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External HDD vs NAS. Which is safer and why?

Cvdasfg
By Cvdasfg
in Storage Devices
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Which one do you guys think is safer and why? Assumbing that someone wasnt going to build something huge and epic with xeons ect.

 

My friends looking for a cheapo but reliable storage device. I suggested using Freenas but when seeing his budget didnt seem fair really.

 

So what do you guys think? Do you think its safer to build a nas, buy an external HDD, or buy a nas? 

 

Assumbing your using a max of two drives

TX10 Build Log: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/456229-tx10-build-log/

Case: TX10-D   Proccessor: i7-5820k   MotherBoard: Asrockx99 Extreme4   Ram: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (DDR4-2400)   GPU: Asus Strix OC 980ti   Storage: 850pro 500gb, 850pro 500gb, 850pro 256gb, WD black 16tb total, Silicon Power S60 120GB   PSU: Seasonic snow silent 1050   Monitors: Three of Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0"

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It's cheaper to just get an external drive. Though WD My Cloud may be an option as well.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

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NAS is easier, but external HDD is safer if you keep it off site. 

We can't Benchmark like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to shove more GPUs in your computer. Like the time I needed to NV-Link, because I needed a higher HeavenBench score, so I did an SLI, which is what they called NV-Link back in the day. So, I decided to put two GPUs in my computer, which was the style at the time. Now, to add another GPU to your computer, costs a new PSU. Now in those days PSUs said OCZ on them, "Gimme 750W OCZs for an SLI" you'd say. Now where were we? Oh yeah, the important thing was that I had two GPUs in my rig, which was the style at the time! They didn't have RGB PSUs at the time, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big green ones. 

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How do you fine "safe"? if you mean "I need to keep this data safe and don't want to lose it due to hard drive failure" then you want a NAS with RAID 1(or 5 or 6). 

if you mean "i have a collection of explicit movies that i don't want people to see" go for the external HDD. 

 

peace and cookies

ESXi SysAdmin

I have more cores/threads than you...and I use them all

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-snip-

 

Hmm, I think it depends on what you mean by safe. If you mean like impacts and physical damage protection, the steel case of a NAS would protect the drives better (Not to mention it's size and weight would make it harder to knock over). Sadly most of the external drives (My own included) met their demise by falling off a table.

 

I would recommend the external drive though. Far cheaper and easier to set up. FreeNAS isn't exactly the easiest thing to set up (Not to mention the upfront hardware cost). Just make sure to secure that external drive to the surface or be really careful about not knocking it over onto the floor. One hard fall and it's instant death for it.

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@Cvdasfg You need to define "safety" for us. hell, you could get 2 external drives, duct tape them together and then software raid them

 

flash drives are pretty safe, AND they go on keychains

 

you gotta be more specific dude

ESXi SysAdmin

I have more cores/threads than you...and I use them all

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Hmm, I think it depends on what you mean by safe. If you mean like impacts and physical damage protection, the steel case of a NAS would protect the drives better (Not to mention it's size and weight would make it harder to knock over). Sadly most of the external drives (My own included) met their demise by falling off a table.

 

I would recommend the external drive though. Far cheaper and easier to set up. FreeNAS isn't exactly the easiest thing to set up (Not to mention the upfront hardware cost). Just make sure to secure that external drive to the surface or be really careful about not knocking it over onto the floor. One hard fall and it's instant death for it.

 

 

@Cvdasfg You need to define "safety" for us. hell, you could get 2 external drives, duct tape them together and then software raid them

 

flash drives are pretty safe, AND they go on keychains

 

you gotta be more specific dude

Safe as in if your computer HDD dies or gets shocked... safe as in hdd gets corrupted.. safe as in anyway that youd lose data. It can be visible or accessible it doesn't matter. Just safe

TX10 Build Log: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/456229-tx10-build-log/

Case: TX10-D   Proccessor: i7-5820k   MotherBoard: Asrockx99 Extreme4   Ram: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (DDR4-2400)   GPU: Asus Strix OC 980ti   Storage: 850pro 500gb, 850pro 500gb, 850pro 256gb, WD black 16tb total, Silicon Power S60 120GB   PSU: Seasonic snow silent 1050   Monitors: Three of Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0"

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Ok, in this case, you want a NAS with RAID 1. the NAS will sit quietly in the corner, out of harm's way, all while having a mirror image on two separate HDDs so that even if one fails, you don't lose data.

 

Ta Da!

ESXi SysAdmin

I have more cores/threads than you...and I use them all

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Safe as in if your computer HDD dies or gets shocked... safe as in hdd gets corrupted.. safe as in anyway that youd lose data. It can be visible or accessible it doesn't matter. Just safe

 

Yeah, if you want safe like that, go for the NAS. If you want even more, make a NAS with a external hard drive attached to it backing up the NAS.

 

If you go for the NAS, make sure to get a UPS for it in case the power goes out to prevent data loss.

 

If you're on a budget though, just get two external drives (One backing the other up) and duct tape them to the desk or something.

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Yeah, if you want safe like that, go for the NAS. If you want even more, make a NAS with a external hard drive attached to it backing up the NAS.

 

If you go for the NAS, make sure to get a UPS for it in case the power goes out to prevent data loss.

 

If you're on a budget though, just get two external drives (One backing the other up) and duct tape them to the desk or something.

if the NAS has is in RAID 1, there is no need for that external disk (you are just adding an additional point of failure with no benefit and added cost)

 

Agreed on the UPS; though not COMPLETELY necessary, it is still a good idea.

 

the ol' "duct tape 2 drives together and use software RAID" trick. I like it.  :lol:

ESXi SysAdmin

I have more cores/threads than you...and I use them all

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~snip~

 

Hey there Cvdasfg,
 
It really depends on what your friend is trying to do. Both solutions could be good for backups. An external drive won't proof you against power failure of the system as it can get affected too, you can physically damage it or its connectors and it should always be around. A NAS can act the same way within a network or even the internet and can be accessed from anywhere and still retain your data even if your main system fails or gets damaged, but it is the more pricey solution. 
As @Godlygamer23 suggested, WD My Cloud could be a good an inexpensive solution if you go for a NAS. I could suggest checking out WD Elements Portable and WD Elements Desktop as external drive solutions. Here's info on all three drives:
 
Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions :)
 
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 Cvdasfg,
 
It really depends on what your friend is trying to do. Both solutions could be good for backups. An external drive won't proof you against power failure of the system as it can get affected too, you can physically damage it or its connectors and it should always be around. A NAS can act the same way within a network or even the internet and can be accessed from anywhere and still retain your data even if your main system fails or gets damaged, but it is the more pricey solution. 
As @Godlygamer23 suggested, WD My Cloud could be a good an inexpensive solution if you go for a NAS. I could suggest checking out WD Elements Portable and WD Elements Desktop as external drive solutions. Here's info on all three drives:
 
Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions :)
 
Captain_WD.

 

can we count this kind of thing as an advertisement? 

ESXi SysAdmin

I have more cores/threads than you...and I use them all

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can we count this kind of thing as an advertisement? 

 

Simply offering solutions and alternatives as always :) it hasn't been a problem so far.

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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Simply offering solutions and alternatives as always :) it hasn't been a problem so far.

I guess I can't blame you for doing your job haha

ESXi SysAdmin

I have more cores/threads than you...and I use them all

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can we count this kind of thing as an advertisement? 

 

I wouldn't. All the advice I've seen @Captain_WD give is solid, well informed and as impartial as a vendor can be. Also I personally would like to see an industry affiliate endorse their own products as that is what they are experts in and at least shows some level of confidence in the product, would look rather odd if he was advising to purchase a Synology, QNAP or Seagate.

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~snip~

 

Very well put, thank you :) 

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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I wouldn't. All the advice I've seen @Captain_WD give is solid, well informed and as impartial as a vendor can be. Also I personally would like to see an industry affiliate endorse their own products as that is what they are experts in and at least shows some level of confidence in the product, would look rather odd if he was advising to purchase a Synology, QNAP or Seagate.

 

 

Simply offering solutions and alternatives as always :) it hasn't been a problem so far.

 

 

can we count this kind of thing as an advertisement? 

 

 

 

Hey there Cvdasfg,
 
It really depends on what your friend is trying to do. Both solutions could be good for backups. An external drive won't proof you against power failure of the system as it can get affected too, you can physically damage it or its connectors and it should always be around. A NAS can act the same way within a network or even the internet and can be accessed from anywhere and still retain your data even if your main system fails or gets damaged, but it is the more pricey solution. 
As @Godlygamer23 suggested, WD My Cloud could be a good an inexpensive solution if you go for a NAS. I could suggest checking out WD Elements Portable and WD Elements Desktop as external drive solutions. Here's info on all three drives:
 
Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions :)
 
Captain_WD.

 

 

As everyone else has stated I agree. This is very helpful advice :) I appreciate the advice and links. While I personally use Freenas with WD red pros ill suggest he uses a wd my cloud as that I think is the best option for him. Thank you very much for the suggestion.

TX10 Build Log: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/456229-tx10-build-log/

Case: TX10-D   Proccessor: i7-5820k   MotherBoard: Asrockx99 Extreme4   Ram: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (DDR4-2400)   GPU: Asus Strix OC 980ti   Storage: 850pro 500gb, 850pro 500gb, 850pro 256gb, WD black 16tb total, Silicon Power S60 120GB   PSU: Seasonic snow silent 1050   Monitors: Three of Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0"

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