Help Needed

[Devansh Garg]

I have a NAS setup for my small enterprise. It is a D-Link 323 NAS. All the employees have their own systems on which they can access the NAS. However, I'm looking for a setup in which I could firstly updrage to faster speed. Should I buy a NAS that supports SSD or a better nas with better HDDs? Secondly, if possible I would also like to have a One system solution. (I'm not quite sure if it works, but I read somewhere that I can run virtual machines on the nas, remove all the employee systems and replace that with a single powerful computer setup with a bunch of monitors connected to it. The virtual machine on NAS will help me give access to employees only to certain softwares (like AutoCAD) that we use in our office and obviously the project files related to the same).All the employees could have access to, physically, is the monitor.

I would like to know more about such a setup.

Thank You

[Windows7ge]

One of the problems you likely have speed wise is the NAS only has a 10/100/1000Mbps network interface. If you can get a NAS that supports 10Gbit or build your own then a switch with a 10Gig interface this will greatly alleviate a network bottleneck for all the employees.

 

I wouldn't really recommend virtualizing all the workstations. That is a thing. It's doable, but it is not cheap and it's not the most reliable if you only have one server to host the VMs. When that server goes down (and it will) everybody is down. Do not recommend. Individual workstations is better. If you need better administrative control of software and employee access get everybody on AD.

[Devansh Garg]

On 7/29/2020 at 11:12 PM, Windows7ge said:

One of the problems you likely have speed wise is the NAS only has a 10/100/1000Mbps network interface. If you can get a NAS that supports 10Gbit or build your own then a switch with a 10Gig interface this will greatly alleviate a network bottleneck for all the employees.

 

I wouldn't really recommend virtualizing all the workstations. That is a thing. It's doable, but it is not cheap and it's not the most reliable if you only have one server to host the VMs. When that server goes down (and it will) everybody is down. Do not recommend. Individual workstations is better. If you need better administrative control of software and employee access get everybody on AD.

What does AD stand for?

[Devansh Garg]

I saw Linus's video titled "This replaced every pc in my house". Though both of you have mentioned individual pc system is more reliable, why did Linus choose to adopt single pc system.

[Devansh Garg]

Here is is a complete detail of the setup I would like to have

1. Employees have access only to the given folders in the NAS

2. Employees have access to the AUTOCAD software and the libraries, not the setup files and license files.

3. Employees don't have right to copy the files locally on the computer, but only on the NAS.

4. The USB ports are blocked (except for mouse and keyboard).

5. The NAS (through LAN) in accessible only to certain MAC address (might need to upgrade the NAS for that)

6. The Internet is accessible (through LAN) only to certain MAC address

7. A guest wifi is there with no access to NAS but only the internet

 

Current Setup:

Individual PC setup for every employee (through a LAN hub connected to the router).

Users and groups made on NAS for each employee PC

Hardware Info:

Dlink 323 NAS

Huawei Router

[Windows7ge]

7 hours ago, Devansh Garg said:

What does AD stand for?

Active Directory. Otherwise known as a Domain.

[Windows7ge]

7 hours ago, Devansh Garg said:

I saw Linus's video titled "This replaced every pc in my house". Though both of you have mentioned individual pc system is more reliable, why did Linus choose to adopt single pc system.

You're comparing a home environment to a work environment. If the server goes down for Linus it's not a big deal. If the server goes down for you all your employees have to wait for you to get it back online which could cost a lot of wasted time and money.

[Devansh Garg]

Thanks for the help.

Is there anything I could do for