Thought I’d poke the collective intelligence that is STW for help. I searched the web but now have lots of conflicting info and no way of knowing how to seperate the crap from the good advice…..

I’m in the process of sorting out my data management at home and the office.
I don’t want to go down the online backup route as it’s not appropriate to some of the data I handle.

So….. I’ve decided that a multiple drive (raid arrayed) network box with about 2Tb (i.e. 2 or more mirrored 2TB drives) would be suitable and would make the system last a while before I had to expand.

Now the hard part…. what software would be best?

I’ve worked out that I’ll use the box as a central image archive unit (as my photo archive is irreplaceable but uses too much disk space to keep it on my desktop) and then use the drives as an automatic backup system for both my laptop and my desktop systems and the documents I keep on them. I guess I’ll also back up my Itunes library (but that doesn’t take that much room)

I have a networkable laser printer (currently on USB… so slow!) and I notice some boxes act as a print server as well – is this a good idea or does it have issues?

So does anyone have any recommendations on what sort of thing I should be looking for in the system and the software? Are there any outstanding leaders in terms of the software?

Are there any Noob errors everyone makes that I should know about to avoid?

Many thanks

I’ve had a DLink DNS323 for a couple of years which has done the job. I think the NetGear ReadyNAS is fairly well thought of too.

Most of the network NAS’s come with cut down versions of Linux (with a simple web front end) and will run other applications like media streaming, torrent downloading etc.

Some do act as print servers.. but if your printer is ‘networkable’ why not just plug it straight into your home network?

I suggested a Netgear Ready NAS previously, as I have one, and another user suggested that they aren’t that reliable and are slow… mines been fine reliability wise, but isn’t exactly super quick.
More info on the tag.

FreeNAS or OpenFiler

Combined with a cheap desktop PC, and a hardware SATA RAID controller.

Minimum 3 x 2TB drives, which gives you room to expand if needs be (just add extra drives..)

Stay away from the ReadyNAS – been through 3 here at work, and they’re so slooow! Horrible GUI, and poor performance.

Going back to whiteboxes now.

I know this is not what you asked but..

Will the back-up be in the same room as the good copy. Seems a bit pointless ? You are covered for failure of the box OR drives (not both), but what about fire, flood etc ?

I’ve just ordered a Freecom Dual Drive Network Center. I ordered a bare one and a couple of 2TB drives as this was about £130 cheaper than buying one with the drives already in it. The drives have arrived but not the box, so if you can wait a bit I’ll report back when I’ve got it all working…or not.

Will the back-up be in the same room as the good copy. Seems a bit pointless ? You are covered for failure of the box OR drives (not both), but what about fire, flood etc ?

The point is that you are creating a backup of files from PC’s which will also have RAID protection on the NAS drive. Data loss is therefore mitigated, but you also have the convenience of sharing data to streaming devces with no overhead to any of your PC’s and this is the only storage device that needs to be left switched on. I use mine for music storage and streaming. Works a treat!

If you want resilience to fire and flood, One solution would be to get two bare Netgear ReadyNas Duo chassis and put one disc in each. They can then be configured to mirror copy data over the LAN.

To get round the fire/flood issues, i guess one unit would have to be in an outbuilding away from the house and elevated above flood height.

None of this is actually necessary because the Netgear has a USB port and auto backup facility. In practice, you would regularly plug in your backup external drive (of the same capacity as the one in your NAS and hit the backup button. When finished, you take this external drive and store it somewhere safe from fire and flood.

It’s all about weighing up the risks and the value of your data. For most, a twin spindle NAS drive in one location is more than adequate data protection. A “belts and braces” approach is to have total resilience, so you might consider cloud storage hosts. I’m a bit nervous about the security of cloud storage though.

Whatever you buy, get a NAS which can quiesce the hard drives when the system is inactive and whcih has a quiet fan. The ReadyNas Duo can, but also has the ability to be shut down and powered up at user specific times. Remote powerdown is also an option. Mine has worked a treat from new (3 yrs old now).

Hmm some really useful food for thought.

Like the USB external backup solution added on to the NAS

Will be spending the evening reading about FreeNAS etc.

I know have a point from which to start considering everything I’ve read.

Many Thanks

How about 3 drives of the same capacity and just rotate them?
2 in he NAS with one in a draw at work, swap one out every week.
If the NAS you’d still have your data (after sticking it in a similar NAS).

For a NAS, might I suggest one of the Synology models.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I’ve decided on the following:

Synology DS211J 2 bay NAS box
2x 2Tb Seagate SATA 3 drives

And when I’ve fitted the new kitchen I’m buying a WIFI/DAB/Internet radio (Squeezebox is top so far) that I can stream my Itunes collection to and/or listen to cuban music whilst cooking in the kitchen or whilst tinkering in my shed!

I didn’t realise the NAS box would talk to the radio etc as well and as a radio for the kitchen was planned anyway this is a really useful way of integrating it all.

Many thanks for the help

Badger

my photo archive is irreplaceable

It’s not clear, but are you suggesting storing your photos solely on the NAS?

If that’s the case, I’d respectfully suggest a rethink. Data loss is less likely on a mirrored pair due to disk failure, but a million other disasters could result in data corruption or worse. Say a virus trashes the partitions on both drives, or the controller dies after it’s discontinued and you can’t source a replacement that’s 100% compatible with your existing RAID stack? It’s unlikely, sure, but if your data is really “irreplaceable” then it’s something you should take into account. What if there’s a fire?

If your data is vital and irreplaceable then you should have an off-site backup, end of; whether that’s cloud storage, backing it up to another HDD and leaving it your mum’s, or whatever. RAID is good but it’s not infallible (and not fireproof).

Burn multiple copies of your photo archives, and keep them in separate safes.

If you’re really paranoid, do an MD5 calc of each individual file…