NAS storage

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by derkit, Jan 16, 2008.

  1. derkit

    derkit Gigabyte Poster

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    Evenin' all,

    A couple of thougts are occupying my head at the mo (NAS storage and media centre), and wanted some thoughts from others:

    Thinking about some increased storage space as I'm pushing 120gb in the PC as it is, and I'm constantly having to rearrange data to be able to put new stuff on. I also don't have any decent backup - apart from DVDs as and when I remember.

    I was thinking of going with NAS - for those who don't know Network Attached Storage Linky - as a good remote data storage (about 500gb) as well as using RAID1 to give me a backup.

    We have a computer and at the moment 2 laptops, it may increase if my g/f work gives her one also, but all our data is scattered around - so some space optimisation, backup solution and increased storage.

    Thats the situation, in addition, it would be great if it had a print server capable of multiple printers (but that is very much a wish list!). I use overclockers.co.uk as a good basis for good equipment and so have spied 3, but thats without any real knowledge/research:

    D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay NAS Enclosure Linky
    Synology Disk Station DS-207+ NAS Enclosure Linky
    QNap Turbo Station TS-201 NAS Enclosure Linky

    That said - I know a small server running 2k3 would do all I want - its just a matter of cash!

    If anyone can give any other suggestions, I open to any ideas!

    For media centre - please see my next post :)
    Thanks for the thoughts and opinions guys and gals!
     
    Certifications: MBCS, BSc(Hons), Cert(Maths), A+, Net+, MCDST, ITIL-F v3, MCSA
    WIP: 70-293
  2. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    The major problem with 'cheap' NASs is the horribly slow speed they have. If this isn't a concern then they are great value for money.

    Harry.
     
    Certifications: ECDL A+ Network+ i-Net+
    WIP: Server+
  3. derkit

    derkit Gigabyte Poster

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    When you say "cheap" what prices would you suggest to look at before they aren't cheap? Also, what transfer rates would you consider as being worthwhile? Researching the 3 boxes I mentioned, on "independent" tests they were quoting around 10-15Mb/s transfer rate on either 100mb/1gb connections - is this slow?
     
    Certifications: MBCS, BSc(Hons), Cert(Maths), A+, Net+, MCDST, ITIL-F v3, MCSA
    WIP: 70-293
  4. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Difficult to say as the prices keep changing. But any NAS that is priced at less than say £200 more than the price of the drives is going to be a bit limited.

    And that transfer rate is horrible - or did you mean 10-15MB/s (lower case b is bits, upper case is bytes)? :biggrin

    And how was it measured? I'd want to see a proper report from one of the magazines as a starter.

    Harry.
     
    Certifications: ECDL A+ Network+ i-Net+
    WIP: Server+
  5. derkit

    derkit Gigabyte Poster

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    Interesting comment on the prices - I've been looking at the overclockers forum and they seem to think these £90 NAS boxes have sunshine beaming through the fan fins! :)

    Sorry, my fault there - yes 10-15MB/s - I've looked for the article but can't find it - sorry :oops:

    After a bit of research this morning, I'm pondering whether a Small Form Factor box like Linky running Server 2k3 would do what I want? I don't want it to take up too much room and to be honest, allow it to get on with its own thing without much interaction (unless I want to interact with it!)

    Any thoughts people?
     
    Certifications: MBCS, BSc(Hons), Cert(Maths), A+, Net+, MCDST, ITIL-F v3, MCSA
    WIP: 70-293
  6. derkit

    derkit Gigabyte Poster

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    Reading more - it also has to format the disks to some BSD/linux formatting - maybe a Windows server box would be better, at least I could have it running NTFS
     
    Certifications: MBCS, BSc(Hons), Cert(Maths), A+, Net+, MCDST, ITIL-F v3, MCSA
    WIP: 70-293
  7. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    <shrug> Personaly I'd prefer it to be running a Linux OS with ext2 or ext3 filesystem. If you run Win2k3 consider how much you would have to pay for a server that ran well (memory etc). If it has a lack of resources then the performance suffers.

    Harry.
     
    Certifications: ECDL A+ Network+ i-Net+
    WIP: Server+
  8. derkit

    derkit Gigabyte Poster

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    hmmmm, some more thoughts are needed - thanks Harry for your input so far.
     
    Certifications: MBCS, BSc(Hons), Cert(Maths), A+, Net+, MCDST, ITIL-F v3, MCSA
    WIP: 70-293

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