Suggestions on a NAS box

[razer121]

As per title, I've thought about this a number of times and the external drives just don't do it for me anymore. Fed up of the constant copying of files to drives etc etc

So i thought a raid setup might be good but finding a external raid controller seems a chore so im now asking for suggestions!

Cheers

Edit! i did find this on scan - LN56305 Not sure if it will be suitable but seems to do what i need which is to just clone two drives and use them as backups from my rig.

[CountStex]

I currently use a NAS box in a RAID 1 configuration, which is nice from a redundancy point of view, however for backup I have various jobs saving from that NAS to cloud storage (daily for documents, weekly for pictures/music etc) as I really want off site backup in case of catastrophic events.

In fact after a little research recently I'd probably do away with the RAID and maximise my local storage space (having 4TB instead of a 2TB mirror) as I really don't need 100% uptime for my home storage and could wait the time it took to download the data from the cloud again in a full rebuild situation.

[razer121]

oh i have thought about it, a DAS box isnt it? i eyed them up due to not really needing it to be on all the time, heck i even thought about using an old pc i have for the raid but still!

I think if i break it down that might help,

All i really want it for is a backup of my pc, it just needs to be able to backup my important files, photos/documents etc so not the O/S
I thought about raid as the ability is there to create 2 copies of my backup incase one fails.

The only other reason to have the box be a nas box is the convenience of it being there at all times but then that bothers me with costs of running it as i dont think it needs to run all the time, but then can a raid system built around an old pc be used safely like that?

[Saracen999]

RAID, by itself, isn't isn't really a good solution for "need a backup". For a start, there are too many things that can take out multiple drives in an array. I speak frim experience wheb a PC PSU problem took out a RAID5 controller, and physically fried chips on 3 of 4 hard drives. It's really more about uptime and resilence.

Personally, I keep most data on a separate server, with 6 disks in RAID5, and a backup regime that backs different categories of data up to different media, on differing schedules. For instance, "static" (like photos) data gets archived to optical disks, but "dynamic" data goes mainly to tape.

And yes, that's a home, albeit home office, setup.

But the real message from that, given that it suits me but probably wouldn't suit you, is to take a long, hard look at your data and exactly how valuable it is, or isn't, and to work out a blend of convenience and protection that fits. In my case, with accounts data abd skne client files, loss implies not being able to do tax returns and risking getting sued over client data, hence the extrene measures. How far you should go depends on your circumstances.

[razer121]

RAID, by itself, isn't isn't re....snip snip!

Thanks for the input, ive come to the conclusion that creating a backup, of my backup is probably the way im going to go forward, that way ive got 3 copies should one go out...or two at the same time!

Raid is interesting to me just because ive never used it and the thought of it doing the work for me made it attractive in this case, but just like you after research a lot of people say the same thing about it.

JBOD seems to be what i need in this case! so looks like its a few usb controllers and some brain power to make one!

[CountStex]

Thanks for the input, ive come to the conclusion that creating a backup, of my backup is probably the way im going to go forward, that way ive got 3 copies should one go out...or two at the same time!

Raid is interesting to me just because ive never used it and the thought of it doing the work for me made it attractive in this case, but just like you after research a lot of people say the same thing about it.

JBOD seems to be what i need in this case! so looks like its a few usb controllers and some brain power to make one!

Oh it's always fun to experiment with things somewhat, and my understanding of what RAID was and how it worked became far more indepth after playing around with it certainly. Having a NAS has been very good in that way. We have 3 PCs using the space so it's great from that point of view too. But yeah, with modern hard drive sizes and the chances of read fails on rebuilds it's not as attractive at is once was.

May I suggest you look into cloud storage from BackBlaze (no I don't work for them ) But they offer unlimited backup for $5 a month which frankly is amazing value, if you can spare the change of course. Having that as a failsafe if very reassuring.

[CK1]

Back in 2010 I bought a Synology DS409+ NAS which has 4x1.5TB HDD. This device has been up pretty much everyday for nearly 9 years. I've had one (Samsung) hard disk fail which was duly swapped out. The ability to have my data (photos, videos, music, and correspondence letters that I scanned) stored on a RAID 5 array which is in turn backed up to Amazon S3 Glacier and is all accessible from any PC, mobile phone etc in the world is amazing. There is tight security though.
Last year I updated the device to a Synology DS418 with 4x4TB HDD, and that'll hopefully keep me going for the next 10 years. I wouldn't look to any other solution.
It is my personal cloud.
By the way I don't work for Synology.
I hope this helps

[CountStex]

Back in 2010 I bought a Synology DS409+ NAS which has 4x1.5TB HDD. This device has been up pretty much everyday for nearly 9 years. I've had one (Samsung) hard disk fail which was duly swapped out. The ability to have my data (photos, videos, music, and correspondence letters that I scanned) stored on a RAID 5 array which is in turn backed up to Amazon S3 Glacier and is all accessible from any PC, mobile phone etc in the world is amazing. There is tight security though.
Last year I updated the device to a Synology DS418 with 4x4TB HDD, and that'll hopefully keep me going for the next 10 years. I wouldn't look to any other solution.
It is my personal cloud.
By the way I don't work for Synology.
I hope this helps

I've actually been looking at Synology myself, in particular the DS218Play as I currently have my PC running 24/7 supporting my Plex install, and having the NAS handle that would be great. I presently have a ZyXel but Plex doesn't support those anymore. It's only a two bay but I have two additional 2bay USB3 drive caddies (ICYBOX) that I could hang off the back of it for more space (I presently have a 10TB lump of drives in my PC). Good to hear you have had a good experience with them To be fair, storagewise the ZyXel has been perfect too.

[Saracen999]

Thanks for the input, ive come to the conclusion that creating a backup, of my backup is probably the way im going to go forward, that way ive got 3 copies should one go out...or two at the same time!

Raid is interesting to me just because ive never used it and the thought of it doing the work for me made it attractive in this case, but just like you after research a lot of people say the same thing about it.

JBOD seems to be what i need in this case! so looks like its a few usb controllers and some brain power to make one!

Oh, RAID is interesting .... and for many, it's valuable. Even for backup it gives a degree of reassurance.

The problem is that it'll cover you for some situations, in others, it leaves you exposed.

Any backup solution is a blend of risk and convenience. The more inconvenient it is, the bigger the chance you won't use it properly. The old "I'll do it tomorrow", which becomes end of the week, which becomes next week, and that, of course, is exactly when something will fail.

As for risk, what puts me off is the prospect that certain single points of failure can take out the whole array, in one go. Assessing where those weak links are, and just what you lose in a worst case situation is part of the risk.

Back in my accountancy days, I was doing an audit and the finance director was showing me around. This was in mini-computer days with backups on big reels of tape, and he proudly showed me the shelves full of daily, weekly and monthly backups, going back over a year, right above their mini-computer. All their transaction records, sales, debtors, invoices paid, etc, were ALL in that room.

So I asked him, with a straight face .... "Have you thought about the effect of a fire in here?"

He went kinda red, then white. Shortly after, they bought a fireproof safe, and also implemented off-site storage.

Like I say .... single point of failure, but also, what are you risking? For most home users, not much. For that business, a fire in that room would have been the end of the business.

[peterb]

I would add that RAID is not a backup solution (not even RAID 1 which mirrors the disks. While it does give some reassurance and protection against single disk failure, it is really there to minimise downtime in the event of a single disk failure.

But you still need an independent back-up in case of a catastrophic failure of the server that corrupts the array.

[spacein_vader]

Anyone still follow the old 3-2-1 rule?

3 copies of data, in (at least,) 2 different formats, of which 1 is off-site.

[CountStex]

Anyone still follow the old 3-2-1 rule?

3 copies of data, in (at least,) 2 different formats, of which 1 is off-site.

I almost had that for a while, with my RAID1 NAS, backing up essentials (family photos etc) to another drive, and then that backup was stored on a B2 cloud server. But given the fact I can withstand downtime for that data I just backup the NAS direct to the B2 storage now and feel well enough protected. Of course if my hard drives fail on the same day the company I use goes bust I'll be looking stupid

[Macman]

Got myself a Terramaster F2-220 which was a bargain. Upgrading it to 4gb of RAM and will have it running 8TB at somepont, but for the time being its doing what I need it to do. Plex + Burn-in subtitles is a godsend.

Well worth the money for the NAS + Plex lifetime.

[razer121]

Well its decided, i think being me i will make my own enclosure for a couple of HDDs

Tomorrow though i plan on having a mess about with a nas box...