Storage backup media server = Nas?

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gnfb

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#113545 20-Jan-2013 08:39

Ok I run 2 workstations 1 tablet and 1 ps3 on my home network. I have over the last few years added 4 external drives adding up to a needed a storage capacity of 10tb I now have some time on my hands so its time to get organized. A budget of about 0-500 dollars. The end game is to have a backup storage media "server" an hours goggling suggests I need a NAS storage unit. Do I? or can i not get some software and just keep adding ext drives suggestions and comments appreciated

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#747660 20-Jan-2013 10:03

Adding external drives adds to the complexity - cables, power needed, etc. A NAS keep everything organised in a single box. Depending on the NAS, the number of drives and how you organised the storage (RAID, blog, etc) expanding capacity can be as easy as turning unit off, swap the old drive with a new bigger one, turn unit on and let it rebuild it without losing anything.

Note that RAID doesn't mean backup. It means resilience in case of failure. If more drives fail than the number of failed drives supported by the RAID then you might lose data. Having a NAS, external storage or whatever is no replacement for backup.

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#747663 20-Jan-2013 10:10

Also, I have a Synology ds212j NAS here, it's very good but only two bays. IT's what I use at home to store our data, photos, iTunes movies etc. Two 2TB drives in RAID 0 (mirror).

I have a QNAP NAS with four bays here for review, and this one even has a HDMI port and runs XBMC so it's currently holding 4TB data and connected to my TV in the lounge as a media center (my own Media Center though is a Dell Zino HD running Windows 7 Media Center with a HHomerun in the network for DVB-T TV and storage in the Synology NAS).

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bigal_nz

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#747690 20-Jan-2013 11:06

NAS's are good for somethings.

Best brands are QNAP and Synology IMHO.

If you have all 10Tb somewhere else you could have a backup copy of the data on a NAS.

You would need a 4Bay NAS with all 4 bays having a 3Tb disk in it.

You wont be able to do this for $500. The NAS alone would cost more than that.

chevrolux

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#747694 20-Jan-2013 11:16

FreeNAS is what you want. Get a rubbish old PC for next to nothing, or maybe you have one. Speed your $500 on a bunch of drives and then load up freenas. Does all the things the branded ones will do and literally runs on anything.

bigal_nz

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#747927 20-Jan-2013 20:19

Problem with freenas is it seems to want 8Gb of RAM. 8Gb of DDR2 in some old PC is $320. Not so cheap anymore?

chevrolux

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#747939 20-Jan-2013 20:40

Na I have run it with only 512Mb RAM and it is fine. I think they spec 6GB when using ZFS shares. For the general home user UFS is fine though isn't it? I know it is a bit older but still works perfectly.

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Mark

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#747940 20-Jan-2013 20:41

freitasm: Two 2TB drives in RAID 0 (mirror).

I'm afraid you have to go hand in your geek badge now after that foobar! ;-)

bigal_nz

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#747978 20-Jan-2013 22:05

Mark:
freitasm: Two 2TB drives in RAID 0 (mirror).

I'm afraid you have to go hand in your geek badge now after that foobar! ;-)

LOL. The way I remember is "0" is what have left after Raid "0" fails :)

gnfb

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#747981 20-Jan-2013 22:09

Thanks for the info and where I appreciate that I can build a box etc not being an expert I know that this would turn into several days and swearing so I have come up with two alternatives
TS-412 QNAP
ds413j Synology

they seem very similar in abilities and what I will do is do a changeover and sell my external drives to make up for going over budget

Now if anyone has an opinion to favor one over the other ?

price is comparable at

TS-412 $573

http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=821259

ds413j $574

http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=1385015

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lxsw20

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#748003 20-Jan-2013 22:40

No experience with the Qnap, but I've been very happy with my ds212j. Some pretty handy apps available and they seem to actively do software upgrades.

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#748142 21-Jan-2013 11:25

I'd second the FreeNAS path as well simply because it uses ZFS for the filesystem.

ZFS has some nice features, the one I like being that it constantly rechecks data written to the drives to detect and correct bitrot, most volume managers and filesystems don't do this (and neither do a lot of hardware RAID controllers), and with large amounts of storage being online these days it's becoming a more noticeably problem.

Me personally I have a Thecus N4200Pro ... bit pricey but you get a nice Atom based system that's ready to go. Software is a little rough around the edges but the performance is excellent, I can almost get wirespeed data throughput (it sustains 215Mbytes/second write) and the little Atom still has horsepower to burn doing other stuff :-) I just wish it had a decent ZFS implementation :-)

I'd say if you can build a cheap enough Atom based machine (there are some nice "NAS" cases out there) stick FreeNAS on it and then just forget about it as far as management goes.

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gnfb

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#748210 21-Jan-2013 14:12

Ok Mark I will look into your suggestions and price them out search on google for "atom Systems"? and Nas cases unless you have suggestions where to buy?

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gnfb

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#748270 21-Jan-2013 15:54

Ok so I am going to have a go at building a Nas system on a old computer surprisingly I havnt got on laying around so its of to trademe for a cheap s/h one several $1 intel towers lets see what they go for then i guess

a PCI hard disk controller card? Raid card?
maybe this one

Came across this information on building one NAS DIY

then i guess 4x 2tb drives lets see what price spy has...

2tb drives sata

Dammits hard work when you only know half the story still will get there in the end and if i dont like it will still have the drives so just buy a ready made one (should make sure the drives are suitable for the ready mades just in case)

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sidefx

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#748285 21-Jan-2013 16:24

Might be easiest if you can just find a second hand system with 4 spare SATA ports and space in the case for 5 drives than going for controller cards; that one you've linked is eSATA and doesn't look like it has an internal SATA ports; unless you're looking at using an eSATA enclosure?

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rossmnz

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#748292 21-Jan-2013 16:43

I am using a Dlink 320 2 bay NAS and two WD Caviar Green 2TBs in RAID 1.

Have not had any issues with access, reliability or useability in this setup and it was fairly cheap to be honest.

I use it to store all media (played via PS3, iPad/iPhones and PC/laptops).

A great out of the box solution!

The force is strong with this one!

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