Server vs. NAS, which one do I need?

[Madhattan]

My Mom is a bookkeeper and is expanding into an office. She needs to have
Quickbooks and MYOB files stored (and backed up) in one locations, and they
need to be accessible by four or five workstations in the office.

I think that I could just set it all up on a NAS like a DROBO and it should work no
problem, but could someone compare and contrast that set up to one with a server?

--Thanks

 

[daveybrat]

She might be better off with a small server. My experience with 2 different NAS enclosures so far has been that they are both very slow. They work fine, but painfully slow at times.

 

[Madhattan]

What about a Drobo coupled with this?

Should I still go with a server?

 

[Narse]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
She might be better off with a small server. My experience with 2 different NAS enclosures so far has been that they are both very slow. They work fine, but painfully slow at times.

Not all NAS are slow. A friend of mine has one and its quick. I will send him this thread so he can comment on it and give you more information.

 

[daveybrat]

Narse, i'd like to know what NAS your friend is using. I'd love to replace the slow one we use at work with something better. Lemme know if you can find out the model of it.

 

[FiLeZz]

drobo is a usb connected device.. So this means what ever PC it is attached to has to be on for the share to be avalable.

Speed for quickbooks is a non issue as quickbook files are usually small in size.. 10-50mb.

any NAS that is attached to the network would be the best solution for maximun uptime.

Make sure to get a NAS that has redundent drives. IE mirror or raid5 or raidX.

readynas is a great product.. costs alot but you get what you pay for. has active directory inigration. Speeds to expect around 15mb a sec

the ready nas does FTP SMB HTML Steaming media and other protocals.. and has a USB printserver

 

[FiLeZz]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822329047


readynas link on the egg

 

[Madhattan]

Hey FileZz, check out that link I posted to a device called the Drobo share that connects to the Drobo.
Is that basically the same thing as the readynas?

 

[Narse]

Originally posted by: Madhattan
Hey FileZz, check out that link I posted to a device called the Drobo share that connects to the Drobo.
Is that basically the same thing as the readynas?

No its not nearly as functional and it requires USB. Its not a very fast unit at all.

 

[FiLeZz]

check your link

its bad for me..

 

[Narse]

Fixed his link

Fixed

 

[FiLeZz]

droboshare is only a converter.

USB to cat5


you still need the DROBO

There is a reason they added this network adaptor thingy


they missed the target making it USB..

 

[RebateMonger]

A good place to start would be Microsoft Windows Home Server.

It can be set up easily and the drives can easily be set up for redundancy. The automated ongoing backups of all the Windows PCs in the office is great. It'll work for up to ten client PCs.

Its biggest weakness is how to back ITSELF up. WHS Power Pack 1 (to be released soon) will add an internal option for backing up the Server itself.

 

[FiLeZz]

narse has one.. not a bad solution..

 

[FiLeZz]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
A good place to start would be Microsoft Windows Home Server.

It can be set up easily and the drives can easily be set up for redundancy. The automated ongoing backups of all the Windows PCs in the office is great. It'll work for up to ten client PCs.

Its biggest weakness is how to back ITSELF up. WHS Power Pack 1 (to be released soon) will add an internal option for backing up the Server itself.

the readynas comes with software to make backup images of the pc's as well

 

[Narse]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
A good place to start would be Microsoft Windows Home Server.

It can be set up easily and the drives can easily be set up for redundancy. The automated ongoing backups of all the Windows PCs in the office is great. It'll work for up to ten client PCs.

Its biggest weakness is how to back ITSELF up. WHS Power Pack 1 (to be released soon) will add an internal option for backing up the Server itself.

Power Pack 1 also adds the ability to back-up 64 bit clients. I have been using WHS for 6 months at least. Fantastic product, just has no 64 bit support so until Power Pack 1 my WHS is lying dead

Whatever option you choose, I think a NAS or WHS would be a better choice than a full blown server for your needs.

 

[Madhattan]

So it makes more sense to spend the time and do some research for a server, than
just buy a drobo with a droboshare?

Basically, I want to weigh the time spent learning how to set up all the
server stuff versus the benefits gained.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Madhattan
Basically, I want to weigh the time spent learning how to set up all the
server stuff versus the benefits gained.

I don't have a link, but I recall that Microsoft estimates the setup time for a Windows Home Server as less than 30 minutes. It's made for typical home users to set up. The client PCs, as I recall, were less than 10 minutes setup time each.

This is assuming you buy something like the $550 HP SmartMedia Server, with WHS pre-installed. When you need more storage, you just plop a bare SATA drive into one of the three empty trays on the HP server and tell WHS to add it to your drive pool.

This will give you automated backups of your Windows PCs, redundant drives, remote access to all your XP Pro and Vista Business PCs, and a password-protected public web site.

 

[Madhattan]

That Smartmedia server looks pretty cool. But is it just basically a computer with WHS on it?
I have a lot of system building and general hardware experience however, I have never fooled around with any server OS.

PS (If it makes a difference) There will be both Macs and PCs that need to access these files.


EDIT: It seems to me that the ReadyNAS system that FileZz suggested makes the most sense so far. It works with PC and Mac and it does the main feature of the Drobo (called XRAID for Netgear.)
This would also save time and space. It costs more than the other options, but I am open to solutions under $3000.

 

[Slowlearner]

OP, your original question referred to Windows Accounting software - when did Macs come in the picture. You definitely need a "server" - a central file respository - this will need to be backed up frequently, full AV scan every day etc, etc.

For <10 workstations, and just file sharing XP Pro is perfectly acceptable. You do need a proper server - and both HP and Dell build perfectly acceptable budget servers, load XP on them, add removable drives (for offsite storage), set up file duplication software for hourly/daily backup, add a good UPS, configure it to shut down properly in case of extended power outages, and you are good to go. For additional protection, once the "server" is set up, clone the hd and set it aside in a AS bag.

I have been using a ReadyNas sytem for about a year and am very pleased with it. However, in case of an unexpected shutdown, the Raid5 array can take very, repeat very, long time to re-build. In any case, Raid in any form is not back up - something very important for accounting data. Tape used to be the recommended option for back ups - I prefer the removable hd cage+hot swap Sata drives option to be cheaper and better. Monoprice has these cages for about 15$ and you put them in the 5.25" drive bays.

You can still add a NAS device as secondary back up to reduce downtime.

 

[Madhattan]

If I went with the readynas and had four drives mirror each other, thats not really backing it up?
If it unexpectedly shut down, how long would it take to to regain access to the files on it?

These are potential readynas deal breakers that would make me take the time to research a server solution.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Madhattan
If I went with the readynas and had four drives mirror each other, thats not really backing it up?

Drive mirroring is NOT backup. I work with redundant RAID arrays every day and I guarantee you that people lose data on them. No matter what kind of server or NAS you use, have a separate backup system, preferably with some offline storage. The only backup you can really count on is one that's disconnected and offsite.

 

[Laputa]

Recommended considering the recovery option if the drive that holds the data fails. NAS will be expensive and sometimes impossible to recover with the unsupported setup. Setting up a small fileserver is the best option and you can setup automated backups. The cost of the small file server is probably very minimal vs the cost of the data means the cost of the business.

 

[Madhattan]

OK. I think I understand the difference between backing up and mirroring drives.

My goal for this week is to pick an OS, plus parts for the rack mountable server that I will build for this office.

OS - Is there a standard one that most people use? Is it Windows 2003 Server? What about 2008?

Build - I would really like to build a rack mountable server myself. It sounds like a fun project, and the people who
used to rent out the new office space left a rack with two switches in it.
Can someone point me to a recent article of a server build that is benchmarked? Do sites do that like they do gaming PCs all the time?

Thanks everyone for the help so far. I am happy that I am getting closer to my goals and couldn't do it without you guys.

 

[Slowlearner]

For a small office, a tower server from Dell or HP without OS, will do very nicely. Install XP pro, add additional drives, back up devices, and free file replication software or if you prefer full fledged backup software. I don't see the need for a rack mountable server, and I especially don't understand why you need to build one just because some one left a rack and switches behind. You can always switch to a server OS as the business grows to Server 2003 or SBS 2003 once you have more users. Server 2008 is a brand new product - is there a reason to experiment with it.

You need a reliable, well built system, with on site service available as quickly as possible, multiple backups, UPS connected and correctly configured, with superior AV (Kaspersky or Symantec Corporate 10.1). In a office setup your focus should be more on reliability and simplicity, sound policies and procedures, how to minimize downtime, and less on hardware.