I am not a noob but just looking for what it is the simplest way out
Have 4 laptops plus desktops and phones to back up
much of the data is syncing via cloud storage anyway (currently Google drive but may be OneDrive soon)
We also have a plex box on the tv so would need to stream to that - so plex server compatible is important
I would like 'set and forget' with 'wife approval factor' (meaning not complicated for users) if that is possible
Should I sell off some old kit and buy a dedicated NAS
Or should I just run an old laptop with hdd plugged in as a 'ghetto' server
(note to self - 2 hdd plugged in so you can copy from one to the other for safety)
If I go the server route what would you put on it - just use windows or install linux
I also just read briefly on FreeNas and Amahi
My first preference was probably windows but not sure how I can then sync each machines Cloud storage back to it
Is there a way to back up multiple Cloud storage accounts to a single PC
What would you do?
Any suggestions appreciated
Ghetto server can work, but not a fan of it for reasons:
- looks ghetto - may not get wife approval
- not optimised - external hard drive will probably be the bottle neck for devices that are syncing, backing up or streaming media.
- no redundancy for when the external drive fails
You can build your own small PC and throw in bunch of drives in RAID - install something like FreeNas or get a dedicated NAS like a Synology or QNAP. They both run a variant of Linux anyway.
I'm currently using a 4 bay Synology (bit overkill) bought in 2011 with RAID5 so there's redundancy and some speed benefits. Still runs well. It acts as a plex media server and backs up my devices - Macs, PCs, iPhone via iTunes on Mac. It has low power consumption when idle is another added bonus. Ramps up when there's a device connected to it. Good support from Synology, been getting updates still to the current version. It is probably a bit more difficult to setup if you aren't a techie and also it can get expensive - but losing data is more expensive.
You can also turn your own Synology into a cloud device and access from anywhere in the world via apps on your phone. A bit more advanced but cool feature.