Small company data storage and backup

[Fidycent]

Whilst I am pretty decent with computer hardware, I can't quite say that about storage solutions for businesses and so.

 

I'll start of with saying, the company owners do not like the idea of cloud storage.

 

So now i am wondering what would be the advised path to tackle this issue, obviously the best path would be a server with a rack and whatnot,scalability is great, however have to consider if the cost for it is worth it.

 

So, not knowing much, ive come down to 3 option's

 

NAS with Raid and backup (multiple drives)

A normal PC with Raid and backup (multiple drives)

 

A server with Raid and backup (multiple drives)

 

The goal of this server would be remote access, file storage, live editing, and backup incase of accidental deletion etc, the company currently has 5-6 active users.

 

Thanks in advance, any other questions are welcome :).

[SirReno]

Are you looking to getting one of this options physically speaking? or hiring a service like on digital ocean or something like that?

i would recommend the server given that they will have to access remotely and for a PC (depending on the workload) might be too much,  i dont know alot about NAS
so i can only give you that point  of view between the pc and server.

[Fidycent]

Just now, SirReno said:

Are you looking to getting one of this options physically speaking? or hiring a service like on digital ocean or something like that?

i would recommend the server given that they will have to access remotely and for a PC (depending on the workload) might be too much,  i dont know alot about NAS
so i can only give you that point  of view between the pc and server.

Physically, yes. And the server wouldnt be a top of the line storinator 9000, since their data hasnt gone over 5 terabytes in the 10 years of operation.

[alex75871]

Buy a Supermicro barebones server and populate it with some WD SE or RE (enterprise-grade) drives.

 

FreeNAS installed on a baremetal server will keep your data safe but a backup is still recommended.

[Pixel5]

since it sounds like you have no real IT guy i would highly recommend to not buy any server hardware and try to diy something.

there are simple solutions out there for a NAS you can basically setup in 30 minutes and be ready to go for example from synology.

 

a first step would be to see if all you need in storage then the smallest 2 bay version would already be enough, put in two 10TB drives let them mirror each other and be done with it.

If you want to go one step further you get another one put it into a totally different location and also let them mirror each other for extra security.

all of this could be done for a little over 1000 bucks depending how much you pay for the drives.

 

if you need more than storage you can buy a NAS with more CPU power and let it also handle other things like an active directory or maybe a small database.

[leadeater]

A rackmount NAS from Synology or QNAP will do fine, I prefer QNAP. Use the inbuilt backup feature of these to backup your data to Backblaze or another provider, you can also get two of them and setup a sync between the NAS's but the second one should really not be in the same building.

[dalekphalm]

39 minutes ago, leadeater said:

A rackmount NAS from Synology or QNAP will do fine, I prefer QNAP. Use the inbuilt backup feature of these to backup your data to Backblaze or another provider, you can also get two of them and setup a sync between the NAS's but the second one should really not be in the same building.

I recommend this solution as well.

 

1. It's probably the most cost effective, when considering hardware, warranty, support, and initial cost.

2. It's the simplest option

3. It's easy to configure and manage

4. You can call QNAP or Synology for basic user/administration support

 

My suggestion:

1. Buy 2x identical NAS's (2-bay is probably sufficient, though get 4-bay unit if you want future expandability)

2. Buy NAS grade HDD's - Seagate IronWolf, WD Red (non-pro is fine), etc - I'd suggest 4x 8TB or 4x 10TB drives (2x per NAS)

3. Install 2 HDD's per NAS. Configure both NAS's for RAID10

4. Setup the primary NAS as your File Server - share one or more network "shares" as needed. Configure users and permissions, etc. Configure snapshots/file versioning, which protect against accidental detection.

5. Setup the second NAS as the backup. Configure as the Backup Server.

6. Setup the second NAS so that the primary NAS will backup data to the 2nd NAS - set retention policies as you see fit.

 

The 2nd NAS can live in the same building, but ideally, you want to install the 2nd NAS off-site - at the Boss's house, or if there's a second office, etc. This will protect against fire/flood, etc.

[BloodKnight7]

@leadeater and @dalekphalm just gave you the most reliable/cost effective solution overall. My 2 cents, go for the extended warranties when you buy those.

[dalekphalm]

4 minutes ago, BloodKnight7 said:

@leadeater and @dalekphalm just gave you the most reliable/cost effective solution overall. My 2 cents, go for the extended warranties when you buy those.

My rule of thumb - especially if you don't have properly funded in-house IT:

 

Make sure the warranty lasts until you plan to replace them. That way, if it dies before your scheduled replacement? You don't have to find money you weren't expecting to spend.

 

So if you're gonna replace equipment every 5 years, make sure you've got a 5 year warranty on the major hardware.

 

If you plan on running the equipment until it dies? Make sure you have a full replacement budget basically squirrelled away, untouched, since who knows when it'll drop dead.