I am very new to NAS system and learning new things every single minute since loosing a WD elements HDD with data.
I have ordered two Seagate EXOS 8tb HDDs to with a 2-Bay NAS
My priority is to use the system for uploading and viewing photos and videos (of course, I'll have a backup)
Following are the short listed items.
Synology DS220+ - $485
Synology DS720+ $650 (NEW) OR $550 Used with 10gb ram upgrade (bought in 7/2020)
QNAP TS-253D - $535
OR
DS420+ - $700 (its a 4 bay NAS)
Hi.
I was in your boat a week ago.
I now have a TS-464 from umart for $745.
From what i could tell, the Synology Hybrid RAID is amazing, but it's irrelevant if you have only two disks.
I was going to get a TS-253D but then realised that for $200 more i get
a) 2x nvme slots for and 2x more hdd slots and usb3.2 and 2x 2.5Gb Ethernet
My use case was to simplify backups
This is my current setup:
1x TS-464 for $745
1x QM2-2P-244A card from ebay (second hand but never used) for $100
2x cheapie 1tb nvme ssd for the first raid group. in Raid 1
1x hand-me-down nvme 1tb from my intel NUC by itself for the surveillance cameras
1x 16GB Ram sodimm
(evenutally, up to 4x 4TB HDDs handmedown from a family member)
plugged into via ethernet to my GLInet AR750 to act as an accesspoint. but on ethernet to the router when i was copying big amount of files
Onto the nas is a ugreen USB3->SATA plug for an external 2TB hdd (For now) plugged in via a smart switch to turn on at 1am and off at 3am.
Raid1 2x 1tb hvme has the system volume, my onedrive/dropbox cloud replication, another volume for personal files, another for temp placeholder until the big disks come in
other nvme is just for survieillance cameras so they can burnt hrough the writes without bothering me.
Big disks, probabyl 2x in Raid 1 for photos with a hot spare
You'll spend about a week going through features.
if you sync onedrive, do it after midnight, ensure your file paths are <= 255 chars, and don't do it in one big sync. I have my oendrive split into CameraRoll, Files that change daily, FIles that change weekly, files that change .. very slowly - monthly
I am kind of unsure about QNAP now due to reportedly attacked by deadbolt ransom virus but it seriously looks good at a discounted price.
Have you done anything to protect it from being hacked?
Also how do you like Qmaggie?
the defaults when you setup the NAS are to have the regular holes closed. Admin account disabled (it forces you to make a new one), UPNP disabled, FTP disabled, etc.
i have not wired it to their online services.
i have set up a vpn and thats the only port that is forwarded.
it has a vpn app , and a firewall app, etc.
my 'safety' is the snapshots it does once a day, and the backup to an offline (because it dismounts when done backing up, and starts backing up when the smart switch turns the hdd back on) hdd.
So, once the setup is complete you can enable admin account, UPNP etc? Also, where to get that smart switch for HDD?
@whatswrongwithya: OH .. there IS an admin account but it's not "Admin"
it's something I created with a username i picked.
you can enable all the holes you want afterwards.
it's not a smart hdd switch
it's .. a usb3->sata dock (make sure to get one WITHOUT a temporary switch) so that its external power is controlled strictly by .. the external power). I got this
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07SCY623F plus a power supply for it that is controlled by a kasa (or Tapo) smart switch that is on a timer to turn on for some hours at night.
the backup can be scheduled to occur when a disk is mounted - and to unmount the disk when finished. I'm chancing that i have allowed enough time for the backup to occur.
i have since also ordered:
- https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B01EFPX9XA and
- https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B09J495LYS
@FoxJump: Wow, all of this is cool. I think i should order one more Seagate HD along with the ugreen controller and tapo switch for backups.
@whatswrongwithya: yep. dont forget the powerbrick for the ugreen thingo. 12v 2A. i used one from a previous external hdd dock that was esata/usb2 which im throwing out and keeping the brick.
there are a few cool docks out there, like this one
https://www.amazon.com.au/UNITEK-External-Docking-Station-Su…
but notice at its back the power switch maybe be a momentary switch rather than a persistent one.
and then this one
https://www.amazon.com.au/FIDECO-Dual-Bay-External-Duplicato…
with a good switch
or this one i wanted to get
https://www.amazon.com.au/Simplecom-SD352-Aluminium-Docking-…
that the reviews made me reconsider
I went down the piecemeal road as I dont know how the NAS is going to respond to a double-disk dock with usb ports and card reader all in one unit.
@whatswrongwithya: G'day
things are good
now 32gb ram, 4x 8tb samsung qvo, 2x 1tb nvme for main volume.
the cheapie 1tb silicon power ssds died quickly, now with wd blues
using tailscale vpn app instead of their qvpn wireguard.
using a network switch instead of wifi to 1 eth port
using the other eth port for a direct-connected laptop with 2.5gbe as my cloud
has a win10 vm for low CPU fast disk access works. like hashing things to check for corruptions
has a $90 ups from fb marketplace
different usb hdd dock, one with usbs at front for fan
still smartplug, but also qnap power schedule for all on/off
nvme expansion card currently removed
there's been a few qnap bugs to work around, but currently all is well
@whatswrongwithya: Also .. i learnt that you also need to allow space for snapshots.
A snapshot is a quick undo for when you get crypto'd or you delete a file.
its effectively version history and that needs to live somewhere.
if you have a 8TB disk and 8TB of data, well you'll have no versioning.
if you have a 8TB disk with 6TB of data, well, you'll have some versioning.
similarly, the backup can also do versioning.
allup, the volume can do versioning, and the backup can do versioning.
volume snapshots you can set up per hour, per day, per time period, per week, etc.
backup snapshots occur whenver you do a backup.
ive set mine daily because not much happens and until i get my spinny disks in, my ssd is full.
I should have bought 2x 2tb. doh.
I havent started using it in fury as most of my photos will live on those 4TB spinny disks i dont have. so i only have the recent batch of photos which are waiting offloading.
it's … okay. better than facebook for pictures.
you need a 5 step process to get video thumbnails.
media console (built in) tells you to install video station
video station tells you to install some other app
other app says to buy a license
qnap website sell you a basic free license.
install license
surviellance app worked fine with my tapo C200 cameras even though its not listed.
my usb-AC53 did not work for wifi :(
mine's set to be off for most of the day. it turns on at night to mirror onedrive/dropbox and do backups, then do video surveillance till the morning when it goes back to off
The QNAPS seem more flexible in terms of max ram (unofficially -but it works), in terms of nvme for storage, in terms of 8 licenses for surveillance cameras rather and 2 for Synology; and you get a punchier processor for the same price.
Also the QNAPS have HDMI-out so you can probably (and i hope to) use it as a media centre to make my smart tv whose wifi died, smart again.
HDMI is a great tool. I have a mini PC attached to my non-smart TV so my work around is to connect PC to NAS via Wifi network :-)
I went with Synology DS920+ and 8TB EXOS drives. Also using SHR and BTRFS systems.
Not going to open ports or open connection to the internet (yet)
Thank you very much for the details information in your comments. I am going to order one of those UGreen adapters and a smart plug for automation.
you're welcome. ugreen thing still working fine.
my two cheap nvme ssds died. crappy silicon power. Next up, wd blues
NB: The catalyst for me was also losing a WD disk. Thankfully, it was one of two backup copies. So, nothing was lost.
RAID is for availability. Backup is for not losing data.
RAID means not wasting time fumbling about with small kids AND restoring from backup.
hot spare disk is so that if i'm travelling overseas or interstate and shit happens, I dont have to deal with a backup restore when I get back home.
RAID also means buying or (handmedown) 3x 4tb HDDs instead of 2x 8TB brand new - so cheaper disks.
Also, you cannot downgrade a RAID.
if you go raid 5 from raid1, you cant go back to raid1 unless you restore from backup
NB2
power usage is a consideration.
The smaller processor ones like .. all the Synology and the 253D use less power when idle.
my ts464 used 15W idle in out of box config , no disks, no ssd, no qm2, 4gb std ram
once added the qm2 card and 2x nvme and 16gb in 1 slot it went up to 21 to 22ish W when doing nothing (but powered on) [Plus 1W for the ext hdd smart switch when doing nothing, Plus 2.5w for the AR750 wifi->eth
I'll do another reading once i have some big spinny disks in there with the current now-three nvme ssd
oh and it uses 1.5w when 'off' in the mode that allows the power scheduler.
When I upgrade my old NAS I'd want to look at going this way, cheaper and up gradable.
The only thing you can keep in 6 years time with Synolagy Qnap are the drives you can't keep the case and throw in a new board.
Impressive!
hopefully in 6years you can still buy the spares.
Too many holes in QNAP to use it as it was meant to be used. Had QNAP for the last 13 years but not getting it again once the last one fails or gets hacked again.
But that's me
Thanks everyone for your valuable input especially FoxJump. I eventually went with Synology DS920+ and 8tb Exos 7E10 drives.
Check here :) https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/741705