Best NAS System for a Family

[VicoLeChips]

Hello,

 

My parents are looking to host all their files on a NAS after their "house extension" burnt last week 

 

I wanted to know if anyone had a great solutions ? Basically it will be to host files such as PDF etc and it would need to be accessible anywhere in the world.   

 

I only know synology and wanted to know if the DS920+ would be an appropriate solution to last overtime : https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/DS920+ or maybe others have better solution, please let me know.

[LIGISTX]

1 hour ago, VicoLeChips said:

Hello,

 

My parents are looking to host all their files on a NAS after their "house extension" burnt last week 

 

I wanted to know if anyone had a great solutions ? Basically it will be to host files such as PDF etc and it would need to be accessible anywhere in the world.   

 

I only know synology and wanted to know if the DS920+ would be an appropriate solution to last overtime : https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/DS920+ or maybe others have better solution, please let me know.

Dropbox? Google drive? 
 

Sounds like they want some data security, but how much data are they looking to backup? I would go with a cloud storage provider for “PDF’s etc”. 

[VicoLeChips]

2 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

Dropbox? Google drive? 
 

Sounds like they want some data security, but how much data are they looking to backup? I would go with a cloud storage provider for “PDF’s etc”. 

Thanks a lot for your answer. 
I mean basically it will be used to store all their family photos, videos, icloud backups, sensitive documents, accounting documents, PDF, ...

So like at the end a few terabytes.

[LIGISTX]

14 minutes ago, VicoLeChips said:

Thanks a lot for your answer. 
I mean basically it will be used to store all their family photos, videos, icloud backups, sensitive documents, accounting documents, PDF, ...

So like at the end a few terabytes.

I would use backblaze which is like 6 bucks a month for unlimited storage to backup everything, and the stuff they actually need to access from anywhere, put that on Dropbox or google drive. 
 

Setting up a NAS is totally fine, but in order to actually securely use it remotely you will need to set up a VPN and set up VPN clients on their devices they would need to enable to access the data while they are not on the LAN. From experience… that can be difficult to teach parents to do. 
 

Yes, they are other ways to expose files on a NAS to the internet, but they mostly all present some sort of security issue you would need to solve, and the way to solve them is to set up a VPN either on a r-pi or on the nas itself for them to connect to tunnel into; which again, can be difficult to teach people to get used to doing. Thus, backblaze is a great and cheap way to backup everything, and Dropbox or google drive is a good way to access the important stuff from anywhere. 

[VicoLeChips]

6 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

I would use backblaze which is like 6 bucks a month for unlimited storage to backup everything, and the stuff they actually need to access from anywhere, put that on Dropbox or google drive. 
 

Setting up a NAS is totally fine, but in order to actually securely use it remotely you will need to set up a VPN and set up VPN clients on their devices they would need to enable to access the data while they are not on the LAN. From experience… that can be difficult to teach parents to do. 
 

Yes, they are other ways to expose files on a NAS to the internet, but they mostly all present some sort of security issue you would need to solve, and the way to solve them is to set up a VPN either on a r-pi or on the nas itself for them to connect to tunnel into; which again, can be difficult to teach people to get used to doing. Thus, backblaze is a great and cheap way to backup everything, and Dropbox or google drive is a good way to access the important stuff from anywhere. 

Ok thanks a lot. I think you are right. Is there like a system similar to OneDrive and Google Driver for Backblaze such that it can be integrated in the "windows folder" ? 

[ToboRobot]

2 hours ago, VicoLeChips said:

Hello,

 

My parents are looking to host all their files on a NAS after their "house extension" burnt last week 

 

I wanted to know if anyone had a great solutions ? Basically it will be to host files such as PDF etc and it would need to be accessible anywhere in the world.   

 

I only know synology and wanted to know if the DS920+ would be an appropriate solution to last overtime : https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/DS920+ or maybe others have better solution, please let me know.

Storage isn't something where you can buy a good product to solve your problem, you need a strategy, generally with layers of protection and redundancy.

A NAS like that is good for storage on premises, but you should layer an offsite/cloud backup as well.  Think about what data is important and how many copies in multiple locations you want/need/can afford to keep it secure.  Remember that you need to test your backups, again, its a process not a simple solution.

[VicoLeChips]

17 minutes ago, ToboRobot said:

Storage isn't something where you can buy a good product to solve your problem, you need a strategy, generally with layers of protection and redundancy.

A NAS like that is good for storage on premises, but you should layer an offsite/cloud backup as well.  Think about what data is important and how many copies in multiple locations you want/need/can afford to keep it secure.  Remember that you need to test your backups, again, its a process not a simple solution.

Ok thanks a lot. Do you also recommend Backblaze ?

[LIGISTX]

3 hours ago, VicoLeChips said:

Ok thanks a lot. I think you are right. Is there like a system similar to OneDrive and Google Driver for Backblaze such that it can be integrated in the "windows folder" ? 

There isn’t, no. Backblaze is “simple” in the fact it just backs up your data to their cloud, with no real simple way to share or view it. 

[VicoLeChips]

9 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

There isn’t, no. Backblaze is “simple” in the fact it just backs up your data to their cloud, with no real simple way to share or view it. 

Yeah after some research that's what I saw. And then, for something like OneDrive or Google Drive, sure it's secure, but it's a bit more expensive and at the end of the day you depends on monthly payments for the rest of your life that pay off a NAS.  

[Needfuldoer]

You could set up a Synology for the local user interface, and have it replicate to cloud storage on the back end.

[LIGISTX]

5 hours ago, VicoLeChips said:

Yeah after some research that's what I saw. And then, for something like OneDrive or Google Drive, sure it's secure, but it's a bit more expensive and at the end of the day you depends on monthly payments for the rest of your life that pay off a NAS.  

How much data do you need to be accessible from anywhere at any time? Google drive and Dropbox have free offerings, and for just documents and PDF’s you can store thousands of them for free. Pictures and stuff gets more difficult… If you have Amazon prime I believe they offer unlimited photo backup online.

 

But, yes. You may end up paying a monthly fee which would pay for the NAS, but the data is secure, it’s resilient since it’s replicated all over the world im cloud storage, and you don’t need to figure out how to set up a VPN and teach your family how to use it. 
 

I have a NAS, and I VPN in to access my data. I actually have a VPN split tunnel setup which allows all my standard internet traffic to go out normally on whatever network I am on, but my laptop “remembers” how to “phone home” and over the VPN which allows me to access my SMB shares even when I am not home, just as if I was. 
 

So it’s not that this isn’t all possible; it’s entirely possible and it can be fun to set up. But, I don’t have my family, especially not my parents, using this. It would be to complicated for them.