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DIY remotely accessible NAS solution

Dmshag
By Dmshag
in Storage Devices
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Hey there Dmshag,
 
If you are looking for a more simpler remote access NAS to manage your data between multiple devices with more redundancy, I could suggest that you check out WD's 4-bay NAS solutions. They offer good capacities, many useful functions such as third-party app support, mobile apps for other devices and very easy setting up and management. Particular models that I can recommend are the WD My Cloud EX4, EX4100 and DL4100:
 
You can also check out the other NASs and see if any of them can meet your needs and budget: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=SwsnXY
 
Feel free to ask if I can help with anything else :)
 
Captain_WD.

 

 

 

Thanks for the advise. I'll be checking these options out tonight when I get off work. If i have questions I'll be back. Thanks

Posted

Looking for suggestions on a remotely accessible NAS solution for my small business. Our office setup is pretty simple. 3 OTS(off the shelf) Lenovo PC's running windows 10 and one Ubuntu 14.XX laptop, all connected to a wireless network accessing 50mbs cable internet. We will likely adding a Mac in the near future. We store a large amount of .PDF's and .Jpegs. Our current NAS is a 2TB Seagate GoFlex Home HDD attached to a proprietary Seagate dock and using proprietary Seagate software for local access and a Seagate web utility for remote access (includes a mobile iOS/Android app). While this setup works efficiently enough, I do not consider it ideal. It lacks any type of redundant mirroring or backup of the files stored on it. I've read a bit about RAID storage but to be honest, it's all a bit confusing. I like the idea of Raid 10 but am not a fan of the cost. Raid 0 offers no mirroring so it seems like more of the same. Raid 1 seems like the ideal solution for me. Please set me straight if there is a better option. The other issue I have is how to implement a Raid XX type storage solution, or something else for that matter, that does not require the purchase of an OTS product like the GoFlex drive we're currently using. I'm a big fan of Open Source and DIY when it comes to PC/Technology/Life. This has been the way long of asking: What are my options? How can i go about setting up a remotely accessible NAS for my small business in a DIY fashion that will be compatible over a wireless network with Windows, Linux, MAC (iOS/Android not necessary but would be nice) and that can be accessed using a browser. 

 

***it should be noted that we do not have a state IP address, though our ISP does offer them, should one prove necessary.***

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Looking for suggestions on a remotely accessible NAS solution for my small business. Our office setup is pretty simple. 3 OTS(off the shelf) Lenovo PC's running windows 10 and one Ubuntu 14.XX laptop, all connected to a wireless network accessing 50mbs cable internet. We will likely adding a Mac in the near future. We store a large amount of .PDF's and .Jpegs. Our current NAS is a 2TB Seagate GoFlex Home HDD attached to a proprietary Seagate dock and using proprietary Seagate software for local access and a Seagate web utility for remote access (includes a mobile iOS/Android app). While this setup works efficiently enough, I do not consider it ideal. It lacks any type of redundant mirroring or backup of the files stored on it. I've read a bit about RAID storage but to be honest, it's all a bit confusing. I like the idea of Raid 10 but am not a fan of the cost. Raid 0 offers no mirroring so it seems like more of the same. Raid 1 seems like the ideal solution for me. Please set me straight if there is a better option. The other issue I have is how to implement a Raid XX type storage solution, or something else for that matter, that does not require the purchase of an OTS product like the GoFlex drive we're currently using. I'm a big fan of Open Source and DIY when it comes to PC/Technology/Life. This has been the way long of asking: What are my options? How can i go about setting up a remotely accessible NAS for my small business in a DIY fashion that will be compatible over a wireless network with Windows, Linux, MAC (iOS/Android not necessary but would be nice) and that can be accessed using a browser. 

 

***it should be noted that we do not have a state IP address, though our ISP does offer them, should one prove necessary.***

 

How much space would you say you would need? And speed? What programs or applications will you run on it? Budget?

 

I would say if you want to go RAID, you will need Windows and a RAID Card (LSI MegaRAID), but the RAID card would run you $600-700 with the battery backup. Or if you want to do software RAID, Windows storage spaces is okay.

 

The other route is to run FreeNAS (free) and ZFS (ZFS provides protection like RAID, with the addition of corruption prevention). However, it requires a fair bit of ECC RAM to be stable, which also requires a C series chipset.

 

If it's a basic system, I would say get a basic Intel Haswell i3 CPU, a C series motherboard (SuperMicro makes pretty good ones), at least 8 GB ECC RAM, and some kind of case for it (That's up to personal pref on your side), if you go the windows route, a SSD for the OS drive. If you go FreeNAS, get a flash drive for the OS (FreeNAS is quite small). Probably 2-3 4TB Western Digital Red Drives to get started (Well, that's up to you on size though).

 

I've set up Windows Server on my PC, so I only know how the Windows side of things works. I finally got my server up and running with remote web access and remote network drives. I can tell you six 4TB WD red drives on RAID 10 will do about 500MB/s sequential read and 480 sequential write on my LSI MegaRAID 9260CV-8i.

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Looking for suggestions on a remotely accessible NAS solution for my small business. Our office setup is pretty simple. 3 OTS(off the shelf) Lenovo PC's running windows 10 and one Ubuntu 14.XX laptop, all connected to a wireless network accessing 50mbs cable internet. We will likely adding a Mac in the near future. We store a large amount of .PDF's and .Jpegs. Our current NAS is a 2TB Seagate GoFlex Home HDD attached to a proprietary Seagate dock and using proprietary Seagate software for local access and a Seagate web utility for remote access (includes a mobile iOS/Android app). While this setup works efficiently enough, I do not consider it ideal. It lacks any type of redundant mirroring or backup of the files stored on it. I've read a bit about RAID storage but to be honest, it's all a bit confusing. I like the idea of Raid 10 but am not a fan of the cost. Raid 0 offers no mirroring so it seems like more of the same. Raid 1 seems like the ideal solution for me. Please set me straight if there is a better option. The other issue I have is how to implement a Raid XX type storage solution, or something else for that matter, that does not require the purchase of an OTS product like the GoFlex drive we're currently using. I'm a big fan of Open Source and DIY when it comes to PC/Technology/Life. This has been the way long of asking: What are my options? How can i go about setting up a remotely accessible NAS for my small business in a DIY fashion that will be compatible over a wireless network with Windows, Linux, MAC (iOS/Android not necessary but would be nice) and that can be accessed using a browser. 

 

***it should be noted that we do not have a state IP address, though our ISP does offer them, should one prove necessary.***

 

Hey there Dmshag,
 
If you are looking for a more simpler remote access NAS to manage your data between multiple devices with more redundancy, I could suggest that you check out WD's 4-bay NAS solutions. They offer good capacities, many useful functions such as third-party app support, mobile apps for other devices and very easy setting up and management. Particular models that I can recommend are the WD My Cloud EX4, EX4100 and DL4100:
 
You can also check out the other NASs and see if any of them can meet your needs and budget: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=SwsnXY
 
Feel free to ask if I can help with anything else :)
 
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/ 

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Hey there Dmshag,
 
If you are looking for a more simpler remote access NAS to manage your data between multiple devices with more redundancy, I could suggest that you check out WD's 4-bay NAS solutions. They offer good capacities, many useful functions such as third-party app support, mobile apps for other devices and very easy setting up and management. Particular models that I can recommend are the WD My Cloud EX4, EX4100 and DL4100:
 
You can also check out the other NASs and see if any of them can meet your needs and budget: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=SwsnXY
 
Feel free to ask if I can help with anything else :)
 
Captain_WD.

 

 

 

Thanks for the advise. I'll be checking these options out tonight when I get off work. If i have questions I'll be back. Thanks

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