Question Proper NAS Solution

[Scouse]

Hola peeps!

I'm looking to purchase a decent NAS solution with enough space to accomodate 5 or 6 hard drives in a RAID config. Stuff like hot-swap isn't that important but it's a nice to have.

Gonna be backing up from Windows machines and Macs.

Have any of you chaps got one that you'd recommend? Or have you even just seen a ninja roundup review

 

[dysfunction]

I would go for a Qnap or Synology device...

Something like this:
QNAP TS-509 PRO Turbo 5 Bay NAS Enclosure RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 5+, JBOD, iSCSI & Gigabit Ethernet - Ebuyer

or this:
Synology Disk Station NAS Drive RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 - Gigabit Ethernet - Ebuyer

Or you could go for something like this instead:

Hewlett Packard EX475 1TB MediaSmart Server: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

 

[MYstIC G]

I do like my ReadyNAS but I use it for torrenting more than backup although it's backup options are very comprehensive. There's a rake of different models for different needs http://www.readynas.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/readynas_comparison.pdf

 

[TdC]

the nerds at work seem to like the Qnap's, though that may be for other purposes than nassing specific.

 

[Bodhi]

the best NAS boxes on the market currently are made by Netgear, so buy one of them. the QNAP's and Synology are fairly cheap and nasty - loads of features, but none of them work very well.

ReadyNAS Pro ftw!

 

[Embattle]

the best NAS boxes on the market currently are made by Netgear, so buy one of them. the QNAP's and Synology are fairly cheap and nasty - loads of features, but none of them work very well.

ReadyNAS Pro ftw!

My Synology works fine thanks, however one of my favs is Tranquil PC Limited SQA-5H Home Server - Series 2 although not totally sure about mac support.

Some reviews - http://www.wegotserved.com/hardware-reviews/

 

[Embattle]

Synology 1010+ is certainly nice but I suspect a bit expensive (£700) and perhaps a bit overkill, although certainly nice in the way if you fill it up you can add a DX510 to increase storage

(Review - InfoWorld review: Small business storage finds a new gear | Storage - InfoWorld)

 

[dysfunction]

I quite like the HP Mediasmart EX490 server.
When I have the money I will probably get one of those...

HP MediaSmart EX490 Server Review | ZDNet: Reviews

It seems to do everything I would need it to do and not stupidly expensive

 

[Embattle]

It is a nice bit of kit although I would be stuck between that and Synology DS410 even if they are quite different beasts.

HP MediaSmart Server EX490 review | Desktop PCs | Reviews | PC Pro

 

[Killswitch]

Have you thought about something like Open-E (paid-for) or FreeNAS? Both support CIFS, SAMBA, NFS, FTP, iSCSI and rsync. FreeNAS also supports ZFS, which is, to be blunt, awesome!

You just need a box with a few disks. I can't imagine any situation where I'd use a proprietary solution for storage nowadays.

 

[dysfunction]

This is avail which is fairly cheap!!

Acer Aspire EasyStore 1TB NAS Box 4x 250GB - RAID 0, 1, 5, JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet - Ebuyer

And isn't too bad performance wise...

Acer Aspire easyStore | Software | Reviews | PC Pro

 

[Scouse]

Man. They're all too small. I need 10-15 Tb and there's no six-port solution you can populate with 2Tb drives.

When you want to do something other than "home" or (really) "small business" solutions the cost goes up exponentially.

My bro could easily fill most of the above quickly with a few for-TV adverts and the associated bumpf that comes with producing them.

 

[MYstIC G]

RNDP6620 - ReadyNAS Pro Business Edition 12 TB NAS (6 x 2 TB)

 

[dysfunction]

Would it not be better to have a file server instead and get something like this:

Chenbro rackmount 3u rm 316b , RM316B

Not sure how you go about networking it all though as I'm not a network techy type...


Or maybe something like this:
STARDOM STORAGE SOLUTONS - SOHOTANK ST8 FEATURE
Not sure where you can buy that though...


Or there is this:
http://www.drobo.com/products/droboelite.php
http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=191953&partner=froogle

 

[caLLous]

Have you thought about something like Open-E (paid-for) or FreeNAS? Both support CIFS, SAMBA, NFS, FTP, iSCSI and rsync. FreeNAS also supports ZFS, which is, to be blunt, awesome!

You just need a box with a few disks. I can't imagine any situation where I'd use a proprietary solution for storage nowadays.

I like the sound of FreeNAS.

What do I need hardware-wise - just a box with PSU, mobo, cpu and ram? I would want it to accomodate 4 (or 6 or maybe even 8, thinking about it) 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3's (or half as many 2TB drives or whatever, really) in the smallest, quietest box possible. What's the minimum mobo/cpu/ram combination to get a good workable system?

I have a 1TB WD MyBook World Edition (sort of consumerised NAS) and it's rubbish really. I want a proper system and I always like DIY solutions like this.

 

[MYstIC G]

FreeNAS is ok if you just want to store stuff, but I found it shit if you want to do anything else. It my experience it runs best off a USB stick or similar and on very modest hardware. I had it on an old shuttle for a while until I got bored of the noise the shuttle made and bought my NAS.

 

[caLLous]

I just want to archive stuff. And have a slightly nippier response than the WD MyBook (maxes out at 6-7mb/s).

What is it shit at though? I mean, what is "anything else"? Just so I know.

 

[MYstIC G]

Well now it can run Transmission, Firefly, etc. when I used those though it generally sucked as it kicked the PC I was using into full pelt. If you don't want stuff like that though I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[caLLous]

I think maybe I am old fashioned in that I don't want any spangly streaming or torrent gubbins, I use mpc-hc and watch stuff on my pooter. So it is literally just a big place to put stuff whilst being accessible from more than one PC. I have a plethora of WD Passports (3) and MyBooks (the NAS and a USB one), it would be lovely to just have everything in one place (in RAID 1 or 10 or whichever one applies).

6-7mb/s is slow for a NAS isn't it? I accidentally deleted my Bridge cache and watching it regenerate thumbnails off of the NAS was painful.

 

[MYstIC G]

It is slow afaic. Freenas will no doubt do what you want here then. I just know I bought my ReadyNAS so I could leave my PC off as I didn't want to burn out the components, there is simply no need to leave a geforce spinning its fan all day to grab one torrent, it's mad.

 

[Embattle]

You could do something like a DS710 + DX510, but then you could think about getting a cheap tower cramming it full of HDs and a simple and low spec MB, CPU, etc.

 

[Killswitch]

I think maybe I am old fashioned in that I don't want any spangly streaming or torrent gubbins, I use mpc-hc and watch stuff on my pooter. So it is literally just a big place to put stuff whilst being accessible from more than one PC. I have a plethora of WD Passports (3) and MyBooks (the NAS and a USB one), it would be lovely to just have everything in one place (in RAID 1 or 10 or whichever one applies).

6-7mb/s is slow for a NAS isn't it? I accidentally deleted my Bridge cache and watching it regenerate thumbnails off of the NAS was painful.

I suppose I might not be the right person to ask, when I think about it. I have FreeNAS running on a couple of SuperMicro servers (24x2TB HDD) used mainly for backups. Using RAIDZ2 allows two disks to fail with no data loss and gives something like 40TB usable in 4U of rack space. I seem to remember that I benchmarked it at around 110MB/s which ain't bad for a big, slow, parity-hobbled system

Not sure you need anything quite that huge. I'd be tempted to get the smallest, quietest case you can that has 4 drive bays, the cheapest mobo/CPU/RAM combo you can find with on-board GFX and NIC, replace ALL the fans (CPU, case, PSU) with branded low-noise ones and then install FreeNAS and setup your four disks using RAIDZ1. 1TB disks would then give you 3TB usable (ish) and 2TB disks would give you 6TB usable (ish). If you need more, get a bigger case

 

[caLLous]

Great, thanks. Is Mini-ITX the smallest form-factor I can go with and still have lots of SATA ports and stuff? I've found a good few mobos with 2 or 3 SATA ports and onboard Atom, GFX and NIC (some with wireless, which would be nice as an option I guess) and one with 4x SATA.

I've seen something about SATA port multipliers which make them sound like a little thing you put on the end of a SATA cable and then plug extra drives into the other side, similar to a USB hub. But I can't find anything that looks like this on any UK sites I've looked on. Quite a few external E-SATA type hubs, but nothing internal.

 

[Embattle]

The hardware has to support PMP, list here - https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/SATA_hardware_features - and as for finding them they are indeed hard. ITX boards cap out around 4 on board ports although most come with a PCI slot so you just add a cheap SATA card.

 

[caLLous]

Aye, I was hoping it wasn't just my blindness.

The only ITX board I've found with 4 ports is the AsRock A330ION, although admittedly I haven't looked very hard. Forget about the port multipliers then, it's either a board with 4 ports or a SATA card.

Or maybe just an off-the-shelf NAS device after all.