Advise on network drive/storage

[wanaberetiree]

Hello all and happy Memorial Day !

I've been using Seagate network drive 4TB for several years and feel the time has come to get a new one.
So looking for advice what to consider.

I don't have lots of requirements, size 4-8TB, Ethernet interfere and ability to natively mount on Linux/Ubuntu systems (currently SAMBA is used).

Wonder if anybody can share recommendations/experiences.

Thx in advance and stay safe!

 

[OldShooter]

Synology 2 drive NAS box with RAID/mirroring. The hardware and software is solid, the support is exceptional and the client software, at least in a Windows environment, is excellent.

I have a DS212+ and a DS218+. The first digit is the # of drives, the next two digits are the model year of the box and the "+" suffix indicates the fastest of the available processors.

 

[njhowie]

I'm a big Netgear fan. All of their ReadyNAS models work wonderfully, last a very long time, and provide good solid performance.

Get a little familiar with their product line, price the model(s) you're interested in on Amazon, then go on Ebay to comparison shop and get a great deal. Buying a prior generation model will save you a nice chunk of money and likely do the job just fine for you. You shouldn't be deterred from purchasing one used - these are relatively simple devices and I've never seen one fail. Drives may fail over time, but the NAS devices do not.

https://www.netgear.com/home/products/connected-storage/

 

[mpeirce]

The current Synology devices are very good.

Drobos used to be good too, but I haven't heard much about them lately, so I don't really know. I have a 10 year old 4 bay Drobo that's still working fine.

 

[braumeister]

Another fan of Synology.
I got the DS218+ 2-bay model last September and put a couple of 4TB HDs in it. Very easy to set up and administer (I'm Mac based) and so far flawless performance.

 

[wanaberetiree]

Another fan of Synology.
I got the DS218+ 2-bay model last September and put a couple of 4TB HDs in it. Very easy to set up and administer (I'm Mac based) and so far flawless performance.

I actually decided to try 1 bay and wonder why did you feel 2 was needed? Do you use RAID ?

 

[braumeister]

I actually decided to try 1 bay and wonder why did you feel 2 was needed? Do you use RAID ?

One for my backup and the other for DW.

 

[wanaberetiree]

One for my backup and the other for DW.

Make sense !

 

[njhowie]

I actually decided to try 1 bay and wonder why did you feel 2 was needed? Do you use RAID ?

What happens if the one drive fails? All your data is gone.

One for my backup and the other for DW.

If you have a 2 bay unit with two drives and allocated one for yourself and one for DW, you'd still be better off mirroring - create two logical drives half the size of one drive (or whatever split you want between you and DW) and let it mirror. If a drive fails, do you really want to lose the data and backups? That's where these devices excel - if one drive fails, it keeps on going, you've lost nothing. Pull the failed drive out, replace it, it will keep mirroring.

 

[OldShooter]

What happens if the one drive fails? All your data is gone. If you have a 2 bay unit with two drives and allocated one for yourself and one for DW, you'd still be better off mirroring - create two logical drives half the size of one drive (or whatever split you want between you and DW) and let it mirror. If a drive fails, do you really want to lose the data and backups? That's where these devices excel - if one drive fails, it keeps on going, you've lost nothing. Pull the failed drive out, replace it, it will keep mirroring.

Very similar to my thinking. Drive space is so cheap these days and the Synology 2-drive boxes are cheap, so RAID 1/ mirroring seems like a no-brainer. No need for hot-swap though.

I don't like multi-drive /RAID 5 quite so much because the data on a mirrored drive is complete and can just be read off the drive. A dead drive in a stripe set must be replaced and the set rebuilt. Not a big deal, I have done it more than once, but a little less flexible than simple mirroring. I would not be afraid of RAID 5 with the solid Synology experience I have had but I just don't feel the need.

 

[wanaberetiree]

What happens if the one drive fails? All your data is gone.

I keep 2 replicas in the cloud

 

[braumeister]

What happens if the one drive fails? All your data is gone.



If you have a 2 bay unit with two drives and allocated one for yourself and one for DW, you'd still be better off mirroring - create two logical drives half the size of one drive (or whatever split you want between you and DW) and let it mirror. If a drive fails, do you really want to lose the data and backups? That's where these devices excel - if one drive fails, it keeps on going, you've lost nothing. Pull the failed drive out, replace it, it will keep mirroring.

Thanks. That's a better solution.

 

[pj.mask]

What happens if the one drive fails? All your data is gone.







If you have a 2 bay unit with two drives and allocated one for yourself and one for DW, you'd still be better off mirroring - create two logical drives half the size of one drive (or whatever split you want between you and DW) and let it mirror. If a drive fails, do you really want to lose the data and backups? That's where these devices excel - if one drive fails, it keeps on going, you've lost nothing. Pull the failed drive out, replace it, it will keep mirroring.

The comment makes it sound like they set it up as 2 separate drives. But if one drive fails (spouse1, spouse 2, or backup) you still have a copy. You just need to replace it before a second drive fails.