Storage Options + Backups: Should I get a NAS? Advice wanted.

[s0me0nesmind1]

So I've been rather used to loading my desktop up with random hard drives of deferring amounts of space and simply partitioning it as needed.

Here is my breakdown of issues and my concerns that I hope to answer with a NAS:
- I'm getting to a point where I have more files taking up much more space, so my sporadic 2TB, 1TB, hard drive collection isn't cutting it anymore. It's also harder to organize
- I am also considering the fact that I lack efficient backup of all my files. At a certain point, even if I wanted to have an 8TB external that still wouldn't be large enough to handle all my files.
- With things going around like Ransom-ware, I need something that can prevent losing all my data
- Also, in the case of a disaster such as a hurricane, I want to be able to grab one thing that contains all my data.... My computer can be replaced, my data can not. So with an NAS I imagine grabbing the entire box when heading out.

So that said I was thinking of getting a NAS device and loading it with a bunch of drives of the same size - Probably Western Digital Red's. Thoughts?


My other questions:
1. Let's say I load up (8) 4TB hard drives or something along those lines. The main purpose is for users throughout the house to access media content through various means (likely through Plex Media Server). How would you recommend setting this up? I'm thinking of putting the drive as Read-Only access for all users except 1-Super user that I rarely log into that has write access. This is to prevent Ransom ware from infecting it.

2. On top of that, I would use part of the drives to make a routine backup. How I would do that backup - such as manually or automatically with a software I'm not sure. I could really use some help here... Keep in mind, I want to keep write-access to these drives at a minimum to try and prevent ransom-ware and losi

2. Would you recommend a RAID array? From what I hear the Raid 0 is no longer popular and a lot of people have shifted to Raid 1 since it helps with data integrity.

 

[VirtualLarry]

First off - "RAID IS *NOT* A BACKUP!".

That said, a RAID array on a NAS is a useful thing, it can prevent downtime, and in some cases, lost files, though you should always have some sort of "cold" backup.

For backup, consider having a second NAS, preferably in a different location, that you can remote-replicate to. OR consider a cloud backup solution. (Many NAS units offer that option - but you still have to pay for the cloud backup account, it's not free with the NAS.) (Edit: Or buy one or several of the biggest USB3.0 external HDDs you can, and then manually copy the NAS to it every month or so.)

I use several NAS units, of varying capacity, for various uses.

One is strictly for backups. I use the Free version of Macrium Reflect to back up my PCs. It can back up to a password-protected network share.

Edit: A NAS has the benefit of Availability, especially with RAID. It can allow access to your files, from any PC on your LAN, and even share your files over the internet (act as an internet server), if you so choose.

In itself, it's not exactly a backup, though. You should always have a second copy of what's on the NAS share(s). Either on a local HDD, or an external HDD you connect monthly to back up the shares, or a cloud backup solution, or a second NAS to replicate or backup to.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

First off - "RAID IS *NOT* A BACKUP!".

That said, a RAID array on a NAS is a useful thing, it can prevent downtime, and in some cases, lost files, though you should always have some sort of "cold" backup.

For backup, consider having a second NAS, preferably in a different location, that you can remote-replicate to. OR consider a cloud backup solution. (Many NAS units offer that option - but you still have to pay for the cloud backup account, it's not free with the NAS.) (Edit: Or buy one or several of the biggest USB3.0 external HDDs you can, and then manually copy the NAS to it every month or so.)

I use several NAS units, of varying capacity, for various uses.

One is strictly for backups. I use the Free version of Macrium Reflect to back up my PCs. It can back up to a password-protected network share.

Edit: A NAS has the benefit of Availability, especially with RAID. It can allow access to your files, from any PC on your LAN, and even share your files over the internet (act as an internet server), if you so choose.

In itself, it's not exactly a backup, though. You should always have a second copy of what's on the NAS share(s). Either on a local HDD, or an external HDD you connect monthly to back up the shares, or a cloud backup solution, or a second NAS to replicate or backup to.

Thanks for the brief overview. Yes, no need to tell me a Raid isn't a backup lol. I didn't really have that intention, and I'm not sure who would ever think such an odd thing

Is it not possible to parse out one large NAS like I said and say... reserve 4 slots for active sharing, and reserve another 2 slots for cold backups?


Follow up questions:

Do you have any NAS for dummies guides? Usually for most topics I can find a very good overview but I find myself lacking on this subject. Same goes for remote replicate, is there an automated process to this? Or do you literally mean manually using a remote desktop to complete the task manually?

Have any recommendations for the NAS device? I just took my first look and am pretty confused given the vast array of prices... everywhere from $150 to $900 for the majority of them on Newegg.


Thank you for the advice

 

[VirtualLarry]

NAS for dummies guides? Not really. I'm not really an expert on NAS, but I do have some experience with both 2- and 4-bay QNAP units, and a 2-bay Lenovo/EMC unit.

QNAP has some features to do replication of a share, with another remote network share, or an external USB drive. I don't use that feature, I prefer to make manual backups at arbitrary intervals.

Look at the online QNAP manuals. They can explain a lot, albeit in a QNAP-specific way.

While you can get prosumer/professional NAS units with 8 bays (or more), that starts to get insanely expensive. Like $700-1000, before you even get to the cost of the drives.

It's probably cheaper, even with the "big drive premium", to go with 4x8TB drives and a 4-bay NAS, than 8x4TB drives, and an 8TB NAS. Not to mention the "RAID downsides" with bigger drive counts. (Re-build times, need for RAID-6 rather than RAID-5, etc.)

8 drive bays is probably the point at which I would suggest rolling your own server.

Edit: Plus, if you roll your own, you could use unRAID, which is useful for pure media-serving, in more ways than one. Plus, the newest unRAID has virtualization features, so you could run a remote Win7/Win10 desktop off of it too, on your HTPC, without needing a "beefy" HTPC.

 

[XavierMace]

Do you have any NAS for dummies guides? Usually for most topics I can find a very good overview but I find myself lacking on this subject. Same goes for remote replicate, is there an automated process to this? Or do you literally mean manually using a remote desktop to complete the task manually?

The pre-built NAS units have their own proprietary software, so you can't really write a terribly specific guide. My first question would be exactly how much data do you have currently, how much growth do you anticipate, and just how valuable is your data (aka, how much are you willing to spend)? Regarding parsing the data out, the NAS is just another storage device. You largely have the same general methods of "parsing" it out that you do on regular computer. There aren't an "slots", you're effectively ending up with a single storage device. Backup/replication options is going to be dependent on what NAS you buy. Some have backup options build in, some don't.

It's probably cheaper, even with the "big drive premium", to go with 4x8TB drives and a 4-bay NAS, than 8x4TB drives, and an 8TB NAS. Not to mention the "RAID downsides" with bigger drive counts. (Re-build times, need for RAID-6 rather than RAID-5, etc.)

It may be cheaper to go with the larger drives, but you've got your second half of your sentence backwards. Drive failures are "when", not "if". So, yes, running wider does increase the frequency of drive replacements. Running taller increases your risk of data loss during rebuilds as you're drastically increasing your rebuild times. Running wider improves your overall performance as well. Plain RAID 5/6 should not even be a consideration when using drives of any substantial size, especially on your average consumer NAS with their woefully under powered CPU's. You should know this given your past experiences with rebuilds.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Plain RAID 5/6 should not even be a consideration when using drives of any substantial size, especially on your average consumer NAS with their woefully under powered CPU's. You should know this given your past experiences with rebuilds.

I'm curious what you mean by this sentance. Are you suggesting that instead of RAID-5/6, that the user do what.... a JBOD of mirrors, limiting the overall space that any one share takes up to the max size of a physical drive?

What other choice do you have?

I tried RAID-10, with my TS-431 QNAP NAS, I was getting about 40MB/sec write speeds over my gige LAN, from a client with SSD and a decent CPU.

 

[XavierMace]

RAID 10 on non-shitty hardware.