Any experience or recommended solutions for NAS?

[CrossBow]

So I'm wasn't sure where else to put this and I've not asked this in any other forums/groups so giving people here a first shot on their opinions on this. 

First if you didn't know.. NAS simply means Network Attached Storage. Usually a box with a set of Hard drives in it that contains a bare bones OS for the drives to work and operate. Having a NAS is pretty cool since you essentially have a bank of storage that isn't in your main PC that is always up and ready to use. In addition, many of them have cloud type apps or services so that you can actually grab files from your NAS from pretty much anywhere on the planet.

Now, what I have current and have been using for quite a number of years, is an old Western Digital MyCloud 3TB storage device. It has been excellent and done exactly what I needed over the years and it was cheap when I bought it. However, starting next year, WD due to secure concerns and updates will no longer support my device and in fact, I won't be able to use it for anything other than local network storage only so it won't be usable on their MyCloud website anymore. As it is a basic NAS I figure if I have to upgrade, now is the time to get something perhaps a little more?

First of all, I've only used up about 50% of the 3TB of storage my current one offers. That is because I don't copy a ton of stuff on there other than my digital music library and pictures. I used to store my rendered YT videos on it but then decided that was dumb since I can download any of my vids directly off YT whenever I want. However, my current device is just a single sealed 3TB spinner HDD and it is beyond its warranty timeframe already. Here are the questions I've been thinking about for my upgraded NAS:

- I want at least RAID1 support so that means I need a least a two drive bay NAS device. 

- Is it better to go with those that are sealed or hot swappable?

- I don't really plan to stream any high end videos from it so I don't know if I need one that can decode/encode on the fly as some now offer?

- Not sure if I need one with dual NICs since I only have a single Gigabit router and switch anyway

- Should I look at one with expandable RAM like the ones I've seen that actually use NVMe drives for cache use?

- What is the average size you think someone like myself might need?

- Is there a preference on brand and also with what HDDs to use?

 

Again, my apologies if this isn't the right place of group to discuss this but as I've only a few months before WD completely kills my current drive off I need to look at something now rather than later I guess.

 

 

[- Ω -]

@CrossBow I've looked at a NAS boxes once or twice, but the price of those things has always been a turn off.  For data, photos and program storage I use a 3TB HD as well, but for video and music I use two 8TB hard drives that I swap back and forth between my main system and my little RPi4 KODI box.  This way all my data is duplicated and if one drive fails, I can go buy another and copy everything over to the replacement drive.  

I have no wish to use any form of cloud storage, the idea of paying a 3rd party to store my personal data has never appealed to me.  

 

[CrossBow]

29 minutes ago, - Ω - said:

I have no wish to use any form of cloud storage, the idea of paying a 3rd party to store my personal data has never appealed to me.  

The MyCloud service didn't cost anything extra. I just had to setup the shares and users for my drive and make sure some stuff on my router was setup so allow it to communicate out on the open web and that was it. To actually use it now, I login to Western Digital's website simply called MyCloud.com and click on the model of the device I own. From there it will then ask me for my user and password that I have setup on my actual drive itself and then I'm in and able to browse, add stuff, download, delete as needed without being at the house at all.

It is actually quite helpful for me when I'm at my day job and a person has a question about services I've provided on their console and I can easily jump onto the MyCloud website, login to my actual MyCloud NAS and I can access their prior invoices along with all the pics I've take for reference from anywhere.

I need that same basic level of functionality but with the added benefit of a built in RAID1 mirror incase something should go afoul. Currently I've more storage in my PC than I actually know what to do with. I've got a 250gb NVMe as the boot drive and only the main apps and windows is on there. I then have 2x 1TB older WD Black Caviar spinner HDDs in a stripe RAID0 for maximum storage and performance. And two other 1TB Samsung 970 SSDs also in a RAID 0 stripe. Both of those stripe sets is where the games and temporary stuff is stored as I wouldn't be too upset should I lose one of those drives in the array.

But none of my storage arrays are more than about 50% filled currently. Still I've got a get a new NAS as some point hence why I was asking here.

 

[- Ω -]

11 hours ago, CrossBow said:

The MyCloud service didn't cost anything extra. I just had to setup the shares and users for my drive and make sure some stuff on my router was setup so allow it to communicate out on the open web and that was it. To actually use it now, I login to Western Digital's website simply called MyCloud.com and click on the model of the device I own. From there it will then ask me for my user and password that I have setup on my actual drive itself and then I'm in and able to browse, add stuff, download, delete as needed without being at the house at all.

Sounds interesting, but I don't like the idea of being reliant on a third party, if I had a need to access my data remotely, let alone risk them being hacked and someone gaining access to my files.  If I ever do get a NAS, it'll be for intranet use only.  Besides as I age, the KISS principle is my goal.

[CrossBow]

6 hours ago, - Ω - said:

Sounds interesting, but I don't like the idea of being reliant on a third party, if I had a need to access my data remotely, let alone risk them being hacked and someone gaining access to my files.  If I ever do get a NAS, it'll be for intranet use only.  Besides as I age, the KISS principle is my goal.

That is why I liked how the WD cloud worked. Just buy the device, plug it into the network, browse to it and setup your security, users...etc. It shows up as a mapped drive on the actual computers in the house to easily use it. On mobile devices and tablets, I have to use a MyCloud app that connects to it through the local network wireless and when I'm not in the house. Again, no additional cost to have the MyCloud service and it just worked.

Higher end NAS devices basically require you to setup an app on the actual device that allows it to communicate to the open web and then either another app is downloaded and used on your PC/Tablet or you can create your own web hosting from the device and essentially browse to it directly on the web if needed. In other words, it would be a more complex setup.

If I wanted the extra stuff I'm looking to get and keep the simplicity, I could just get a more expensive MyCloud that has removable drives...etc. But if I'm going to be spending $400+ for such a device and drives, I'd like to know if WD's options or another company are better choices.

 

[CrossBow]

Wanted to update this thread to let anyone know that was interested, that I ended up getting a Synology DS220+ NAS. I will likely never use all the features this thing can do as it is quite a bit more sophisticated vs the MyCloud device I was using prior. But it does give me 2 drive bays that I can place pretty much any capacity HDD or SSD into for expandable storage. It uses a muticore processor and is essentially it is own computer with a desktop OS and apps to manage it and use it. Still learning things about it but it seems to be everything I needed and then some for now!

https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/DS220+

Main caveat with it is that it is much more complicated to setup than the old MyCloud was and it is pretty noisier compared to the MyCloud. To be fair though, this thing is designed for hi speed drives and is a more complex device hence why it requires an actual cooling fan and due to the more open nature of the case enclosure, the drives are louder as well. Perhaps in the future when TB SSDs are cheaper I might invest in those to keep things quiet.

 

[DegasElite]

It would be nice to see multiple-terabyte-sized SSDs get cheaper. It would really extend the life spans of my computers. Especially, my iMac. That is in the shop now getting refitted with a 5TB drive and 32GB of RAM. Unfortunately, a large SSD of that caliber would be over $600.00, most likely. That's way out of my price range ATM. It's an older Mac, but it still does what I want it to do, and that's OK with me. So, I can't complain. :O)

[CrossBow]

Well 1TB SSDs are quite cheap compared to a few years ago, but I needed a min of 4TB storage on the NAS to start with. I have 5TB internally in my actual PC spread out across 5 different disks. But for what I want to keep at easy access on my NAS (FLACs, Photos, documents) I figure 4TB is enough. But SSDs with that capacity are way out of my price range right now.

 

[- Ω -]

@CrossBow  Prices seem to be coming down...

Amazon has a 4TB external for only $465.42  << HERE >>

 

 

Edited December 7, 2021 by - Ω -

[TrekMD]

Yep, the prices have been coming down.  That's why I upgraded my desktop computer with SSD's.  It improved the performance quite a bit.

[RickR]

2 hours ago, TrekMD said:

Yep, the prices have been coming down.  That's why I upgraded my desktop computer with SSD's.  It improved the performance quite a bit.

It's amazing what an SSD can do to improve performance.  Even old "Core 2 Duo" laptops come back to life with an SSD replacement for a physical hard drive. 

 

[CrossBow]

Oh I know full well the power of SSDs... I'm running an NVMe 250GB 970 Pro as my OS drive. And I've got a pair of 960 EVOs in a RAID 0 stripe as a secondary games volume. 

My PS4 pro has an SSD in it as does my PS3 and... my PS2 LOL!