simple NAS solution needed

[snuuggles]

Hey all, I have some questions about a file-sharing/backup solution I'd like to create. Background is that I have an acer h340 home server with 2 drives in it set up as JBOD with some folders duplicated. I've felt fine about this until the server itself failed. All HD lights out, had to re-setup the server from the CD--took forever, but I can get my data.

What made me worried is even though neither HDD failed, I was unable to get any of my data unless and until the server was re-setup. My understanding (though I didn't try this, I should have) is that I couldn't simply remove one of the drives and put it into my win7 machine and get back the important (duplicated) data.

q1 - is that correct? Can you not remove an HDD from a WHS array and connect it to a "normal" win 7 machine to get the data?

Assuming it's true that it's not possible, I cannot continue using this unreliable solution. Here's what I have:

- 2011 airport extreme router
- several laptops running win 7, a macbook, and a single desktop running win7

I'd like:

- Network accessible storage. I'd like to be able to map drives to this storage
- accessible from win7 and osx lion (how do I format the drives for this fat32 only? or is NTFS r/w-able from both)
- as fast as possible, but it's not likely to be for streaming, just storage
- RAID 1/5/? - I want mirroring of data so if one drive goes down I can swap it out easily
- *important*: I want to be able to remove a drive from the NAS and install it into my desktop win7 computer to retrieve data in case the NAS device itself fails
- cheaper the better, it's not clear to me that I get anything more by spending more *for the purposes outlined*.
- note: I do *not* need auto-backup, FTP service, torrent server etc, though they would be welcome options if available.

That said, I've been considering 3 options:

1. DNS-320 (http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-ShareCe.../dp/B004SUO450)
2. DS212J (http://www.amazon.com/Synology-Diskl...2921694&sr=1-1)
3. some sort of dual-drive (non-NAS) enclosure usb linked to my router. I've seen a couple with a simple RAID card built in for $50.

The only reason I'm considering #3 is that I'm concerned that these NAS enclosures will format or configure the drives in such a way that it won't allow me to remove a drive and grab the data if the NAS hardware itself fails. I'm not 100% clear on this point though. If you *can* remove the drives in this way from the NAS devices, I'll drop the simple enclosure option.

Ultimate questions:

- will both NAS devices deliver *all* of the requirements I outlined above. Most importantly I *must* be able to remove the drives and use them in my win7 desktop. in a hardware failure situation.
- is there any significant advantage to the DS212J to the DNS-320 for my purposes? I can get the DNS locally today, so it's preferred, the DS looks back-ordered... I know the ds211J is very similar, but I prefer the bigger fan if I'm going to spend ~200. Besides ease-of-use and setup, once I have them mapped as drives, is there any reliability/speed differences I'll likely notice?
- any real reason to consider 4/5 bay nas devices? Am I going to notice huge speed improvments using raid 5 over wireless? I know very little about raid.

Thanks so much, sorry for the long post, I just wanted to be sure I was as specific as possible.

Note: Edited to remove duplicate lines. Doh!

 

[Bernard.S]

Hey all, I have some questions about a file-sharing/backup solution I'd like to create. Background is that I have an acer h340 home server with 2 drives in it set up as JBOD with some folders duplicated. I've felt fine about this until the server itself failed. All HD lights out, had to re-setup the server from the CD--took forever, but I can get my data.

What made me worried is even though neither HDD failed, I was unable to get any of my data unless and until the server was re-setup. My understanding (though I didn't try this, I should have) is that I couldn't simply remove one of the drives and put it into my win7 machine and get back the important (duplicated) data.

q1 - is that correct? Can you not remove an HDD from a WHS array and connect it to a "normal" win 7 machine to get the data?

Assuming it's true that it's not possible, I cannot continue using this unreliable solution. Here's what I have:

- 2011 airport extreme router
- several laptops running win 7, a macbook, and a single desktop running win7

I'd like:

- storage accessible to/from any of the above
- raid/mirrored, I have 2 drives I'll remove from the h340

I'd like:

- Network accessible storage. I'd like to be able to map drives to this storage
- accessible from win7 and osx lion (how do I format the drives for this fat32 only? or is NTFS r/w-able from both)
- as fast as possible, but it's not likely to be for streaming, just storage
- RAID 1/5/? - I want mirroring of data so if one drive goes down I can swap it out easily
- *important*: I want to be able to remove a drive from the NAS and install it into my desktop win7 computer to retrieve data in case the NAS device itself fails
- cheaper the better, it's not clear to me that I get anything more by spending more *for the purposes outlined*.
- note: I do *not* need auto-backup, FTP service, torrent server etc, though they would be welcome options if available.

That said, I've been considering 3 options:

1. DNS-320 (http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-ShareCe.../dp/B004SUO450)
2. DS212J (http://www.amazon.com/Synology-Diskl...2921694&sr=1-1)
3. some sort of dual-drive (non-NAS) enclosure usb linked to my router. I've seen a couple with a simple RAID card built in for $50.

The only reason I'm considering #3 is that I'm concerned that these NAS enclosures will format or configure the drives in such a way that it won't allow me to remove a drive and grab the data if the NAS hardware itself fails. I'm not 100% clear on this point though. If you *can* remove the drives in this way from the NAS devices, I'll drop the simple enclosure option.

Ultimate questions:

- will both NAS devices deliver *all* of the requirements I outlined above. Most importantly I *must* be able to remove the drives and use them in my win7 desktop. in a hardware failure situation.
- is there any significant advantage to the DS212J to the DNS-320 for my purposes? I can get the DNS locally today, so it's preferred, the DS looks back-ordered... I know the ds211J is very similar, but I prefer the bigger fan if I'm going to spend ~200. Besides ease-of-use and setup, once I have them mapped as drives, is there any reliability/speed differences I'll likely notice?
- any real reason to consider 4/5 bay nas devices? Am I going to notice huge speed improvments using raid 5 over wireless? I know very little about raid.

Thanks so much, sorry for the long post, I just wanted to be sure I was as specific as possible.

It may be unreadable.

Unless you have modified the WHS in some way, it uses a technology called Drive Extender. Also there is a feature called Folder Duplication. That makes sure that Folders are duplicated on different drives, which in your case would ensure there is a copy of each folder on each drive. Was Folder Duplication enabled?

As far as accessing data by installing the Hard Drive in another computer, that is questionable. Some people have reported success by setting Windows Explorer to show Hidden Files. Some people claim this does not work. I have never tired that.

I use WHS for my backup and file sharing. As far as NAS's go I used to use a Seagate but the backup was slow, which is why I now use WHS.

 

[snuuggles]

It may be unreadable.

Unless you have modified the WHS in some way, it uses a technology called Drive Extender. Also there is a feature called Folder Duplication. That makes sure that Folders are duplicated on different drives, which in your case would ensure there is a copy of each folder on each drive. Was Folder Duplication enabled?

As far as accessing data by installing the Hard Drive in another computer, that is questionable. Some people have reported success by setting Windows Explorer to show Hidden Files. Some people claim this does not work. I have never tired that.

I use WHS for my backup and file sharing. As far as NAS's go I used to use a Seagate but the backup was slow, which is why I now use WHS.

Yeah, I suspected that was the case. Glad the server restore worked, but I'm now nervous that, say, if the MB blew somehow, I'd be completely SOL - how on earth do you recover your data from the discs--which are fine--from a server that is blown?

That's why I thought: I'll just get an external drive with mirroring. That way even if the enclosure goes to shit, if even one of the drives is ok, I can jst stick it into my win 7 machine and copy all the data.

So for $50 I can get an enclosure that has a cheap RAID controller and 2 bays. I stick my 2 HDs in there, connect it to my router via usb and I have what I'm looking for - correct? This will achieve:

1. accessible from any computer on network
2. data mirroring.
3. drive can be removed and copied simply and easily in the event of major malfunction

Please correct me if I'm wrong so far.

for an additional ~$50, I can get the DNS-320, which will provide:

- (much) faster speed (gigabit vs usb)
- better quality(?)
- some nice-to-have's like FTP etc.

The question I have is, will it still provide the ability to remove the drives and simply install them in the win 7 desktop? Since WHS does *not* allow this, it's out. But I'm not clear on how these NAS machines work.

Again, sorry for the lengthy posts, really appreciate your feedback.