Jump to content

NAS Suggestions

ace101.
By ace101.
in Storage Devices
 Share
Posted

Hi! Can anyone suggest me a NAS Device to use for either Ready Made or Custom? I have my eyes for Synology or WD Ex4 for Ready Made and a Lenovo TS 140 for a Custom Made.

 

This is for home use storage of movies, audio and video files etc and maybe for bigger things in the future.

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

Qnap or Freenas

These are the expensive ones. I already checked FreeNAS and it is really a good choice. How about those cheaper brands like Synology? any thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Hi! Can anyone suggest me a NAS Device to use for either Ready Made or Custom? I have my eyes for Synology or WD Ex4 for Ready Made and a Lenovo TS 140 for a Custom Made.

 

This is for home use storage of movies, audio and video files etc and maybe for bigger things in the future.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Hey ace101.
 
It really depends on what exactly are you looking for in a particular NAS (number of drive bays, RAID support, speed, features, usable space, etc.). WD My Cloud EX4 is a really good choice, but it is designed for small business entities and might be a bit overkill. If you give me more details of what you are looking for, I might be able to suggest a better option.
 
Also, a good option is to build your own NAS which might be a bit cheaper have longer warranty on the different parts, but more tricky to setup and  configure. :)
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

 

Hey ace101.
 
It really depends on what exactly are you looking for in a particular NAS (number of drive bays, RAID support, speed, features, usable space, etc.). WD My Cloud EX4 is a really good choice, but it is designed for small business entities and might be a bit overkill. If you give me more details of what you are looking for, I might be able to suggest a better option.
 
Also, a good option is to build your own NAS which might be a bit cheaper have longer warranty on the different parts, but more tricky to setup and  configure. :)
 
Captain_WD.

 

Number of drive bays = 4,

RAID support = YES,

Speed = The fastest as possible,

Features = typical features with mobile app and can be access outside the network,

Usable space = atleast 8TB.

 

I just started to read about NAS and find it very interesting. I need a bigger storage device with access to all my files anytime anywhere with any device. Can be used for media streaming and PC back-up. It maybe used for personal purpose as of the moment but maybe for a business that may come in the future. Lifespan is also a big consideration.

 

Setting up my own is also a option but I don't know which device to use.

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Number of drive bays = 4,

RAID support = YES,

Speed = The fastest as possible,

Features = typical features with mobile app and can be access outside the network,

Usable space = atleast 8TB.

 

I just started to read about NAS and find it very interesting. I need a bigger storage device with access to all my files anytime anywhere with any device. Can be used for media streaming and PC back-up. It maybe used for personal purpose as of the moment but maybe for a business that may come in the future. Lifespan is also a big consideration.

 

Setting up my own is also a option but I don't know which device to use.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Well, in that case, a WD My Cloud EX4 with four 4TB WD Red drives would be suitable. I would recommend either RAID5 or RAID10 for your setup. RAID5 would give you one drive failure tolerance and roughly 3/4 storage capacity out of all 4 drives with some speed boost. RAID10 would give you roughly half of the whole array's storage for usable space, two drives failure tolerance and a bigger speed boost.

I would definitely recommend NAS/RAID class drives (such as the WD Red) for such setup as they have crucial features for running safer and smoother in a RAID environment.

 

Pretty much any NAS is capable of over-the-network backups, personalized cloud storage (way to access your files over the network) and streaming to your devices as well as to give you some redundancy.

 

Building your own NAS would require building a whole new computer. You could post a thread in the "New Builds and Planning" or the "Storage Solutions" sections what your needs are, and some of the guys can offer you some options. :)

 

Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

Well, in that case, a WD My Cloud EX4 with four 4TB WD Red drives would be suitable. I would recommend either RAID5 or RAID10 for your setup. RAID5 would give you one drive failure tolerance and roughly 3/4 storage capacity out of all 4 drives with some speed boost. RAID10 would give you roughly half of the whole array's storage for usable space, two drives failure tolerance and a bigger speed boost.

I would definitely recommend NAS/RAID class drives (such as the WD Red) for such setup as they have crucial features for running safer and smoother in a RAID environment.

 

Pretty much any NAS is capable of over-the-network backups, personalized cloud storage (way to access your files over the network) and streaming to your devices as well as to give you some redundancy.

 

Building your own NAS would require building a whole new computer. You could post a thread in the "New Builds and Planning" or the "Storage Solutions" sections what your needs are, and some of the guys can offer you some options. :)

 

Captain_WD.

Do i really have to install 4 Hard Disk right away or I can start with 2? Can I start with 2 2TB WD Reds?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Do i really have to install 4 Hard Disk right away or I can start with 2? Can I start with 2 2TB WD Reds?

 

You can add them one drive at a time, but you have to rebuild the RAID every time and you will lose all data on it since it needs to be reformatted. You would need to back everything up on an external drive, add the new drive to the NAS and then transfer everything back to the NAS. :)
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

 

You can add them one drive at a time, but you have to rebuild the RAID every time and you will lose all data on it since it needs to be reformatted. You would need to back everything up on an external drive, add the new drive to the NAS and then transfer everything back to the NAS. :)
 
Captain_WD.

 

I'm getting closer to get a EX4. But if you can suggest to me a cheaper version that meets my expectations or with the samfunction as the EX4, that would be great!

 

You are very helpful! Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I'm getting closer to get a EX4. But if you can suggest to me a cheaper version that meets my expectations or with the samfunction as the EX4, that would be great!

 

You are very helpful! Thanks!

 

WD My Cloud EX4 is currently the only consumer external device with 4 drive bays that Western Digital offers. I could suggest checking out the 2-bay solutions like WD My Cloud EX2, My Cloud Mirror and My Book Live Duo, but you mentioned you need 4 bays. You could search for previous topics or ask the guys in the community for any experience with other manufacturers.
 
You could look at options to get a motherboard, RAM, PSU, CPU, case and several drives along with a good NAS OS and see if it would be cheaper. Have in mind that they are harder to set up and not that user friendly. I would still suggest using WD Red for a self-built NAS devices. :)
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I have a D-Link DNS-325 2 bays NAS with 2x WD RED 4TB in raid0.

 

And I will get one D-Link DNS-345 4 bays NAS when WD releases 10TB RED HDD's.

System 1: Thermaltake Element Q - Thermaltake 220W SFX - Asus AT5IONT-I mini-ITX - Intel® Atom™ D525 onboard 1.8GHz Dual-Core HT - Integrated NVIDIA® ION™ - 2x 2GB Kingston DDR3 - Samsung 120GB 840 Series - Scythe Kama Rack 3.5 - Asus DVD-RW

System 2: Thermaltake Element Q - Thermaltake 220W SFX - Asus E2KM1I-DELUXE mini-ITX - AMD E2-2000 onboard 1.75GHz Dual-Core - Integrated AMD® Radeon HD 7340 - 2x 4GB Kingston DDR3 - Samsung 120GB 840 Series - Scythe Kama Rack 3.5 - Asus DVD-RW

Building: Bitfenix Prodigy Black - Corsair AX860i - Asus Maximus VII Impact - Corsair Hydro Series H100i - Intel® Core™ i7 4790K - Asus Matrix Platinum GTX 980 4GB - Corsair 16GB Dominator Platinum 2x 8GB DDR3 2400MHz CL10 - Samsung 1TB EVO 840 Series

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

I have a D-Link DNS-325 2 bays NAS with 2x WD RED 4TB in raid0.

 

And I will get one D-Link DNS-345 4 bays NAS when WD releases 10TB RED HDD's.

So how was the experience with the DNS-325?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

So how was the experience with the DNS-325?

 

Perfect for my needs, eats little power because it's ARM, and was the cheapest NAS I found. :P

System 1: Thermaltake Element Q - Thermaltake 220W SFX - Asus AT5IONT-I mini-ITX - Intel® Atom™ D525 onboard 1.8GHz Dual-Core HT - Integrated NVIDIA® ION™ - 2x 2GB Kingston DDR3 - Samsung 120GB 840 Series - Scythe Kama Rack 3.5 - Asus DVD-RW

System 2: Thermaltake Element Q - Thermaltake 220W SFX - Asus E2KM1I-DELUXE mini-ITX - AMD E2-2000 onboard 1.75GHz Dual-Core - Integrated AMD® Radeon HD 7340 - 2x 4GB Kingston DDR3 - Samsung 120GB 840 Series - Scythe Kama Rack 3.5 - Asus DVD-RW

Building: Bitfenix Prodigy Black - Corsair AX860i - Asus Maximus VII Impact - Corsair Hydro Series H100i - Intel® Core™ i7 4790K - Asus Matrix Platinum GTX 980 4GB - Corsair 16GB Dominator Platinum 2x 8GB DDR3 2400MHz CL10 - Samsung 1TB EVO 840 Series

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

@Member

 

I'd much rather make my own NAS and have any functionality I wanted. Like others stated, you could install FreeNAS on this, or any other operating system you prefered. I prefer Ubuntu Server, can do anything you imagine, and more.

 

This is a very low power system, perfect for software RAID. You could even use a Pentium G3258 if you wanted to save some more cash. I chose the i3 because it has support for ECC memory. If you ever decide to go down that route, it would be a nice thing to have.

 

The LSI 9211 HBA, should be flashed to IT mode using this guide. With the 9211 in IT mode, you'll be able to present 8 drives to your OS. The case I picked out technically only have 7-3.5" bays, but you can put the 8th drive in the 5.25" bay with an adapter. The PSU should have enough SATA leads, but if not you can always use a MOLEX->SATA adapter.

 

Obviously you'll need to pick out whatever drives you want. 


 
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($40.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($35.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($62.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master N400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($52.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $467.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-28 03:42 EST-0500


I pretty much just picked out the cheapest mobo/ram/ssd/psu in the brands I like. Really doesn't matter what you use.

My Server - Update 1 - Update 2 - Update 3 - Update 4

Gaming Rig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

If you can spring for it, find a motherboard which supports IPMI 2.0 with virtual media over LAN and KVM-over-LAN support.  I did that this time around with my second NAS it it makes it so much easier for managing it.  I leave the system in my basement but can manage everything about it from anywhere in the house (installing the OS for example).  

 

I chose a motherboard that has the IPMI plus a built in LSI 2308 that works in IT mode and has 8 ports.  The board has 14 total SATA ports which is something to consider for expansion over time.  It's a little pricier than suggested above, but gives you lots of options and can be expanded later with the same LSI 9211 for an additional 8 ports (or more if you go with a SAS expander).

Workstation 1: Intel i7 4790K | Thermalright MUX-120 | Asus Maximus VII Hero | 32GB RAM Crucial Ballistix Elite 1866 9-9-9-27 ( 4 x 8GB) | 2 x EVGA GTX 980 SC | Samsung 850 Pro 512GB | Samsung 840 EVO 500GB | HGST 4TB NAS 7.2KRPM | 2 x HGST 6TB NAS 7.2KRPM | 1 x Samsung 1TB 7.2KRPM | Seasonic 1050W 80+ Gold | Fractal Design Define R4 | Win 8.1 64-bit
NAS 1: Intel Intel Xeon E3-1270V3 | SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O | 32GB RAM DDR3L ECC (8GBx4) | 12 x HGST 4TB Deskstar NAS | SAMSUNG 850 Pro 256GB (boot/OS) | SAMSUNG 850 Pro 128GB (ZIL + L2ARC) | Seasonic 650W 80+ Gold | Rosewill RSV-L4411 | Xubuntu 14.10

Notebook: Lenovo T500 | Intel T9600 | 8GB RAM | Crucial M4 256GB

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

@Member

 

I'd much rather make my own NAS and have any functionality I wanted. Like others stated, you could install FreeNAS on this, or any other operating system you prefered. I prefer Ubuntu Server, can do anything you imagine, and more.

 

This is a very low power system, perfect for software RAID. You could even use a Pentium G3258 if you wanted to save some more cash. I chose the i3 because it has support for ECC memory. If you ever decide to go down that route, it would be a nice thing to have.

 

The LSI 9211 HBA, should be flashed to IT mode using this guide. With the 9211 in IT mode, you'll be able to present 8 drives to your OS. The case I picked out technically only have 7-3.5" bays, but you can put the 8th drive in the 5.25" bay with an adapter. The PSU should have enough SATA leads, but if not you can always use a MOLEX->SATA adapter.

 

Obviously you'll need to pick out whatever drives you want. 

 
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($40.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($35.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($62.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master N400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($52.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $467.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-28 03:42 EST-0500

I pretty much just picked out the cheapest mobo/ram/ssd/psu in the brands I like. Really doesn't matter what you use.

Nice config! I will put that great choice in consideration! Thanks again!

Desktop: i5 4670k, Z97-K, 16GB, MSI GTX 770, Evga 850G2, TT T31

Freenas Server: i3 4170, X10-SLL-F-O, Crucial 16GB UDIMM, 4x4TB WD Red, Evga 550GS, Fractal 804

Peripheral: K60, HyperX Cloud

Mobile: Nexus 6P 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Nice config! I will put that great choice in consideration! Thanks again!

:)

Went back and poked around a bit more, I don't think that mobo supports ECC memory anyways, so you might as well throw the G3258 in and have a true budget NAS.

 

ECC support is important for ZFS raid, but MDADM doesn't really care what kind of memory you use.

My Server - Update 1 - Update 2 - Update 3 - Update 4

Gaming Rig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

:)

Went back and poked around a bit more, I don't think that mobo supports ECC memory anyways, so you might as well throw the G3258 in and have a true budget NAS.

 

ECC support is important for ZFS raid, but MDADM doesn't really care what kind of memory you use.

Ah,  I think i would use FreeNas and the ZFS file system. Any other budget mobos support ECC memory? 

Desktop: i5 4670k, Z97-K, 16GB, MSI GTX 770, Evga 850G2, TT T31

Freenas Server: i3 4170, X10-SLL-F-O, Crucial 16GB UDIMM, 4x4TB WD Red, Evga 550GS, Fractal 804

Peripheral: K60, HyperX Cloud

Mobile: Nexus 6P 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Ah, I think i would use FreeNas and the ZFS file system. Any other budget mobos support ECC memory?

I know all of the WorkStation and Server class motherboards support it. You'll just have to poke around and take a look. Asus and Supermicro are where I would start.

If you are indeed seriously interested in using ZFS, then the recommendation is 1GB of ECC per TB of storage. It starts to add up as ECC isn't terribly cheap. Course a recommendation is just a recommendation, but I'd hate to risk any precious data.

My Server - Update 1 - Update 2 - Update 3 - Update 4

Gaming Rig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I know all of the WorkStation and Server class motherboards support it. You'll just have to poke around and take a look. Asus and Supermicro are where I would start.

If you are indeed seriously interested in using ZFS, then the recommendation is 1GB of ECC per TB of storage. It starts to add up as ECC isn't terribly cheap. Course a recommendation is just a recommendation, but I'd hate to risk any precious data.

Thanks, btw, does the motherboard support hotswap? Thinking of getting this case if i get to building it: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=452

 

Thank you for the ongoing help.  :D

Desktop: i5 4670k, Z97-K, 16GB, MSI GTX 770, Evga 850G2, TT T31

Freenas Server: i3 4170, X10-SLL-F-O, Crucial 16GB UDIMM, 4x4TB WD Red, Evga 550GS, Fractal 804

Peripheral: K60, HyperX Cloud

Mobile: Nexus 6P 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Thanks, btw, does the motherboard support hotswap? Thinking of getting this case if i get to building it: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=452

 

Thank you for the ongoing help.  :D

Most mobo's I've dealt with have options in the bios enabling/disabling hot-swap on individual ports. If you do end up using the 9211 in IT mode, you won't be using the motherboard ports anyways.

 

That case probably has a backplane that you wire the power/data leads to. So that you don't need to mess with wires when you insert/remove drives.

That case also limits you to Mini-ITX or Mini-DTX motherboards, which are usually a little bit more expensive due to their small form factor

My Server - Update 1 - Update 2 - Update 3 - Update 4

Gaming Rig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Hi! Can anyone suggest me a NAS Device to use for either Ready Made or Custom? I have my eyes for Synology or WD Ex4 for Ready Made and a Lenovo TS 140 for a Custom Made.

 

This is for home use storage of movies, audio and video files etc and maybe for bigger things in the future.

 

Thanks!

If it's just storage of files, then I wouldn't bother with a custom NAS, unless you also want to tinker. Purchasing a pre-done one and filling it with drives is far easier, and all of those options would be functional.

 

If you have needs in the future, you can always re-tailor your solution down the road.

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use, and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. - Galileo Galilei
Build Logs: Tophat (in progress), DNAF | Useful Links: How To: Choosing Your Storage Devices and Configuration, Case Study: RAID Tolerance to Failure, Reducing Single Points of Failure in Redundant Storage , Why Choose an SSD?, ZFS From A to Z (Eric1024), Advanced RAID: Survival Rates, Flashing LSI RAID Cards (alpenwasser), SAN and Storage Networking

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

If it's just storage of files, then I wouldn't bother with a custom NAS, unless you also want to tinker. Purchasing a pre-done one and filling it with drives is far easier, and all of those options would be functional.

 

If you have needs in the future, you can always re-tailor your solution down the road.

yeah but you pay more for the hardware and get stuck in a system with imposed limitations.

 

The diskless NAS solutions seem targeted at consumers who just want something to work. With a bit of elbow grease and some TLC, you can get far more for less.

My Server - Update 1 - Update 2 - Update 3 - Update 4

Gaming Rig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

yeah but you pay more for the hardware and get stuck in a system with imposed limitations.

 

The diskless NAS solutions seem targeted at consumers who just want something to work. With a bit of elbow grease and some TLC, you can get far more for less.

It's true, but dealing with small technical issues may not be worth it, depending on who you are.

Unless someone is technically inclined or likes to tinker, I usually wouldn't recommend a custom system.

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use, and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. - Galileo Galilei
Build Logs: Tophat (in progress), DNAF | Useful Links: How To: Choosing Your Storage Devices and Configuration, Case Study: RAID Tolerance to Failure, Reducing Single Points of Failure in Redundant Storage , Why Choose an SSD?, ZFS From A to Z (Eric1024), Advanced RAID: Survival Rates, Flashing LSI RAID Cards (alpenwasser), SAN and Storage Networking

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Storage Devices

×