NAS vs Windows Home Server

[IceBoy109]

I'm debating between purchasing a 4-bay NAS or purchasing a small home server type PC that I could then set up with a RAID/Hard Drive Tower and port multiplier. I'm not really familiar with either of these, and without being able to physically see or try out the interface for one or the other, I’m having some difficulty deciding which is best for my needs based solely on reading the forums. For simplicity's sake, I'll list off what I'm trying to accomplish.

I would like to have four 2TB hard drives used for storing my photos and videos on the NAS or Server so that anyone on the home network will be able to access them. Although I can appreciate the time that can be saved with RAID configurations, I think I'd feel more comfortable dedicating 4TB worth of disk space towards storage, and the other 4TB towards a backup copy of the original 4TB. I'm pretty sure this isn't exactly efficient, so eventually I'd like to setup a RAID configuration along with a backup, but since RAID is not the same as a backup, if I can only afford going one route, I'll choose a nightly backup over RAID for now. Or, maybe I can have the first 4TB configured in RAID and the 2nd 4TB configured in its own array as well? I dunno.

I'd also like to be able to set up all the computers on the network to be able to automatically back up files to the server/NAS, but I don't think that would be a problem with whichever route I go. That would then result in original files on the user's PC, a copy on the server, and then a copy on the server's backup.

I've read about using an old PC to set up a FreeNAS but I don't actually have any old computer's lying around. I figure if I just build a cheap PC to setup FreeNAS I might as well look into purchasing a NAS or a small PC with Windows Home Server.

Cost is kind of an issue, so the more frugal the better. That being said, I don't want to skimp on quality or reliability. I've currently got around 3TB worth of videos and will eventually need to add more space to my server/nas so I'm not sure which is easier to add storage to in the future. I have an additional 1tb worth of photos on my PC that i back up to an external hard drive right at my desk, that I'd rather backup to the server eventually. Thanks for your patience and time.

 

[YBS1]

Windows Home Server, probably an HP MediaSmart Server which have been discontinued but can probably still be found. Couple that with something like a Sans Digital 4 bay tower raid and that sounds exactly like what you are looking for.

 

[TheWart]

I had a WHS box from Fujitsu/Intel (the one with the 100 page thread in hot deals lol). It worked pretty well but I always seemed to be having some sort of network problem with WHS and got tired of that. I then bought a synology NAS and could not be happier. They are not cheap (I got the 411+) but I have not had any problems with it and it is super fast. The remote access features are very robust and it is a cinch to control from an iPhone or iPad.

 

[x26]

I'm looking for the same thing...

 

[IceBoy109]

Thanks for the responses so far.

@TheWart - I was actually looking at the Synology NAS devices and they seem to have good customer reviews. Would I be able to do what I described in my original post using the Synology NAS? Specifically, using two drives for actual storage and the other two for a nightly backup?

The more I think about it, I'd probably want to setup each pair of two 2tb drives in a RAID array so that the computers on the network see two 4tb drives instead of four 2tb drives.

Are there any drawbacks in using a NAS when it comes to adding additional drives for storage?

 

[Modelworks]

an alternative to WHS is amahi . It does what WHS did and more
http://www.amahi.org/

 

[Jimmah]

an alternative to WHS is amahi . It does what WHS did and more
http://www.amahi.org/

+1

and free

 

[TheWart]

Thanks for the responses so far.

@TheWart - I was actually looking at the Synology NAS devices and they seem to have good customer reviews. Would I be able to do what I described in my original post using the Synology NAS? Specifically, using two drives for actual storage and the other two for a nightly backup?

The more I think about it, I'd probably want to setup each pair of two 2tb drives in a RAID array so that the computers on the network see two 4tb drives instead of four 2tb drives.

Are there any drawbacks in using a NAS when it comes to adding additional drives for storage?

I quickly perused my DS411+ user's manual but did not see any specific mention of what you talked about. However, I am 90% sure that what you describe is possible as when you go to create a storage volume/partition, is asks what drives do you want to make up said volume and what type do you want it to be (eg, raid 0, 1, 5, etc).

 

[IceBoy109]

Thanks for all the responses. In my search it seems that for whatever reason, going the route of WHS may be more limited as more time passes due to it being less and less supported making the NAS server more appealing. Though, with that being said, Amahi may serve to be the viable alternative.

Are there any known cheap, but able PC configurations that would work well with Amahi? I suppose my best bet is to hit up the forums there. Thanks again for the suggestions.

If anyone wants to follow up with any input regarding TheWart's understanding on what the NAS is capable of, I'd appreciate it.

 

[JackMDS]

What is not supported?

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx

http://usingwindowshomeserver.com/

http://www.mswhs.com/category/windows-home-server/

http://www.wegotserved.com/

http://forum.wegotserved.com/index.php/topic/2961-raid-on-whs/

http://forum.wegotserved.com/index....tall-whs-vail-how-to-reimport-windows-raid-1/

http://homeservershow.com/adding-raid-to-whs-2011.html

 

[IceBoy109]

JackMDS,

Sorry I wasn't very clear in my QuickReply. At the recommendation of YBS1 I was looking specifically into the HP MediaSmart Servers which really seem to be ideal for me. However, they are discontinued and in some of my reading I've found that the Drive Extender feature was/is discontinued as well.

There seems to be some debate between how important this feature was and whether it was for the best or not. I guess I shouldn't have specified WHS as being less supported, but rather the HP Media Smart Servers which seemed to be ideal for my needs.

Are there any known popular alternatives to the HP sets that I have yet to come across that you could point me in the right direction to? The few that I've stumbled across have had less than stellar reviews and compel me to build my own, but I've never made one before and after taking time, software costs, and hardware costs into account, I started to think that perhaps the NAS was the way to go.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

I recommend a QNAP TS-410, its a 4 drive NAS, low power. For bit more money, get a QNAP TS-419P+, faster access speed, more RAM to run more applications.

You can configure it with all 4 x 2TB drives in RAID5, which will give you a storage space of 6TB. Or you can configure it to be 2 sets of 2TB RAID1, gives you 2 x 2TB in storage space. You can also install just 3 x 2TB drives now in RAID5, gives you 4 TB of storage, then add another drive when you want to, expand the RAID array on the fly.

You can connect your external drive via USB or eSATA for manual or auto back ups.

I use a QNAP TS-419P (4 x 2TB drives in RAID5, 6TB storage)) along with a TS-110 (1 x 2TB drive). Data is auto synchronized the the 419 to the 110 unit.

Hope this helps.

 

[JackMDS]

WHS OS is Not a consumer product it is an OEM product.

However version 1 is sold by NewEgg and every one can buy it.

The new version, 2011 should be available next week.

There is nothing very special about HP Media Smart Media Server hardware wise.

Hardware is like the last consideration in choosing Home server. I have 3 WHS running, all of them are running on old computers ( AMD Athlon x64) that I built few years ago, upon their retirement they were converted to WHS.

The newer generation of the type of motherboards/cpu/memory that the HP MediaSmart was built with are running faster and better at the same cost of the old generation. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813121442

The HP was sold in larger numbers in Europe because the number of Enthusiasts that build their own computers is not as large as in the USA.

I would not be surprise that a survey might find that in the USA more people built their own WHS rather then buy ready made one.

 

[Jimmah]

Are there any known cheap, but able PC configurations that would work well with Amahi? I suppose my best bet is to hit up the forums there. Thanks again for the suggestions.

If it works in Fedora 12 it will work in Amahi (Amahi is a Fed12 addon). One word of caution though, do not use any on-board RAID solution, either use Greyhole (comes ready to go in Amahi) or make software RAID drives later.

I personally know Amahi will run on an Athlon 1700+ w/256 ram, Intel Atom boards, newer AMD quads, Celeron 2.93 w/512 ram, and an old P4 1.6 w/128mb ram I found next to a dumpster (not kidding, was outside a PC repair shop, runs Amahi for my friend now).