NAS Help

[FatherMurphy]

Hi all,

I am a long time lurker in the VC&G and CPU forums and understand those pieces of hardware pretty well. I also build gaming PCs for myself and others... but when it comes to network storage and RAID, I am completely clueless so I am turning to you guys for help.

In my main rig (Antec 1200), I have 4 - 1 TB HDD and 1 - 3 TB HDD (no raid/redundancy), in addition to my primary drive (240 GB SSD). Connected to a TV downstairs, I have a linux machine (Ubunntu) which runs only a small SSD. I use it to connect to Netflix and to pull movies/music I have on my main rig to play on the big TV. In my bedroom, I have an old Core 2 machine that I use for the same purpose.

Barring a better option, I would like to centralize (and create redundancy in) my storage in a NAS that is running 24/7 so that I can pull my music/video from the NAS to any machine connected to my network.

The qualities I am looking for in a NAS are:

-4 Bays (I plan to purchase 3 additional 3 TB HDDs)
-Ability to RAID (RAID 5 is ideal for 4 drives, no?)
-Fast enough to stream HD movies
-Ability to connect to Windows and Linux machines alike
-Encryption
-Ability to access from an external network (ideal, but not necessary)

I have read the Anandtech reviews for the Western Digital My Cloud EX4, the LenovoEMC ix4-300d, and the Synology DS414j. None appear to be clear winners over the other, though they all appear to satisfy most of the features I am looking for. Perhaps there is no clear winner out there?

Another question I have is whether hot-swappability is a deal-maker/breaker.

I would appreciate any suggestions, comments, or opinions as to what NAS hardware is best for my situation (or any suggestions for a totally different solution).

Thanks all!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

No clear winner. Synology has a generally better reputation, from what I hear.

For a four-bay NAS, I wouldn't worry about hot swappability. You're comfortable with a screwdriver, and you're not going to have a horrible number of drive failures to justify the price premium. (Not enough of a population.)

 

[sao123]

get the synology... but don't get the J model...

get the just announced
DS415play... it has higher cpu and more memory, plus 1080p video transcoding.

 

[FatherMurphy]

I appreciate your input!

 

[nk215]

I would put in another option, QNAP. I have one and really like it. The iPad app is functional. It has been serving me very well. The free antivirus software is nice. The one-button USB device file dump is also nice (basically, you plug in your USB, hit the button and it copy data to the NAS).

I would recommend you to deck it out with the largest HDs that you can (if it support 4TB drive, get those). For the off the shelf NAS, upgrade HD is a very time consuming task.

I would also recommend getting a good UPS for your NAS.

A decent way to use a NAS is to make your small application “portable” and use iSCSI. That way you don’t have to install the app on multiple computers around the house.
You may not need video transcoding because your players are decent.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Using the same iSCSI LUN with multiple client machines is a really bad idea.

Unless it's in read-only mode. Then it's just a moderately silly idea.

 

[aigomorla]

create your own NAS using FREENAS software and building a low power machine?

I and many on this forum use FreeNAS or some sort of NAS software.

The parts for one shouldnt be too expensive / can be used with old hardware, is far easier to service since its a custom PC in a nutshell.
Also by building your own, you can spend a bit more upfront, and get way more dedicated ECC RAM, and a faster Processor.
(although i learned processor is sort of moot, however the ECC RAM isnt.)

 

[FatherMurphy]

create your own NAS using FREENAS software and building a low power machine?

I and many on this forum use FreeNAS or some sort of NAS software.

The parts for one shouldnt be too expensive / can be used with old hardware, is far easier to service since its a custom PC in a nutshell.
Also by building your own, you can spend a bit more upfront, and get way more dedicated ECC RAM, and a faster Processor.
(although i learned processor is sort of moot, however the ECC RAM isnt.)

I do have spare parts lying around to build an older, but low power machine. Is FreeNAS fairly user friendly or does it require a higher level of networking experience?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I do have spare parts lying around to build an older, but low power machine. Is FreeNAS fairly user friendly or does it require a higher level of networking experience?

Depends what you want to do with it.

Install it in Virtualbox and see if you like it as far as configuration and installation go.

I'm pretty happy with it, overall.

 

[FatherMurphy]

That's a thought. That might be a weekend project!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Maybe.

Honestly though, I think it's a little limiting - by design. It's great as a storage server, but I find myself sometimes wishing I had a more general purpose server OS, but not enough to tear everything out and start over again.

If/when I replace my current home server, it'll probably be a vanilla Ubuntu box.

 

[aigomorla]

I do have spare parts lying around to build an older, but low power machine. Is FreeNAS fairly user friendly or does it require a higher level of networking experience?

its very easy...
the box boots up on a usb even so u dont need to waste any Sata ports.

With the latest version of freenas u also get recient chipset support, however seeing as u said you have old hardware laying arround, you most likely wont run into any issues in installing.

Very stable boxes... they run headless, and well my uptime should speak for itself, although ive seen people with even 3 yr+ times without the require of reboot.

There are a lot of videos on youtube on how to setup a freenas server.

The only way i will go back to a comerical nas is if i needed the solid warrenty + support of a enterprise level NAS.

Otherwise i'll probably build FreeNAS boxes for friends and family if they say they need a NAS which is beyond the typical 2 HDD capacity.

Oh, as i also said, the cpu is not as important as the RAM.
You may want to beef up the RAM, as ZFS file format which i use, on a Raid-Z = (RAID-5) for redundancy can take a whoop out of your ram for performance.

Maybe.

I find myself sometimes wishing I had a more general purpose server OS, but not enough to tear everything out and start over again.

If/when I replace my current home server, it'll probably be a vanilla Ubuntu box.

lol... i have those as well.
4 dedicated servers, 2 on dedicated raid cards which serve as permanent map network drives for my entire network.
3 on Windows Server 2008R2, one on Server 2012 which i HATE with a passion. .

One serves as a DNS/DHCP while the other 2 is packed with drives on a dedicated Raid Controller.
The last one is my Virtualization Box with HyperVisor.

Speed wise, my dedicated raid cards own... however they cheat because im running 15K SAS drives on them.
They Cap my 1GB network at 125MB/S transfer rate on large files... (i so want 10GBe)
And well SAS drives are cheap as hell now if you get them used.

Overall, if u need a NAS to mimic a drive inside the PC on the network (map network drive and use it like if it was inside your PC), id go the server OS route with a dedicated controller.
If you need something to just share files like movies/ music / pictures / storage dump, i cant see a better solution then a FreeNAS server, again unless u need the warrenty / support on a true enterprise level gear.