for Synology DS212j. Very happy with mine. Microsoft\|Outlook\|Skydrive\|Windows Live Admin Center\|Skype\|Office Web Apps\|Office 365\| Windows Phone\|Windows 8\|Xbox\|Hyper-V\|Office2013\|Bing\|Security Essentials\|Server 2012

DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 659648 21-Jul-2012 18:41
One vote for QNAP TS-112

Yorkshirekid

21 posts

Geek

Reply # 659804 22-Jul-2012 10:01
Thanks guys. Busy reading about those products. Couple more questions - any of you hide the NAS in case of burglary? If so, where and how is the best way to do this. I have a garage 20m away [perhaps not the best choice], or the loft above [but what about cooling?]. Either way, doesn't the NAS have to be plugged via ethernet into the modem/router? Thanks Oh - does anyone know of a show in the Wellington area that displays one in action and where I could go ask questions?

freitasm

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Reply # 659849 22-Jul-2012 11:31
I don't have space to hide things... I use an online backup for most important files, and an USB drive backup attached to the NAS for less important stuff. Note that mirroring/redundancy is not backup, hence an external solution. Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure, my tweets, Web Performance Optimization) Geekzone Price comparison \| Amazon Kindle order page \| How to get the best out of Geekzone \| New Zealand IT Jobs \| Geekzone News \| Jinglebugs

jamesrt

127 posts

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Reply # 659861 22-Jul-2012 12:12
Yorkshirekid: any of you hide the NAS in case of burglary? If so, where and how is the best way to do this. I have a garage 20m away [perhaps not the best choice], or the loft above [but what about cooling?]. Either way, doesn't the NAS have to be plugged via ethernet into the modem/router? I don't bother hiding my unit; but the DJ212j does have a fan in it if you are worried about heat if it's somewhere unusual. Also, the PowerLine devices I talked about above (from D-Link) are designed to extend an Ethernet connection over the house's 240V AC wiring. This means you don't need to run additional cabling to somewhere unusual as well - assuming the power is on the same circuit. I believe the PowerLine can't cross a transformer or RCD connection either.

billgates

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Reply # 659916 22-Jul-2012 14:46
Hide mine behind my computer room's rubbish bin which itself is hiding at the corner of the computer table. Microsoft\|Outlook\|Skydrive\|Windows Live Admin Center\|Skype\|Office Web Apps\|Office 365\| Windows Phone\|Windows 8\|Xbox\|Hyper-V\|Office2013\|Bing\|Security Essentials\|Server 2012

DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 660399 23-Jul-2012 14:56
billgates: Hide mine behind my computer room's rubbish bin which itself is hiding at the corner of the computer table. And your 'Computer room' doesn't have key-card, finger print or retina eye scan security access? Or even a signed off change control registered on the system, thus allowing the security man to open the front door. So not the butler, but the cleaner 'what' did it. Both Synology and QNAP support security cameras, so at least (with external streaming and motion sensors) one could watch the thief just before they nab your NAS... and with voice activation, even talk to him/her. Note to self, Billgates' NAS is just behind the rubbish bin. PS. I remember a guy who had a VAX11/750 with three phase power in his spare room. So unless the thief came with a fork lift... ah, the good old days.

khull

632 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 660423 23-Jul-2012 15:37
my synology 4 bay DS411 has a kensington lock slot. My recommendation is to get a minimum 4 bay. I started off with 2 bay and it was ridiculous trying to juggle space. Even with 4 bays - I have to start thinking about deleting files now. If I had to sell my 4 bay, I'd go for at least 5 bay as once redundancy is included, there isn't a whole lot of disk space remaining

reven

1185 posts

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Reply # 660426 23-Jul-2012 15:40
i have a readynas ultra 6 bay one, probably over kill for you, but really impressed with the readynas devices. havent had to touch it in 6 months of having it. i would stay away from Drobo, i had one, it was useless. when it worked it was fine, but it started having problems and it became a real PITA. one drive bay died, and slow write times (about 7mb/s). so just say no to drobo. www.reven.co.nz

khull

632 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 660448 23-Jul-2012 15:52
reven is correct - I can't agree more that Drobo's are NOT a NAS solution. Sharing and permissions are hard to configure on those devices

Yorkshirekid

21 posts

Geek

Reply # 700197 12-Oct-2012 14:31
So I've bought a NAS device [off Tme]. I failed to realise that my 4port modem/router is all plugged up. So I need advice please - do I get an 8port {and I can't seem to find any that Slingshot support - and I have asked them], or a hub or a switch. If get the hub/switch then what are the advantages and disadvantages in performance. What models do fellow Geeks recommend?

sidefx

1060 posts

Uber Geek

Reply # 700211 12-Oct-2012 14:44
Just get a switch and use it with your existing modem\router (assuming you're happy with your modem\router) TP-Link TL-SG1008D (I have the 5 port version of that, but have run out too - you can never have too many ;-) )

johny99

91 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 703807 19-Oct-2012 22:42
qnap 212 is awsome

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