Home NAS setup

[gaz_l]

Greetings, Citizens.

We have far too many computers kicking around the place, and I've decided that it's about time I set up some storage as a repository/backup. A NAS device seems ideal, and there are many to choose from nowadays. Perhaps too many, as the choice of features ranges from meagre to un-necessary.. your thoughts and/or recommendations would be apppreciated.

Basic requirements:

1. To store photos/videos/docs etc., and to be able to access said data from any computer on the network. Mixed fleet of Windows/Mac/Linux machines, I am fairly competent at setting up this sort of thing so I figure there will be no problems there.

2. Redundancy on the storage device - so two drives/RAID1 minimum.

Nice to haves:

1. 802.11 b/g would be handy - the fewer cables, the better.

2. FTP server - it would be good to have some remote access, probably more to send stuff home rather than access stuff when I'm away.

Not bothered about media serving etc. - I'm still stuck in the last century in terms of the fact that if I want to listen to music I'll put a CD in the stereo..

So far, I've identified these as likely candidates:

Buffalo Technology - Products - LS-WTGL : LinkStation Pro Duo™

or this one

LG N2B1 Network Storage - N2B1 Network Attached Storage with two hard drive bays and Blu-ray Burner - LG Electronics UK

which has a built-in Blu-Ray re-writer for added geekiness..

I've also budgeted for a UPS, I think this should do the trick for a NAS:

APC Smart-UPS SC 420VA 230V

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Piff]

I will follow this thread with interest as I'm considering NAS for the home network. I currently don't have a formal back up system, just transferring files to usb stick or burning to cd occasionally.
Don't feel qualified to give much input but will be interested in others comments

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

I use these devices for the same purpose........

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ZyXE...a-NAS-Box-with-RAID-Homeplug-Ready-(Upto-15Tb)

If link doesn't work then go to Scan.co.uk and search for item number LN20355

I've got three now and found them to be extremely reliable (On 24/7 and three years old)

They have excellent security setup so that folders can be limited to particular users. This is great for backups and monitoring your kids' internet usage if you do things like backup their browser history to folders only you can access. Not big brother but important to keep our little ones safe!

I recommend that the nas units are hard wired to a router, or switch if you don't have enough LAN ports in your router.

UPS is an excellent idea. Wife plugged in electric iron downstairs and tripped mains as the drives were being written to. One raid pair were destroyed as a result! all three of my nas units are fed from a ups. real belt and braces!

 

[spinaltap]

I use a Netgear ReadyNAS Duo. Although I have twin 500Gb drives you can go up to 2x2Tb. Go for a ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer and you can have 6x2Tb removable drives and simultaneously handle up to 14x1080p HD streams.

http://www.netgear.com/upload/product/rndp600e/readynas_pro_pe_ds_04feb09.pdf

 

[dickchailey]

Worth looking at the Synology products. I use a DS210j (Scan.co.uk) RAID over 2 HDD's and lots of extra apps including CCTV camera application.

 

[Dryce]

I use a Netgear ReadyNAS Duo.

I have one of these and it's OK-ish.

But the software is a bit clunky. It's easy to mess up the security/permissions. And it's not that flexible in terms of disk organisation.

 

[wemorgan]

I've been very happy with my reliable Maxtor Shared Storage II, but it doesn't quite have all the features you're looking for.

I often finded PcPro reviews useful:

Seagate BlackArmor NAS 440 review | Storage appliances | Reviews | PC Pro

It's not cheap though.

 

[Dryce]

I am fairly competent at setting up this sort of thing so I figure there will be no problems there.

If you're feeling adventurous.

My home office setup is based on a Eee Box running Fedora. I have it setup as a SMB file server and also an Apple file server. I run my apple backups to it using Time Machine. It also acts as a VPN router using IPSec. It's only running a 160GB disk but happily works with USB externals.

System sits running on just under 20W. If I'm away for any period of time it gets shutdown and can be woken up remotely over the network.

I plug in 2.5" disks into its USB to take off backups remotely.

I've toyed with the idea of using the setup for IP audio streaming using a Squeezebox.

If I was setting up a new one I'd get something similar (an Acer Revo perhaps) and figure on refitting a larger internal disk before putting in Linux.

Disadvantage of this sort of setup is that it's bits and pieces you have to setup and configure yourself. Upside is the software and config are much more flexible and you can add additional services.

 

[gaz_l]

Having had a good think about the choices, I've plumped for a Synology device with a small APC UPS. This gives me 500GB of storage in a RAID 1 array, plenty for now with the confidence that it won't all go pear shaped in the event of a power cut.

The Synology unit looks interesting, I bought it principally because it's low power and quiet, but it has lots of extra functionality. Nice to have..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[robpow]

Sounds good, should work well. Just remember that RAID-1 is not a substitute for backups. Especially if the box itself gets fried at some point in the future when you can't get a replacement any longer (happened to me once) and you have two nicely mirrored and working disks but nothing that can read them.

I have been toying with various on-line file storage services where I can sync the most important 1-2 GB of data to. Many services are free if you only need that much for the most essential files.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[gaz_l]

Sounds good, should work well. Just remember that RAID-1 is not a substitute for backups

Good point, but I'm actually planning on using this as the backup device in the event of a computer going TU. For example, my daily driver (a mac mini) still has 180GB free on a 250GB drive. Aggregate the total storage requirements over all the machines, I doubt we'll top 100GB.

Anyway, the NAS turned up today so time to plug it in and have a play!

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[robpow]

Mirrored backup drives, you're data will be travelling Mercedes class!

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

Good point, but I'm actually planning on using this as the backup device in the event of a computer going TU. For example, my daily driver (a mac mini) still has 180GB free on a 250GB drive. Aggregate the total storage requirements over all the machines, I doubt we'll top 100GB.

Anyway, the NAS turned up today so time to plug it in and have a play!

Cheers,

Gaz

I recommend you use "Synback" as your backup program as you can set it to backup at startup, shutdown and timed. It gives accurate reports to ensure your backups are good. Often you don't realise how good a backup is until you need it. Then it might be too late!!

Good move anyway. Everyone should do this especially when you have a house full of pc's and laptops and screaming kids in the event of lost files!!

 

[wemorgan]

I've been very happy with my reliable Maxtor Shared Storage II, but it doesn't quite have all the features you're looking for.

Having had a good think about the choices, I've plumped for a Synology device with a small APC UPS. This gives me 500GB of storage in a RAID 1 array, plenty for now with the confidence that it won't all go pear shaped in the event of a power cut.

The Synology unit looks interesting, I bought it principally because it's low power and quiet, but it has lots of extra functionality. Nice to have..

I tempted fate with my post, as my NAS is now making some nasty noises. It works for the moment but I'm prepared for the worse.

Gaz L: Which Synology NAS did you buy and where from?

This one looks decent:
Synology DS209 2-bay SATA NAS Server USB2 (DS209) - dabs.com

Anyone else recommend a similar Ethernet NAS?

Thanks.

edit: just seen that the Synology units come without HDs. I was hoping to spend £200 with HDs. Am I being over optimistic?

Something like this looks a bit cheaper:
http://www.dabs.com/products/buffalo-1tb-linkstation-duo-raid0-1-6KQJ.html?refs=443340000-52910000

 

[HughJarse]

I use one of these
Western Digital 1TB My Book World Edition (WDH1NC10000E) - dabs.com

It backups itself to a slave via usb port, but also it runs and ftp server, a torrent client and a newsgroup client.

Its fab, it downloads all I want as well as acting as a media server to my PS3 and Xbox.

It streams, videos, music and photos.

It come with a free account to mionet so i can access any of my files from any pc in the world.

 

[wemorgan]

Do you know if I buy a NAS with ftp server whether I can use a free web service to access my file remotely?

 

[dickchailey]

DS210J is £141 plus two 500GB HDD's at £38 (+vat) is about the best I could find with all the bells and whistles. Been running fine for 6 weeks but I did have to contact support for a software patch as the timed startup was not working. Quick response to my email was a pleasant suprise.

 

[wemorgan]

Next question.

I've seen some NAS with integrated Bluray eg: LG Electronics N2B1DB2 NAS 1TB With BluRay (N2B1DB2) - dabs.com

but from what I can tell these can not stream encrypted media i.e. movies.

Does anyone know whether a NAS with open Bluray streamer exists?

Yes, I'm aware my £200 budget is looking unlikely

BluRay aside these are looking my favourites so far:
Buffalo LINKSTATION MINI 1.0TB 2.5" (LS-WS1.0TGL/R1) - dabs.com
Buffalo LinkStation Pro 1.0TB DLNA NAS (LS-XH1.0TL) - dabs.com

but I am getting a bit lost in all the options for protocols.

Thanks.

 

[gaz_l]

Will,

I eventually plumped for a Synology DS-210j with two 500GB Seagate drives, set up as RAID1, with an APC Back-UPS CS-350 connected via USB. The NAS on its own was just over £250 so you may want to revise the budget upwards if you want to go down the same route.. otherwise you could buy the enclosure and a single drive now, and add a second drive later.

I bought the NAS from WorldSpan communications - http://www.span.comhttp://www.span.com - ask for Lukas. Very helpful bloke. If you order the box and drives at the same time, they will build and configure it free of charge so all you have to do is plug it in.

I was initally tempted by the LG NAS device but having downloaded the manual, it seemed that it would run hot and noisy. The Synology device made a big selling point of being low-power and quiet - I have the UPS and NAS underneath my desk as I type and they both make barely a whisper.

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Piff]

Next question.

I've seen some NAS with integrated Bluray eg: LG Electronics N2B1DB2 NAS 1TB With BluRay (N2B1DB2) - dabs.com

but from what I can tell these can not stream encrypted media i.e. movies.

Does anyone know whether a NAS with open Bluray streamer exists?

Yes, I'm aware my £200 budget is looking unlikely

BluRay aside these are looking my favourites so far:
Buffalo LINKSTATION MINI 1.0TB 2.5" (LS-WS1.0TGL/R1) - dabs.com
Buffalo LinkStation Pro 1.0TB DLNA NAS (LS-XH1.0TL) - dabs.com

but I am getting a bit lost in all the options for protocols.

Thanks.

I'm now looking seriously and have looked at all the recommendations in all posts.
In addition to the two quoted above, what about

Buffalo 1TB LINKSTATION DUO RAID0/1 (LS-WX1.0TL/R1-E) - dabs.com

I think if I'm going to do this, I want 2 x hdd's set up to mirror each other.
My important documents total about 4gb, but then I have recently burnt loads of photo's to cdr's and taken them off the pc hdd - possibly wouldn't need to do that so much with NAS.

The ability to stream media to xbox, playstation or tv sounds useful, do all NAS have this capability?