School me on NAS drives

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Executioner
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School me on NAS drives

Post by Executioner »

I currently have a 4TB drive that I keep almost all of my files on, and it's also available on the hub, but if I was out of town, it's difficult to access any of the files. I heard that a NAS drive can solve that problem, and allows anyone in your network to share files.

Is it worth getting and setting up a NAS drive?
Are they more reliable if you make a raid (mirror) setup?
What is a typical drive setup like (i.e. how many drives does it hold etc.)?
Do the drives have to be the same capacity and mfg?
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FlyingPenguin
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Re: School me on NAS drives

Post by FlyingPenguin »

I have used a couple of NAS as my media server.

Originally a home made UnRaid NAS consisting of four 2TB drives (four 1TB originally. but I upgraded the drives a few years later). That was my media server for years. Still using it for media file backups, but not as a media server anymore. I posted some info about it here when I relegated it to being a backup file server and upgraded the OS to the latest version a few years ago. Built it around an HP Proliant N40L mini server I bought used from b-man1 here back in 2012 (ten years old next year, and haven't even had to replace so much as a fan in it). Not much horsepower (AMD Turion II dual core 1.5GHz), but you don't need much to run UnRaid: viewtopic.php?p=366397#p366397

In 2018 I bought a Synology DiskStation DS918+ with four 4TB drives (expensive WD Reds, but they are specifically designed for use in a NAS), and that's my current media server. I posted about it here: viewtopic.php?p=362681#p362681

I'm not doing anything fancy with it. It's just setup as a regular SMB file server on my network, with user account restrictions so only I can do writes to it. Any device on the network can access it with read-only privileges: my media center PCs, my laptops and PCs, even my Android phone using a file manager app.

I believe Genom and Losbot use them as streaming servers using the Plex Media Server package, and I'm sure they'll chime in. You can install all kinds of packages on a Synology NAS for special features. Listed here: https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/pack ... ll&search=

I don't have any streaming setup for outside the network. If I really want to play a video from my NAS while I'm on the road, I can just remote into my workstation and play it that way.

Is it worth getting and setting up a NAS drive?
They aren't cheap, but they're very reliable. You can start out with building a DIY box using FreeNAS. Any old PC with 2 or more drives will work. The more drives the better. Some of the NAS software will let you mix and match drive sizes (UnRaid does, FreeNAS doesn't - it will make the raid array based on the smallest drive I believe), so if you have a bunch of drives laying around, you can slap something together.

Are they more reliable if you make a raid (mirror) setup?
All NAS solutions are some kind of RAID. That's built in. Usually RAID 5 or some proprietary version of RAID. My Synology NAS uses a proprietary RAID, although there are options to use RAID5 or others. I use their proprietary one because it makes swapping out drives very easy. UnRaid is an exception. It's not true RAID. It's JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) with one parity drive that must be at least as big as the largest drive in the array. It was specifically made for mixing and matching oddball drives for a media NAS. That's what attracted it to me for a DIY NAS originally nine years ago. Not really ideal as a data file server (not redundant enough) but good enough for media, and better than just a single USB drive.

What is a typical drive setup like (i.e. how many drives does it hold etc.)?
You usually want at least four drives for good redundancy. Synology sells 2, 4, 8, 16, probably bigger NAS boxes. For home use, a 4 bay is more than adequate. Needless to say more bays cost more. I bought a 4 bay with no drives installed, and bought my own drives. Most NAS solutions will let you start with two drives and you can add more later. Depends on the file system you use. My Synology holds four.

Do the drives have to be the same capacity and mfg?
Depends on the NAS software. Most of the proprietary NAS software allows mixed drive sizes with some restrictions.
There's a cool calculator here for Synology that lets you try different drive sizes and RAID types: https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/RAID_calculator

If the price doesn't scare you, I'd recommend the Synology boxes. They're well built and the software feature set is excellent. This is the one I bought. I paid $549 for it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075N1Z9LT

Or you can DIY something out of an old PC and install FreeNAS: https://www.freenas.org/
I just checked, and FreeNAS has a Plex Media Server plug-in.
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Losbot
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Re: School me on NAS drives

Post by Losbot »

I have an old Netgear ReadyNAS 4 slot and two Synology units. An older DS1815+ and a new RS1219+
Both are 8 slot units with WD Reds in them. 8TB drives in the older one and 10TB drives in the new one.

I used to run Plex right off of the Synology but I since built a VMWare ESXi server and Plex is now one of the VMs I run on that server. It just access the Synology units to stream content.

If you're looking to start at a reasonable level, then go with what Penguin suggested but look for the most recent model. His is now older and the prices are way off. For that same money, you can buy an 8 slot RS1221+ model. They're not cheap but they're solid devices.
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Executioner
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Re: School me on NAS drives

Post by Executioner »

OK thanks for the info. I still haven't decided yet as I have other expenses that just came up:

1. Had to get a new dishwasher. Cost? $800. Got a Matag and it's being installed by Home Depot. I hate working on plumbing so I'm having someone else do it. The old unit is a GE that came with the house in 2015. It has also started to make loud noises (i.e. motor), and every now and then it will leak a bit of water on the floor. It also is having a difficult time starting up. While getting a new one, I noticed all of t hem do not have a latch for closing the door, including our GE model.

2. New TV. My LG 55" has burn in images. If you watch a movie, you don't see it, but watching regular TV with a yellow or red background, then you can see it. I'm getting a 65" this time around from Samsung. Cost? $1,188. I'm having the Geek Squad install it. Yeah I know - I can do it myself, but I dread having it damaged when I try to put in in my Outback as it may not fit, and any kind of damage. It's a Samsung 65" Class Q60A Series QLED 4K UHD Smart Tizen.

As for my server, it's currently running on a separate PC that I also run the hub software - Apex.
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