I have a DS1817 connected to my desktop via 10gb ethernet with a Netgear switch in the middle. For large files, it is FAST. I regularly see 500-600mb/s. If you can reserve two bays for SSDs and enable read/write caching, it is probably even faster (I haven’t tested that just yet)
I don’t use “nas” disks. I just shuck WD external drives and wait for sales. ~$15/tb is when I buy. I currently have 6x 8tb drives but I’ll likely upgrade to 12tb if they go on sale again.
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I strongly prefer something that uses commodity hardware with an unlocked bootloader that allows for installing a variety of open source operating systems. I just don’t trust the NAS manufacturer to keep supporting the device with firmware updates for the long run. I was given a LaCie NAS as a gift quite a few years back, and it had a proprietary firmware OS based on an extremely ancient version of Debian that they stopped supporting forever ago. But it was still decent hardware for my needs, and so fortunately I found some extremely sketchy instructions and scripts to unlock the bootloader and do a netinstall of Debian current for ARM. Actually it only worked to install Debian current minus 2 and then dist-upgrade it to the latest Debian release. From there I installed OpenMediaVault on top of that, which converts a vanilla Debian installation into a good NAS-specific low maintenance appliance. But it would much nicer to just have standard x86 hardware with an open bootloader that allows for a normal USB installation of any run-of-the-mill Linux or BSD flavor or a specialized NAS system based on those, preferably FreeNAS.
I’ve found that Synology is actually very good about supporting pretty much all of their hardware over significant time. I sent away a 4-bay DS410j unit to a friend a few years back when I got a replacment for my own needs. It ran the current version of their OS at that time. The replacement unit I have dates from 2012, and is still getting front-line updates.
That said, nothing beats rolling your own if you have the time and budget to do it. The advantage to the units from Synology (and similar) is that they kind of just work out of the box.
Good to know that, thanks. :+1: What is their OS based on? And what filesystem does it use?
Yeah, I agree that if a turnkey appliance style of device is supported on the long term and uses a solid foundation it can be a good option. That’s why I use Mikrotik routers, I have some really old devices, and yet their Linux-based proprietary RouterOS still supports basically all of their old devices just the same as the newest ones, and it leaves almost nothing to be desired in terms of features.
This is great advice thanks. You’re using the m.2 10 gigabit card? I’m going to be putting my NAS in my network room, plugged into my 10 gigabit switch which has all the ends of the CAT 8’s going to all the rooms of the house.
Hey is it easy to set up remote access to a synology NAS? Although the ideal setup for me would be to set up some kind of VPN server so I can tunnel into my network from anywhere
BTW, Qnap has some new multiport 10ge over copper switches that are not astronomically expensive.
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On the other hand, my brother has found that Qnap seems to have systemic problems with the backplanes in their NAS units which causes a drive slot to stop working.
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I need to look into this Cat8. I believe on Cat7, you’re limited to something like 40ft runs at 10ge speeds. Fiber with SFPs can go further but SFPs are EXPENSIVE.
Ha yeah I looked at fiber but the idiot I got to build my house could barely figure out CAT cable. Jackass kept asking why I didn’t just use wifi
yes there is a distance limitation - I thought it was 30 meters - but that’s a long run. I like having the option to replace the switch and other gear with 40 gigabit down the road if I want
Yeah, the cable BOZOs who came out with Sudden-link had these tools. 1 portable drill. 1 Drill bit, 1 Phillips screwdriver bit, a cable crimping tool, a fish tape, and phone for a light source. They needed my ladder to get to the 10’ ceiling.
Now mind you, this was a new hire and a supervisor. While buggering up my walls, I asked if they didn’t have a drywall saw?
The Sup said he had lent it to someone.
Geeze…
All the Best Jeff
And like was stated before. NAS is not backup. You need to be able to archive data. A second NAS is backup.
Rotating offline storage is a wonderful thing. Offsite offline storage better still.
I ask my clients. “If I took your computer and your external backup away right now. How long would it take you to get up an running again?”
Blank looks follow. Matt, this may be overkill in your case.
All the Best,
Jeff
Yeah, I never thought about backing up a NAS. I’m going to do RAID 6 on mine so i have two parity drives and I found a “unlimited data” backup service that’s like $10 a month. Not sure if they’ll complain when I start putting tens of terabytes up there. i have thousands of family videos in 4K, big ripped music collection, etc.
Personally for saving hundreds or thousands documents, pictures, etc. you cant beat the OneDrive. Its works perfect, it works anywhere in the world (you don’t have to be on the same LAN,) and its completely free, not to mention , you have it already on your windows 10 computers.
PS. Personaly I think that you dont find workman who install to you Cat6 or better sockets and plug, but of course them are easyer change than wire and buy some simple 1G switch too, if you already dont have. I think your router are not 1G switch
Ya I have a 1TB OneDrive that comes with my ~$10 a month Office subscription but 1TB goes pretty fast. 3 iPhones taking 4K video non stop, backups for half a dozen PCs, etc
My NAS has 2 drive slots, but I bought 3 total drives. First drive is storage, second drive will be a duplicate of that. Third drive will be installed periodically to be a copy of the first. That third drive will live in my safety deposit box at the bank. I do the same thing with my SSDs that contain operating systems and programs. Years ago I did a proper install of all my programs on an SSD. That is my “master copy”. From there I cloned that drive to two other SSD and they run in my house and shop computers. Every now and then I clone the main shop computer to yet another SSD to have a backup copy the “updated” system.
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I realize how all that cloning must sound sketchy or unreliable, but so far I have never had any problems with it as long as I run the same type of drives, and you absolutely must take the cloned drive and boot it from the original computer (in my case the shop pc) and let everything level out and debug a few minutes before plugging that drive into any other computer. Of course any paid software must be re-keyed if you put it into another PC, but I started with a hard copy of windows so no problems with the OS.
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. Question:
I am thinking about using the same router that runs my internet for the system rather than creating an air gaped network using a second router. If I plugged the NAS into the router using LAN. Then plugged two computers into the router using LAN cables to give both PCs access to the data pool in the NAS. Am I correct in assuming that the data traveling across those cables would NOT be using my internet data? But the computers would still have internet access through those same cables if I did go online right? If that is correct I am thinking I will just create the VPN for security and then also I could access the NAS remotely using the VPN?
Data can move across those cables in the local area network (“LAN” or “your house” if you prefer) without touching the internet or your data cap. Unless you block it, they’ll also be able to talk to the internet.
Basically, they’ll be part of the same LAN as the Wi-Fi devices unless you do something to separate them.
A VPN is a virtual private network that is used to communicate across two or more private networks as if they were one. It generally works in both directions.
You can use a VPN to hide the true destination of your traffic from your ISP (what most people are talking about when they say “get a VPN” these days) or you can use it for secure remote access since the data flowing across the VPN will be encrypted. I’m not sure that your ISP router would support it, but you could use OpenVPN or wireguard to set up a VPN for remote access from one of your computers for free.
I was thinking today that I can plug my NVIDIA shield directly into the NAS with a USB 3.1 cable so that i won’t have any issues with enough bandwidth. The shield will be sitting right beside the router and NAS, with an HDMI and CAT8 going up through the ceiling into my media room and plugged into my 4K Laser projector… This will be so sweet
My network struggles if I’m streaming a large 4K HDR Atmos video across my network
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If my ISP router is a turd and I cannot set up for remote acess to the data on my NAS. Would I still be able to keep all of the data secure where guests accessing the wifi network would not be able to get into it? Or is it an all or nothing deal, either your router supports VPN or it does not?
