Data Storage Suggestions

sicinadan on 27/08/2023 - 09:45
Last edited 27/08/2023 - 10:58 by 1 other user

Hi all I hope some tech savvy OzB can help me out.

I have some data that needs to be stored safely with easy access daily. Already have two external HDDs with 16TB storage but seems like more storage is needed.

Any good suggestions on what I should get?

Cheers!

Computing Computer Component Hard Drive

Comments

Ambush on 27/08/2023 - 10:18

+2

Icybox, among others, make a range of multi-disk storage systems. I have an IcyBox IB-3740-C31 4-disk system which works nicely and keeps the drives cool enough. If you have sufficient capital, there are fully-independent NAS systems available.
- sicinadan on 27/08/2023 - 10:27
  
  Thanks, buddy, do you guys plug in the 3.5 HDD once you brought them online?
  eg https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/394607705257?chn=ps&_ul=AU&var=6…
  - Ambush on 27/08/2023 - 11:04
    
    +1
    
    My icybox system displays each hard drive as a drive letter, so I can add or remove as I see fit. NAS systems typically are used as a RAID system, and you have to plan your additions and removals more carefully.
    edit: I recommend you do some research to see if you believe a JBOD (just a bunch of disks) or a NAS system is more relevant for your needs.
    - sicinadan on 28/08/2023 - 07:01
      
      Thank you very much for the information :D Really appreciate it :D
garetz on 27/08/2023 - 10:33

+6

You are probably wanting to get a nas.
- sicinadan on 28/08/2023 - 07:01
  
  Thank you very much for the information :D Really appreciate it :D
impoze on 27/08/2023 - 10:35

+3

A 4+ bay Synology/qnap box, or NAS (unraid or freeNAS) build

You can build in some redundancy for drive failures
- sicinadan on 28/08/2023 - 07:01
  
  Thank you very much for the information :D Really appreciate it :D
boomramada on 27/08/2023 - 11:26

+1

This is how I would do, move two disk to one new big disk, use one small one as a backup of the important data make the other redundant. And delete unwanted/unused stuff.
- sicinadan on 28/08/2023 - 07:01
  
  Thank you very much for the information :D Really appreciate it :D
c64 on 27/08/2023 - 13:33

16TB? all sounds great until the day a drive doesn't want to turn on
- sicinadan on 27/08/2023 - 15:04
  
  Hahaha. I don't want that day to come
  - David2017 on 27/08/2023 - 17:06
    
    +2
    
    It will. It’s only a matter of time. They’re electronic and mechanical devices and they will fail. Unless you want to lose what’s on there make sure you have a backup.
    - sicinadan on 28/08/2023 - 07:00
      
      Thank you very much for the information :D Really appreciate it :D
Marty-69 on 27/08/2023 - 15:25

NAS with optional backup to Amazon or Backblaze so it's outside the building.
- sicinadan on 28/08/2023 - 07:00
  
  Thank you very much for the information :D Really appreciate it :D
GordonD on 27/08/2023 - 19:36

-1

You want accessibility and safety.

A NAS gives you accessibility, but it doesn't give you safety, because the data is only in one place. Its no safer than just adding those disks to you PC. If a drive or the NAS fails, everything on it is gone. So you have to have backup. And you lose everything since you did the last one of those. No-one here is telling you how to back up your NAS with that much data. If you do it using RAID in the NAS you got to need second hard disk with just as much more capacity again.

This is what I do. I have two PCs on my LAN in different parts of the house used for different purposes. They each have a copy of the data I consider valuable on a second drive. Those copies are synced automatically using Resilio Sync immediately at gigabit LAN speed every time a file is added, changed or deleted. I have direct high speed access to the copy on whichever PC I'm using.

Don't get a NAS. Get a second PC. It can be quite low spec and low performance and low cost if this is all its got to do. Or it can be any PC you've already got. Give it an M.2 boot drive. Then use the RAID built into the BIOS to RAID together as many SATA drives as it takes to store a copy of the valuable data on each PC. And sync them. If you start running out of space you break the RAID on one PC, and create a new RAID with an added disk, then copy your data from the other PC. Then do the same in the other direction.
- David2017 on 27/08/2023 - 19:55
  
  +3
  
  You don’t want accessibility and this is far from safe.
  1. If your house burns down or gets robbed you’re stuffed. Look at what happened in Lahaina.
  2. If your machine gets hit with ransomware you just copied the encrypted files over to your local backup machine and you’re stuffed.
  
  You need at least 3 copies of data. One on your machine, another in cloud (Dropbox, Sync, Backblaze) with at least 30 day retention, another copy on another disk/tape that’s offline at another location (office/parents house/friends house).
  - rumblytangara on 27/08/2023 - 20:09
    
    Tape?
    - David2017 on 27/08/2023 - 20:13
      
      https://www.nakivo.com/blog/tape-backup-overview/
      - rumblytangara on 27/08/2023 - 20:19
        
        @David2017: Nobody uses tape anymore if they can at all avoid it.
        
        Besides being a total PITA that relies on keeping dedicated archaic hardware, I've found that tape is also remarkably unreliable even when stored careful.
        
        David2017 on 27/08/2023 - 20:23
        
        +1
        
        @rumblytangara: I didn’t say you had to use it. If Cloudnordic had used it they wouldn’t be in the situation they are now.
        
        sicinadan on 28/08/2023 - 07:00
        
        @David2017: Thank you very much for the information :D Really appreciate it :D
        
        impoze on 28/08/2023 - 08:08
        
        @David2017: Wow that's crazy
- Marty-69 on 28/08/2023 - 13:28
  
  If a drive or the NAS fails, everything on it is gone.
  
  Not necessarily.
  If the NAS fails (like a power supply), the data is still on the disks. I've seen RAID controllers failing as well, but they never wiped the disks.
  If a drive fails and you run at least RADI-1, the data is still on the other disk(s).
- Chandler on 28/08/2023 - 14:04
  
  RAID in production? Yes, definitely. RAID in backup? No! And why? You should already have two other independent copies!
  
  And don't use RAID to combine disks, use a JBOD system like mergerfs. Striped data is a pita to restore…
localhost on 28/08/2023 - 00:17

+1
Data archiving is a serious business and it's not cheap :)

Few things comes on top of my head:

Local NAS at home, 2-4-6-8 bay, based on the storage you need. This is when you store data for easy and local access. Still no backup solution.
More storage - more bays and larger disks. Hence more $$$.
Also check how important is your data - you might have 100-200gb private/work files, photos, etc which are important and 15TB torrent files with favorite shows in 4k format. So consider what should be preserved in case of failure.
NAS should be setup in RAID1/5/6 mode to prevent disk failure. In case of controller/NAS failure you can buy same or similar model and import disks.
Also when connected to local network (ONLY, no web access!!!) make sure you don't have write permissions for anyone.
Example from my setup with QNAP: I have qfile on phones and when they are connected to home WiFi photos are automatically uploaded to specific folders. All documents from my pc are uploaded via ftp program with username and password. This is in case you got malware and tries to encrypt all accessible data.
All files are visible on network but only read only - you can't change anything.
OK, that was 1st part - local access and store data.
Now - how to keep data secure.

External drive or two, connected once weekly to NAS and files are encrypted (AES256) and copied there. After that you take that disk to remote location - relatives, office, etc.
You can save space by coping only important files: documents, photos, etc and skip movies.

Cloud storage - same as 2, but use reliable cloud provider like Google/Microsoft/Amazon. Also encrypt files when copying.

Optional - M-DISK DVD drives. Here you have 25/50/100GB disks with guaranteed long lifespan. Use it for important files, as those are not cheap either. 25x25GB are $140.

And remember - everything will fail, it's just a matter of time.
Also when buying disks use different manufacturers.
Avoid access to data from web - many NAS storages have this option. Disable it and block it on router.

And after every write check data, also use checksum generators and checkers to speed-up process.
- sicinadan on 28/08/2023 - 07:00
  
  Thank you very much for the information :D Really appreciate it :D
numloxx on 28/08/2023 - 08:13

+1

Buy a HP MicroServer 4 bays x 16tb, install TrueNAS.
Rob-4x4 on 28/08/2023 - 08:33

+1

Something like this ?

https://www.raspberrypi.com/tutorials/nas-box-raspberry-pi-t…
jv on 28/08/2023 - 12:10

+1

QNAP
Marty-69 on 28/08/2023 - 13:33

+3

Imo the biggest risk with a manual setup (sync between two pc's, Raspberry, TrueNAS, BIOS Raid etc) is a user error. You need to know what you're doing and how to set it up.
There's less risk with QNAS and Synology, as it's pre-installed, no BIOS settings and uses wizards & GUI for everything (inc. clients). Possibly they can also provide support.
- localhost on 28/08/2023 - 16:12
  
  +1
  
  Also QNAP, Synology have scripts(apps) for auto sync to/from external disks or cloud.

Data Storage Suggestions

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