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Thread: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

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    A shadowy flight. MSIC's Avatar
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    Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    Following on from my initial post (12 hour mini review), i've been getting more familiar with my NAS and wanted to share some experiences;

    First of all, as someone who is not an IT professional, I think that I wasnt fully prepared for what I bought, although ultimately I think that by luck more than design, I will end up with what I want.

    I essentially had various drives, with various media, all over the place, and was becoming increasingly concerned that if a drive failed then I would lose alot. Although my photos were backup up, it was only being done on a "when I can remember to do so" basis, and nothing else was backed up.

    I got my Synology and loaded 2 of the bays with 2 TB drives, selected the 'standard' system to manage volumes (which it uses RAID 1 for mirroring), and after close to a day or so of the NAS processing the drives (checking consistency etc) it was ready to rock and roll.
    After installing its OS, i had 1.8 TB of useable drive space.

    My initial frustrations about poor transfer speeds (of around 4 MB per sec) was due to me transferring files via my web browser, and the loaded java applet... at the time I didnt know that there was any other way to load files on to the NAS, and the whole thing felt quite underwhelming.

    Mapping a network drive
    Then a friend pointed out how to map a network drive on to your PC (basically right click on 'My Computer' or 'Computer' depending on your version of windows) and select "map network drive...". You then enter your NAS IP address, folder name, username and pasword and you are away!
    So working backwards from Z, i have 5 drive letters for Pictures, Photos, Documents, Music and Videos, and also mapped the same drives to same letters on other laptops in the home.

    Bingo.
    Suddenly this whole NAS thing makes alot of sense - I transferred my previous music drive to the NAS but changed drive letters so my computer thinks the new location is the old one, and iTunes was simply able to open up and work, retaining all my ratings. Now all of my computers have access to all of my music, without having to get iTunes to do any 'Home Sharing' etc.
    So far I have around 800 GB of stuff on it, including music, home movies, dvds etc.

    I have also since added in a couple more drives (this time i put in 2 Western Dig EARS drives to sit alongside the current Samsung F3's), and the NAS has begun the process of adding and converting the array, changing itself from RAID 0 to RAID 5, and am anticipating having a total of (just under) 6 TB of space to use, which should be plenty for the future (i hope).

    I must say though that this process has not been quick, which I anticipated, however... I started this on Sunday 9am. It took approx 12 hrs to do disk checking, which I thought was quite quick, but then it began integrating the new drives into the array. When I left the house this morning (Tues 7am) it was still going through this process! The whole thing is happening automatically which is good, and I anticipate that it'll all be done when I get home this evening. Also, throughout this process all of my files have remained accessible, so it's no bad thing (quite clever actually - it still hurts my brain when I try to mentally picture how RAID 5 works).

    The NAS itself is quite quiet although my Samsung drives are audible. The Western Dig's are much quieter, and moving from 2 drives to 4 hasnt really increased the noise. Conversely, my Samsung drives are reported as remaining under 35 degrees C, even whilst heavy seeking, whereas both WD's are reported as 41 degrees. Still, i cant imagine that 48 hrs of thrashing drives will be a common activity, so i'm not concerned.

    Currently the NAS sits on my desk next to me, however i plan to move it in to a draw (but ensure good airflow), since this is all in the living room and I want to have it all looking good. Am also organising for an electrician to install home networking (Cat 5E) and a gigabit switch, so all in all i'm hoping for really quick access to my files.
    Last edited by MSIC; 10-06-2010 at 01:14 PM.
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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    Do you use firefox? If so you may find this plugin handy. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/14042/
    Main PC : Abit IP35-Pro | Q6600 G0 @ 3GHz | 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix 8500 | MSI N460 GTX HAWX | 1 x Crucial M4 128GB SSD | Antec 182 | Corsair HX620 | Dell 2407WFP-HC | Windows 10 x64
    Server : HP MicroServer N40L | 16 GB RAM | 4 X 1 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 | ESXi 6.0 NAS : Synology DS-408 - 4 x 3GB WD RED HTPC : Acer Revo RL70 | LibreElec

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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    Personally i prefer to use a shortcut on my desktop pointing to \\SERVERNAME. That way all of my shared folders are accessible via the one link and my computer stays uncluttered. Personal preference.

    Be sure to check out the DDNS settings on the management console, you can sign up for a free domain name from http://www.dyndns.com/ and access your files via the web through FileStation. Very handy if you work away from home or need to access your files from the office.
    Main PC : Abit IP35-Pro | Q6600 G0 @ 3GHz | 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix 8500 | MSI N460 GTX HAWX | 1 x Crucial M4 128GB SSD | Antec 182 | Corsair HX620 | Dell 2407WFP-HC | Windows 10 x64
    Server : HP MicroServer N40L | 16 GB RAM | 4 X 1 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 | ESXi 6.0 NAS : Synology DS-408 - 4 x 3GB WD RED HTPC : Acer Revo RL70 | LibreElec

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    A shadowy flight. MSIC's Avatar
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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    Thanks for those, the download one may be of use, as I'm an Ubuntu fanatic and tend to play with the various Alpha's...
    As for DynDNS, yes it's a good service, however I have a static IP on Be.
    At the moment though, i'm still thinking about the balance of benefit vs risks of opening up ports to the outside world.
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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    RAID0 for mirroring?

    You got something wrong here, RAID0 is stripe [minimum two drives, no redundancy]

    If you ended up with ~1.8TB of space you got RAID1, above must have been a typo

    RAID array migrations taking that long aren't good... If a single drive brakes during migration everything is lost. 2+ days of syncing and migrating is a bit over the top (too much of a risk)

    Also 5400RPM drives are much better choice for a NAS device - cooler and less noisy.


    Adrian
    Last edited by spoon_; 10-06-2010 at 09:19 AM.

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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    I think it is a typo, he mentioned RAID 1 in another thread. And Samsung HD203WIs are 5400rpm drives.

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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    Indeed, a typo.
    Agreed about the long wait, not ideal at all, however all of that data was backed up elsewhere as this was really more of a test to see how it worked (I intended to get 4 drives all along, just decided to do it in stages).
    With that in mind though, i'd fully agree that this may not be a suitable unit for a business or hectic environment, but seems fine for my needs.
    I guess i will now wait and see what happens when one of the drives fail, although I hope that this wont be for a few years.
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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    I wouldn't advise it but you could yank a drive out if you wanted to simulate a drive failure.

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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    Quote Originally Posted by watercooled View Post
    And Samsung HD203WIs are 5400rpm drives.
    Hey I know that

    Got mislead by:

    (this time i put in 2 Western Dig EARS drives to sit alongside the current Samsung F3's)

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    A shadowy flight. MSIC's Avatar
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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    Quote Originally Posted by watercooled View Post
    I wouldn't advise it but you could yank a drive out if you wanted to simulate a drive failure.
    How about pourning water over the unit?
    I'm commenting on an internet forum. Your facts hold no sway over me.
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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    Quote Originally Posted by MSIC View Post
    How about pourning water over the unit?
    That would work, just make sure its deionized so no algae will grow

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    Re: Synology DS410j: 2 weeks in.

    I wanted to quickly add to this thread..

    I have since bought a Gigabit switch (my mini review), and have now seen dramatic speed increases when transferring files from desktop to NAS -
    Over my Netgear router, I was getting 10.5 MB/s, and scratching my head a little, however it was pointed out to me that 10.5 Mbytes per second = 84 Mbits per second, which (when you factor in protocols etc) is clearly the limit of my 10/100 speed router.
    Swapping the gigabit switch in place for the wired networking, speeds have now risen to 45 MB/s (woo hoo!!), which I am satisfied with.

    The side benefit of this is that not only do I have faster transfer speeds, but since the network is no longer swamped I can still use my PC, play music etc without that whole thing feeling like walking through treacle. All in all a much more pleasant experience, and very worth the money.

    The message: If you get a NAS, ensure you have Gigabit networking.
    I'm commenting on an internet forum. Your facts hold no sway over me.
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