NAS: DIY or pre-fab?

[iluvatar5150]

So, I'm looking at getting a NAS in the next couple months and was wondering if you guys had any opinions on whether I should roll my own or if I should buy a pre-fab unit (and if so, which one).

I do media production at home (mostly audio, but some video) and I'm running out of space and don't want to add to the pile of individual external drives (I've already got 6), because they're ugly, messy, and difficult to keep organized. This will be mainly for media storage and multi-system backup, not for streaming project data or serving apps.

I'd like at least 4-5 disks, though 8-10 would be nicer. I would really like the ability to use non-matching drives and to expand capacity by adding more/bigger drives (Drobo can do this).

I've built several pc's, so I'm comfortable with that, but I've never configured a raid system, and as I've gotten older, I've lost some of the patience needed to tinker with stuff.

I am ok with buying something second-hand.

From what I've found the Drobo's have the features and ease-of-use I'm looking for, but reliability has been questionable. There seems to be less information available about other brands like Synology and QNap, though opinions generally seem to be high.

Thoughts?

 

[iluvatar5150]

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[High Fidelity]

I'd just buy a unit. 8-10 disks though, that's probably not going to be cheap.

Why do you want that many? Convenience? Are you using 3TB+ HDD's?

I use this; Netgear ReadyNas 104 RN10400 NAS Server 4-Bay Diskless [RN10400-100EUS]

With these; Western Digital Caviar Red 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD40EFRX - OEM HDD [WD40EFRX]

 

[iluvatar5150]

I'd just buy a unit. 8-10 disks though, that's probably not going to be cheap.

No, it's not. That's why I was looking at DIY and/or ebay.

Why do you want that many? Convenience? Are you using 3TB+ HDD's?

Currently, for externals, I've got a 4TB that's nearly full (and I'm acquiring more stuff). I've got another 4TB that I use for backups of that drive and a system drive - that's almost full. I've got a 2TB that I use to shuttle misc data around on. I've got another 2TB that I use for projects I'm actively working on. I've got 1-2 others that are small enough to be not much use to me. Managing these is getting unweildy.

I'm also adding another machine, which I'd like to keep backed up.

I use this; Netgear ReadyNas 104 RN10400 NAS Server 4-Bay Diskless [RN10400-100EUS]

With these; Western Digital Caviar Red 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD40EFRX - OEM HDD [WD40EFRX]

How's the performance and reliability with the Netgear units? I've been looking at those. I'm also toying with the idea of getting a single 4-5 bay unit now and another one in the future if I need it.

 

[High Fidelity]

No, it's not. That's why I was looking at DIY and/or ebay.



Currently, for externals, I've got a 4TB that's nearly full (and I'm acquiring more stuff). I've got another 4TB that I use for backups of that drive and a system drive - that's almost full. I've got a 2TB that I use to shuttle misc data around on. I've got another 2TB that I use for projects I'm actively working on. I've got 1-2 others that are small enough to be not much use to me. Managing these is getting unweildy.

I'm also adding another machine, which I'd like to keep backed up.



How's the performance and reliability with the Netgear units? I've been looking at those. I'm also toying with the idea of getting a single 4-5 bay unit now and another one in the future if I need it.

I get on really well with it. Outside of Cisco and Juniper, I always use Netgear and probably always will.

You should check the prices on Newegg, it's cheaper there than the ones I linked because we have a lot of taxes on electronics here. The HDD's are also 50 bucks cheaper each on Newegg.

But yeah those 4 bay units are sweet. It sounds like it's an investment and it will be money well spent, so if you're going to do it at all you may as well spend what you need to spend and get it done the first time If you do opt for 4TB drives and get 4, there's plenty of space for your current and future needs before you need to consider a new NAS.

 

[Peacemonger]

I built my own FreeNAS, but the learning curve is pretty intense, especially if you're a power user. It's fairly simple and GREAT to set up, but I wanted to learn everything about the ZFS file system and how it uses RAID-Z and RAID-Z2, and properly set up the datastores and zvols correctly. It's the Unix and FreeBSD world behind the scenes, so I wanted to learn what all the terms meant. I built a 4U rackmount server with 12 bays and put in 6 drives in it, all 1 TB. So 4 TB of actual storage, and 2 TB are parity. RAID-Z2 is similar to RAID-6.

I also wanted to use full disk encryption to protect my data in case a burglar breaks in.

I put the project on hold since life got busy, so I have $1300 of brand new hardware sitting powered off. I'll get back to it this summer I hope.

One thing on NAS: you'll want a primary NAS for all your storage needs and backup of your computers, but then you may consider a second NAS unit to backup all the contents of your primary NAS in case it fails. (Remember: RAID is not a backup.) On top of that, you may want to consider offsite backup in case both your primary NAS and backup NAS fail or get damaged/stolen.

If I wanted to save time and learning curve, I'd probably look into a nice Synology unit. Some look quite nice, although pricey.

I do recommend FreeNAS since it's so powerful and feature-filled, and the forum and documentation are nice. The downside is the learning curve if you want to set things up correctly.

 

[EphesiaNZ]

Another tick for FreeNAS from me. You can go the DIY route and build a box using your own hardware or buy a ready made FreeNAS-Mini box from the people themselves.

FreeNAS is good as you have the option of self or ready to go build. ZFS is way superior for a NAS storage system and will no doubt become the default filesystem for Linux and BSD's in the future. You can use plugins such as Transmission bittorrent and Plex media server but to name a few.

Check YouTube for FreeNAS too so you get a taste of it.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Yeah, I've been gravitating towards some of the Synology units, specifically the DS1513 or the discontinued ds1511 and ds1512. I think 5 drives will be plenty for now, especially since they all have the ability to add on an extension chassis after the fact. They've also got a fair number of ports on the back that'll allow me to use it as a fast DAS storage device instead of a NAS, if I want. Surprisingly few units can really work well as both.

I'll probably look into a cloud backup system at some point, too, since they're only $4-5/mo - then I'd have 2 copies of my media libraries and 3 copies of my system backups. I probably won't do a backup NAS, since that would be a crazy amount of money for an extra level of redundancy that I don't really need.