Mini Pc and 2 External HDDs for Simple File Sharing and on/Offsite Backups? A Budget NAS?

buckerooni on 15/09/2023 - 08:49
Last edited 15/09/2023 - 09:00

Hi there - we create a fair bit of content - 4K video (100MB to 2GB files), hi res images. None of it mission critical but useful to keep. The end products (edits) are in the cloud, but the raw media is stored on site.

Currently have a 12TB WD Elements that we used to have connected to our wifi modem/router allowing easy file file sharing via USB.

Our new wifi modem/router no longer supports this USB Sharing (Nokia FastMile 5G Gateway) so looking for a way to keep supporting central (large) file sharing and also providing a way for a cost-effective offsite backup in the 2-10 TB range.

My idea was:

  • mini pc (providing file access capability) connected to router/wifi (probably via ethernet)
  • WD Elements 12TB connected to this via USB to mini PC- acts as file share and backup
  • share WD Elements drive via windows traditional local file share and mapped to machines
  • 2nd WD Elements drive that would be synced weekly/bi weekly with on-site drive and taken off-site. The mini PC would need 2 high speed USB ports to support this.

Pretty basic, pretty budget - but for the storage needed it is alot more cost effective than cloud (albeit with some manual processes) and slight PITA of moving and external drive around every week or so but in the current climate we're looking at saving costs where possible.

12TB drive or $450 and mini pc at $200, so the budget would be around $700. If there is a way to do this with a budget NAS, if I can just slide in/out the offsite disc let me know. Maybe a mix of a budget NAS and the WD Elements 12TB? This is not my area of speciality.

Otherwise, does this sound like a reasonable approach or any other suggestions to achieve those two things - local central file share of large files & offsite backup.

thanks!

Computing Computer Mini PC NAS

Comments

  • Boioioioi on 15/09/2023 - 09:33
    +2

    You could probably just buy a nas at that price, plenty of two bay ones for $200.

    Is this for business use? It sounds like that… I would want something a lot more reliable than what you've got going on w

  • jugsy on 15/09/2023 - 10:13
    +1

    I think we need more information about how professional/reliable this setup needs to be. If it's hobby, you might be on track, but anything involving money I would invest a lot more - is "nice to have" going to save you hours/days in the future?

    There's a 3-2-1 rule for business backups - 3 copies of the data, across 2 locations, with at least 1 copy offline (not connected to a computer or the internet, powered off)

    • buckerooni on 15/09/2023 - 10:45

      good questions!

      all our critical apps and data is online/cloud.

      this is backoffice material, most likely after 6 months its borderline irrelevant - i.e. social media video edits. etc. but we re-use recently created media regularily.

      it's a setup for my business (we are an e-com brand, but produce most of our content in-house), so I can be as professional/unprofessional as I like I guess!

      • jugsy on 15/09/2023 - 10:49

        Same goes, how screwed will you be if you dont have internet access for a day?

        If you want additional online backups, Backblaze is good, but I also think it's worth looking at a decent NAS to replace the WD drive

        • buckerooni on 15/09/2023 - 10:56

          internet is down, it affects a portion of operations, our customer facing apps are all 3rd party cloud.

          wow, backblaze are cheap! $5 per TB per month is crazy! saves alot of hassle.

          I could use the WD Elements 12TB for the file share, and then backup from this to backblaze.

          Will assume I still need the mini PC to run the backblaze software and for the sharing I'm talking about. Don't want the file share attached to any of our workstations.

          …or grow up and get a NAS and just ditch the WD…:)

  • Cazman on 26/09/2023 - 17:41

    The cheapest way would be to get a single drive NAS (no redundancy, so not great, but the WD Elements is single drive as far as I can tell anyways)
    So
    https://www.mwave.com.au/product/synology-diskstation-ds120j…
    and
    https://www.mwave.com.au/product/seagate-st12000vn0008-12tb-…
    And yes you should be able to plug in the WD Elements to the NAS to get the extra storage, or of course backup the Synology data to the WD Elements

  • buckerooni on 27/09/2023 - 12:39

    update, i got a synology DS220j with a WD RED 8TB, the DS220j is a pile of garbage - so slow and basically unusable - I have wasted so much time waiting for this thing to do anything it's unbelieveble. I deeply regret this decision and will be putting on some big boy pants and getting a 423+ or something.

  • buckerooni on 25/11/2024 - 15:54

    Long time overdue update - ended up getting the 423+, got a new HDD too and chucked 16GB of RAM in it, it absolutely flys,
    got it hooked up to backblaze and have 2 offsite copies with minimal ongoing effort.

    Best upgrade and could just not recommend the 220j for anything but for throwing it in a lake.

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