NAS or Not

[tedfs3]

Complete onsite storage noob here. Online backup of files was easy to setup but I started researching external backup ideas to have onsite at home. Backup redundancy never hurts.

I'm looking for something for personal use at home. Backing up True Image SSD backups, personal files, photos, documents etc. Started researching NAS solutions and quickly

found out that my cable company's router only has two jacks and both of those are in use for my PC and FireTV.

 

I like the idea of NAS as some of the enclosures seem better built and support drives over 8TB, which none of the HDD enclosures I saw did support.

Is there a two bay NAS that also supports just using USB 3 to transfer files to the drives ?  I'll have to talk to the cable company about a different router if the answer is no.

But we all know that costs money in the end that could be better used for different hardware to accomplish what is needed.

 

So many options when searching that it's overwhelming. My decision right now was to purchase one, 8TB Seagate Ironwolf Pro and an enclosed aluminum, two bay docking station to test out.
I can always use the HDD for a NAS build if there is anything out there that can do what I need over USB 3, without the need for network connection.

[Windows7ge]

If you want a pre-built NAS look into Synology or QNAP. To fix your lack of ports buy a Network Switch. They come in 4 port, 8 port, 16, 24, 48 port variants. Just make sure it's Gigabit not 100Mbit.

[Railgun]

To add onto the comment above, make sure you are discerning the difference between a network switch and a network hub if you decide to look into that. Hubs might seem like another word for the same thing, but in reality they can only support one signal at a time which could mean slowdowns if your NAS is uploading/downloading while you are trying to use the internet. Just something to keep in mind

[tedfs3]

What I would like is a NAS that I can connect to a single PC via USB 3 instead of using the network. Just not sure if there is such a beast yet.

I'll keep looking.

 

[shuri]

1 hour ago, tedfs3 said:

What I would like is a NAS that I can connect to a single PC via USB 3 instead of using the network. Just not sure if there is such a beast yet.

I'll keep looking.

 

Then you'd be looking at just having a extra drive connected your computer and running a file sever on it (Samba is built into Windows).

[Kedohawyr]

2 hours ago, tedfs3 said:

What I would like is a NAS that I can connect to a single PC via USB 3 instead of using the network. Just not sure if there is such a beast yet.

I'll keep looking.

 

Then you're not looking for a NAS at all. You're either looking for a DAS (direct attached storage) or you're looking for a plain old external HDD.

[Master Disaster]

The solution, get a Raspberry Pi 4 with an 8TB USB 3 HDD and run OMV on it. Low power, zero noise (except when the HDD is in use which is obviously unavoidable) and works perfectly.

 

Ras Pi also has WiFi built in though I wouldn't recommend you run a NAS on WiFi, a cheap switch from Amazon solves your lack of ports problem anyway.

[kirashi]

5 hours ago, tedfs3 said:

What I would like is a NAS that I can connect to a single PC via USB 3 instead of using the network. Just not sure if there is such a beast yet.

I'll keep looking.

 

That's not a NAS - that's an external USB drive or JBOD array. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage, which means it connects to your network by way of ethernet cable, hence Network being right in the name. If you want to turn a PC into a "NAS" you certainly can by using an external USB drive (or drives) and leaving the PC running 24/7, preferably booted into a proper OS for this, such as UnRAID or FreeNAS.

[tedfs3]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I ordered a network switch and some cables to try out and see if that fixes the not enough ports problem. I'll just use the dock and drive on order until I can find a two bay NAS to decide on.

[Master Disaster]

6 hours ago, tedfs3 said:

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I ordered a network switch and some cables to try out and see if that fixes the not enough ports problem. I'll just use the dock and drive on order until I can find a two bay NAS to decide on.

Fyi you need to run a cable from one of the two ports on your router to port one of your switch, this sends the internet connection to the switch. Then everything else connects to ports 2 through however many you have.