Nas recommendation

Hey guys first time posting in the networking section so go easy on me but my boss is looking for a solution to a problem, the problem is that he needs some way to back up really big files wireless and to be able to access those files. I was looking at this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822186364 and that looks pretty good. I was wondering if i use that via the Ethernet port would i be able to transfer items and large-ish files to that drive quickly. Its going to be an onsite job but tucked away in some corner. Also is that upgrade able to a larger drive if i want? Would he be able to accesses files from that anywhere in the world? and lastly from what i told you would you all just recommend me build him a server?

mmm... how much space does he need?

cause i'd just use some cloud storage like google drive or dropbox and call it a day.

He needs more then that lol maxed out both and is a subscriber

When looking at a NAS, you need to look at:
1. How much space you need now? In the future? Don't fill it up now, but make sure you can expand it with non-identical drives (in case the drives you use suddenly disappear from the market).
2. What speed do you need? Does it have a 10/100Mbit interface? That's 12.5MB/sec max. Gigabit? 125MB/sec max, assuming the drives can handle it.
3. Redundancy. Does it do RAID? What RAID level do you need? Do you need a hot standby? Will that chosen RAID level slow down your transfer?
4. Protocols - Most systems will offer Windows File Sharing, NFS, FTP, and other options, make sure the options you want are included.

Taking into account that 3tb should be more then enough and if needed he will just but another one, This has a 10/100/1000M interface, no raid is needed, and the WD software looks good what do you all think about this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136880 ?

Check out this site for good NAS reviews: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas

There's quite a lot of semi-decent cheap NAS devices, but also the good ones have become quite a bit cheaper then before. Personally I prefer Qnap and Synology, had good experience with both of them

Performance: For large files even the cheaper devices are starting to have decent performance. You can really start to get close to saturating a gigabit network while moving a single multiple GB file at a time. When accessing multiple files at a time or moving small files things start to change, better NAS devices can be a lot faster, and having something like an Intel Atom processor will make a big difference. So what does he consider fast? 20MB/s or 100MB/s?

Features: Some devices are totally locked down, others give you root access and a packaging system allowing for adding just about anything you dream of as an add on (web applications, music streaming, version control etc). Some also now have cloud services and good tools for remote access.

I would not get a WD and especially not a basic Iomega, but they will probably both work. My previous was from Qnap and current from Synology, the nice thing is that generally they will allow you to do anything you suddenly need in the future, unlike previous WD/Buffalo NAS devices where you are locked down to whatever you had, and future operating systems (with new features) are only allowed on new devices. On the Synology I also have cloud support for my phone, nice remote access for contacting from work / vpn etc, so really everything you can ask for.

For remote access you really want to make sure he also configures the router and access properly. Only allow access to some specific service on the NAS, if possible use VPN, ensure authentication is encrypted, ensure he keeps the firmware of the NAS up to date (at least if there is security updates), limit access to some IP if possible etc.

Also look at backup features and notifications in case of problems. You don't want to run a NAS with important files without backup and you want to know as soon as there is a problem. RAID can be important if he always needs access to the device (even when a disk fails), but don't mix up RAID and backups (RAID is mainly to improve availability even when a disk has failed, backup is to recover from failure / user error).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822165392
Okay so this seems pretty awesome for 200 bucks i just have a few questions
1. This is refurbished, is that okay?
2. So if i wanted to perform backups from like 2-3 computers to this server what program could i use?
3. If i connect this to my router via Ethernet would every computer in the network be able to see it?
4. if i run out of space (not planning to but just a wabnt to know question) how would i upgrade?

- Refurbished probably does not matter, if it works for the first month it will probably work for longer too...

- All computers on the network should be able to see it

- Buffalo NAS devices generally don't have user changeable parts, including the disks. It can most certainly be done, but I would not count on migrations etc. working. I would plan with space requirements before hand, try to keep a healthy reserve of extra space since sooner or later you will end up needing it...

I have a two disk NAS and don't use raid on it, rather I have both disks as separate volumes (so for a 4TB nas I get about that much storage). The downside is that if a disk fails I will not have access to the files (except from the backup disks) until I get a new disk, and when the new disk comes I have to restore data from the backup (generally manually). Of course this approach assumes that you can live a few days without easy access to your files in case of a disk failure.

make your own.
use open source operating system

unijabnx2000 said:

make your own.
use open source operating system

Click to expand...

For your boss? You must be joking... A ready simple box has it's advantages, one is that you don't have to fix it yourself every time some system update messes up a configuration file...

lol yea hahaha

Get them cheap 3tb WD Reds...
Newegg has them. Get a few more and keep some yourself (?)

Lol yup that's what i am planning so this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822107078 what do you think? With 2 of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236344 in raid 1.

I also need to know he can access this data anywhere in the world right?
Also do you all know of any software that will auto back up certain folders for him to this drive something like the windows server back up utility?

QNAP has tools for that. I just got a TS-412 and 4X WD RED myself. This is my first experience with QNAP but Im not regretting it. There boxes support internet access through a variety of means.

Seems pretty awesome i think i am going to go with that just one question. What types of raid is supported on this?


EDIT: I just saw the raid option thank you alot going to go with this solution. Also this seems awesome you can host websites on that to this is going to be awesome lol but do you think that the hosting will be good or should i just go with a legit server like godaddy?

The quality of the hosting will be proportionate to how fast your internet access is. If you have decent internet, and only a few people will ever visit the site then hosting on the NAS is a fine idea. If you need a place to test your website before you make it live, then the NAS is a decent hosting idea. IF your considering publishing a site with hundreds of hits daily with an active content management system, Id go with proper hosting.

Thanks man