Simple DAS instead of NAS?

[msacco]

Hey, not sure it's the correct place to ask, but I think I'll get the best answers here.

 

I've recently started thinking about getting a NAS for my hard drives along with RAID configuration, but I ended up realizing that I don't actually need a NAS specifically and maybe a DAS would be the better solution for me.

So I saw something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-3-5inch-External-Dual-Bay-Enclosure/dp/B0833VSZ8P/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

I can get around $10 discount for it as well so I thought it might be work giving it a try, I did want to hear some opinions here, I basically just wanted to have my hard drives outside of my PC with RAID configuration and still have access to them, which is why I thought of NAS at first, but then I just figured that a DAS could probably serve the same result as well, and I don't really need the data anywhere else.

 

So the above product is a 2 bay hard drive enclosure that has build in RAID configuration that can be set up by on any OS using their software and control it, if I understand correctly I can just connect it directly to my PC and then see it as a single hard drive with the RAID configuration I select(should have 4 RAID modes, not sure what the other 2 besides RAID0/1 ones are - "press the switch on the back to switch the RAID 0/1 / PM / SPAN 4 modes conveniently and quickly with one click support.").

 

Wondering what do you guys think of this solution? That sounds pretty good to me, and in the worst case even if I lose $35 on trying that it won't be the end of the world I guess.

 

Thanks for the help.

[emosun]

I just made a das out of old drives and an lsi controller so yeah what you posted is also an option.

[msacco]

1 minute ago, emosun said:

I just made a das out of old drives and an lsi controller so yeah what you posted is also an option.

An LSI controller must be connected inside the PC via PCIE I believe? Or can you somehow have it outside of your PC?

[emosun]

1 minute ago, msacco said:

An LSI controller must be connected inside the PC via PCIE I believe? Or can you somehow have it outside of your PC?

the controller is in the pc , the das is outside the pc

[msacco]

1 minute ago, emosun said:

the controller is in the pc , the das is outside the pc

Yep. Thanks :)

[deserttan]

A NAS is like a gaming console.

Why bother when you can use your old computer to connect hard drives to it.

Just get a $45 LSI controller, a $15 SAS expander, and you can connect up to 28 drives to the computer.

[msacco]

2 minutes ago, deserttan said:

A NAS is like a gaming console.

Why bother when you can use your old computer to connect hard drives to it.

Just get a $45 LSI controller, a $15 SAS expander, and you can connect up to 28 drives to the computer.

I know, but there's a simple answer to that - space. An old computer takes up a lot of space(at least the ones I own).

[deserttan]

This is getting into home-improvement category, but maybe it will help you. If you search homedepot.com for "4-Tier Welded Steel" you will get a nice storage rack. You can remove the lowest tier, use the first tier from the bottom as your desk, hang your monitors from the third tier, and set your computer on the top tier.

[msacco]

5 minutes ago, deserttan said:

This is getting into home-improvement category, but maybe it will help you. If you search homedepot.com for "4-Tier Welded Steel" you will get a nice storage rack. You can remove the lowest tier, use the first tier from the bottom as your desk, hang your monitors from the third tier, and set your computer on the top tier.

Thanks, but I don't really think it would be an actual option for my current room setup due to many reasons, it's also rather expensive on its own.

 

I'm also wondering, there are various orico raid bays(2/4/5 for example), each one contains different RAID options obviously like RAID5/10, that's more expensive if you consider each slot, but I wonder if the additional cost would be better for RAID5/10 instead of a single or double RAID1 bays(not sure how many drives I'd use or have in the future).

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 hours ago, msacco said:

Thanks, but I don't really think it would be an actual option for my current room setup due to many reasons, it's also rather expensive on its own.

 

I'm also wondering, there are various orico raid bays(2/4/5 for example), each one contains different RAID options obviously like RAID5/10, that's more expensive if you consider each slot, but I wonder if the additional cost would be better for RAID5/10 instead of a single or double RAID1 bays(not sure how many drives I'd use or have in the future).

How much storage do you need?

 

Can you add more drives to your pc? Id just add a few large hdds to your pc.

[msacco]

12 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

How much storage do you need?

 

Can you add more drives to your pc? Id just add a few large hdds to your pc.

I don't really know how much I need, but it's not only for now, but also for the future. I just lost 4TB of data due to lack of backup(even though it wasn't really important data), so I want to get new drives in a RAID configuration for extra backup in addition to other backups I'll do.

I'm thinking of getting 2x8TB hard drives for now in RAID1 configuration, that will surely be enough for a while, but you can never know how much space you'll need in the future.

 

There are a few other reasons that I don't want my hard drives inside my PC even though I do have enough room for that.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, msacco said:

I don't really know how much I need, but it's not only for now, but also for the future. I just lost 4TB of data due to lack of backup(even though it wasn't really important data), so I want to get new drives in a RAID configuration for extra backup in addition to other backups I'll do.

I'm thinking of getting 2x8TB hard drives for now in RAID1 configuration, that will surely be enough for a while, but you can never know how much space you'll need in the future.

 

There are a few other reasons that I don't want my hard drives inside my PC even though I do have enough room for that.

Id just geta. 8tb external hdd for backups then, here is one. https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-External-Hard-Drive/dp/B07CQJBSQL/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=8tb+hdd&qid=1610828135&sr=8-5

 

I wouldn't get a das with raid, if you want more copies, just get a second hdd, and cycle between the backup drives, this also makes it much harder for the backups to be affected by ransomware or simmilar.

[msacco]

11 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id just geta. 8tb external hdd for backups then, here is one. https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-External-Hard-Drive/dp/B07CQJBSQL/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=8tb+hdd&qid=1610828135&sr=8-5

 

I wouldn't get a das with raid, if you want more copies, just get a second hdd, and cycle between the backup drives, this also makes it much harder for the backups to be affected by ransomware or simmilar.

That's an option, but I'd still want some sort of case for all the drives in order to have minimal space for that, doesn't really matter whether it's RAID1 or just backup between the drives(even though RAID1 just seems much easier).

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, msacco said:

That's an option, but I'd still want some sort of case for all the drives in order to have minimal space for that, doesn't really matter whether it's RAID1 or just backup between the drives(even though RAID1 just seems much easier).

Id keep them separate, and switch between them every week. That way you have offline backups, so its much harder for backups to be be deleted or altered. This should use about the same amount of space on your desk.

 

But if your gonna leave a das plugged into yoru pc all the time, might as well just put the drives in your pc, there really aren't any advantages to a das over internet drives here.

[msacco]

8 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id keep them separate, and switch between them every week. That way you have offline backups, so its much harder for backups to be be deleted or altered. This should use about the same amount of space on your desk.

 

But if your gonna leave a das plugged into yoru pc all the time, might as well just put the drives in your pc, there really aren't any advantages to a das over internet drives here.

The thing about it, my actual backups would probably be around once a month, and a week of data might be rather crucial.

What do you think is a better odds? Having RAID1 and once a month backup, or as you suggested and the fear of 1 week or data loss.

 

Obviously, I'll probably have my testing first to see that the RAID 2 bay actually works with various scenarios(it's really cheap anyhow? :x)

 

I do agree with what you said really, but as I said I have my reasons, not sure how valid they are, but that's just the result of past experience.

[Blue4130]

7 minutes ago, msacco said:

The thing about it, my actual backups would probably be around once a month, and a week of data might be rather crucial.

What do you think is a better odds? Having RAID1 and once a month backup, or as you suggested and the fear of 1 week or data loss.

 

Obviously, I'll probably have my testing first to see that the RAID 2 bay actually works with various scenarios(it's really cheap anyhow? :x)

 

I do agree with what you said really, but as I said I have my reasons, not sure how valid they are, but that's just the result of past experience.

Well since raid is not a back up, especially if it's always connected to the pc, I'd listen to what others are saying. Multiple USB drives swapped out weekly. Way safer. 

 

Your insistance on a raid das seems like you already have your mind made up though and just want validation. 

[msacco]

24 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

Well since raid is not a back up, especially if it's always connected to the pc, I'd listen to what others are saying. Multiple USB drives swapped out weekly. Way safer. 

 

Your insistance on a raid das seems like you already have your mind made up though and just want validation. 

That's really not about my decision, but about what is more hassle free as I'm extremely lazy and messy ^^

 

I fear ending up just using only 1 drive due to that.

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 hours ago, msacco said:

The thing about it, my actual backups would probably be around once a month, and a week of data might be rather crucial.

What do you think is a better odds? Having RAID1 and once a month backup, or as you suggested and the fear of 1 week or data loss.

 

Obviously, I'll probably have my testing first to see that the RAID 2 bay actually works with various scenarios(it's really cheap anyhow? :x)

 

I do agree with what you said really, but as I said I have my reasons, not sure how valid they are, but that's just the result of past experience.

Why backup not backup daily? With incremental  backups it won't take long. Weekly hdd switching is noramlyl a good comprimise between ease of use and amount of possible data lost.

 

 

[msacco]

9 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Why backup not backup daily? With incremental  backups it won't take long. Weekly hdd switching is noramlyl a good comprimise between ease of use and amount of possible data lost.

 

 

Hmm I was not aware of that or how it actually works since it's my first time doing that, so I guess I'd start with that and see how it works for me.

Thanks