Question Home network revamp

[Headfoot]

Hey folks,

Looking for tips especially on new and upcoming gear.

Plan

I am planning on upgrading my entry level QNAP Nas (TS-231p). My goals are:
- Increase throughput generally (cpu in NAS holding me back)
- Increase throughput specifically to main PC which I use for my home studio for music. It have Qsync running to shuttle over newly recorded raw 44.1k WAV files to the NAS to instantly back them up continuously. It locks up my DAW session in Reaper because I believe it is simply too slow. I also use Cloudberry to do a weekly backup to a fileshare on the NAS and also to Amazon S3.
- Need a beefier NAS to run the virtualization station and run LANCache containers (need more memory and more CPU)

I am planning on sticking with QNAP because the SSD caching is nice, the autosync and backup features are nice, id like to directly migrate current drives without a lengthy redo, and I don't totally trust FreeNAS enough.

I have an Ironwolf 6TB and a 500gb Crucial MX500 running as SSD Cache.

I am thinking of doing:
- TS-253D and adding an inexpensive 1TB M.2 SSD to use as the DAW and LANCache drive
- NETGEAR GS810EMX to replace the switch. Real 10gbe or many multigig port switches are still just too expensive. This one has good reviews, and some of the other cheap 8 Gigabit + 2x 10gig Base T seem to have issues or cant actually hit 10gbe. My only concerns are getting a fat pipe from NAS to switch, and from switch to my DAW pc. The other LAN gaming PCs are fine sticking with Gigabit knowing that the 2.5gbe link to the switch would allow 2 of them to simultaneously hit the LANCache without slowdown. I wont go over this very often (there are 3 total gaming pcs unless I'm having a lan party).
- TrendNET TEG-10GECTX into the DAW for a 10g rj45 NIC

Questions/concerns
- the TS-253D seems really expensive for what it is ($500 + cost of PCIe expansion for M.2 and/or 10gb). I can buy a low end current or last gen motherboard/cpu/ram combo and put it in an existing case for less than this and get much better expandability and performance for less money. I would have to go FreeNAS though and I am not very excited by the prospect. I can manage my way through a linux box but I am no sysadmin or expert. Is there any other NAS brand that would have 1) 2.5gbe+ nic, 2) m.2 SSD slot, 3) at least 2 bays beyond that, 4) cheaper than $500?
- The multigig switch situation still continues to suck. Am I missing any good multigig RJ45 switches? I have both Cat5e and Cat6a on the switch but the cables are easily accessible for swapping.
- Are any of the USB3-> 2.5gb NICs actually good? It seems like I'm just asking for latency and processing limitations by using something like this but maybe I'm wrong.
- Number 1 concern is just how expensive this all will be summed up.

Really I just want faster / smoother sync between DAW pc and NAS, and LANCache running on the same box as my NAS in the least expensive but reliable manner.

Any thoughts?

 

[Headfoot]

Double post, sorry. The main alternative in my mind is roll my own FreeNAS and rely on my Cloudberry backup tool to a regular fileshare.

I would lose the easy file sharing capability for the NAS (unless there is a tool for FreeNAS that is easy to use that Im unaware of). I hesitate because I use this to share those same audio files with bandmates, mixing engineer, in lieu of having a dropbox/gdrive subscription

 

[aigomorla]

FreeNAS 11.3 you can do mostly what is required via putty/winSCP and GUI.
There are a lot of guides on youtube on how to setup pools and shares via GUI, even down to replacing a disk during disk loss.
Problem with FreeNAS tho is it likes a LOT of ram, and for it to be really stable, it requires enterprise gear.

Retired Intel enterprise gear is probably better then newer Ryzen gear, as the core to FreeNAS is FreeBSD, and i just do not think Ryzen has been around long enough for FreeBSD to have worked out all the bugs on.

You should at the very least throw a bunch of random hardware on it, put some drives in, play with it for a week, before you decide tho.
And if you decide you want to go the FreeNAS route, then invest in retired enterprise gear, or get new gear if you like, and build a system.

You can setup your freenas box to be a FTP host, but i would really look hard into learning the settings for that, as it can open your box for uninvited guests.

However depending on how large the file is, i would still probably go the google drive route for sharing, with an upgraded pass for larger storage space.

This way you don't need to worry about the ISP wondering why you uploaded so much data, compared to downloaded it, and also google is the fastest download then any peer to peer download/upload, as your most likely to not cap out that bandwith google can give.

 

[Headfoot]

Yeah given all of the limitations and uncertainty, I ended up just building a low end but modern dedicated Lan Cache box. It's got a b460m mobo and the low end 10th gen Pentium gold 2c/4t processor. I did splurge on the nice WD750 Black SSD. I just have it on the gigabit LAN right now, I will probably upgrade to that QNAP 2.5g switch when it drops in the US.

LanCache is super cool btw. It is quite satisfying just hitting "download" in steam and seeing it go at 100MBs+ without any work needed on the client desktops. It will come in really handy for the next LAN party. Call of Duty patches are as large as entire games used to be so it should really help with that