Relevant PC details:
X570 Auros Extreme mobo (10Gbe, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C)
Case is Fractal Design Define 7 (loads of HDD slots)
I just bought 4 ea. 12 TB Iron Wolf NAS HDDs.

I'd like some advice on how to deal with approx. 32 TB of data on a bunch of dusty, randomly sized HDDs my elderly mother has in a cardboard box. Enormous scanned images and video (she's been a Photoshop enthusiast for decades). After spending a ridiculous amount of time reading about NAS and DAS, it seems to me that I could use the motherboard to manage a 48 TB RAID 0 array in that PC, with 4 or 5 bay Thunderbolt DAS (in RAID 0) as backup. I'm leaning towards RAID 0 and Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.2 gen 2 because I don't want to waste her time. She's 80, has limited patience, and I live about 10 hours away. She can handle minor PC issues, but she's been "out of the game" for a decade due to illness.

1. I'm having a hard time finding a 4-5 bay DAS with TB3/USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity. Setting up some kind of 10Gbe LAN sounds like an expensive, complicated mess involving add-in cards, pricey switches, & etc. What should I buy?

2. She's worried about malware, and specifically a ransomware attack. The plan is to leave the DAS disconnected from the PC and turned off most of the time. She'll do a comprehensive virus scan once per week or so, then transfer completed work to the DAS.

Does this sound like a good plan? Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated.

Synology NAS 2020 - Your Questions Answered
Of all the companies in the industry of network-attached storage, few are as secretive as Synology. Whether you are an in the industry of network appliance

1- I would like to have 4 Bay NAS (name the disk on the drive A, B, C, D) .

I want first to have two NAS hard drives inserted in slots A and B as RAID-1 ( Content A = Content B 100%) however after 1 week , I will remove B and insert a Blank identical size and manufacture NAS drive in B and as I understood it will copy or build the content of A on B . Now the disk I removed I will keep it in another place maybe a fire resistant safe . Then I will do that every week or another week . This way I have a real time redundant and also a backup copy to last week activities incase some force majeure happened

2- Is it possible that the 4-BAY can be split to two RAID 1 example make A with B as RAID 1 and C and D as RAID 1 . That mean the content of A and B is independent from C and D

3- If question 2 above is not possible ( I can not make two RAID 1 in 4-bay drive ) , I am thinking to buy two 2-Bay Drives and attached both of them through some router that will generate two IP addresses

4-Usually my PC is on for a long time months without truing it off . Can I keep NAS drive on as long as the computer is on or it is advisable to just turn it when you want to transfer data from PC internal hard disk to the NAS then Turn it off .

I purchased the qnap Ts-251d 2GB version but need more memory do you know where I can purchase an upgrade.

Kind regards
George

Hello!

i recently started to swim in the NAS sea, and luckily i found your website that helped me really a LOT.
I just read many of your reviews and comparisons, but i've still an open question.

I'm looking for a cheap nas for my home to keep my data centralized and safe with RAID1 and monthly backup on external HDD.
I'm also really interested in other functionalities like remote files access, surveilance, possibility to organize and stream my music wherever i am from my smartphone (little less interested in film streaming, i've 2 LG smart TVs and Netflix...i'm ok with that), torrent client etc... i don't plan to make a heavy use of them but... just use them.

I reduced my search to 3 models (followed by the best prices i found in my region) :

QNAP TS-230 - 206€
QNAP TS-228a - 165€
SYNOLOGY DS220j - 165€

The TS-230 costs about 25% more than the others two, and I wish to save that money unless it is really worth it.

So... my question is, which NAS would be a better choice considering they cost exactly the same? QNAP TS-228a or the newer SYNOLOGY DS220j ?

A factor that can help me to choose is the quality of the software for backup on external HDD: ease of use, possibility to read the backup data from a PC instead of being forced to connect it to NAS, space occupied from the backup in relation to the original dimensions.. in other terms i simply need a your opion about that ^^

Thank you for your time for the exceptional work made with this site.

Kind regards,
Mattia.

Discuss: WD Red CMR vs SMR - RAID RE-BUILDING Performance Test

Hello,

Thank you for your time. I have a DS716+II and I am upgrading to a DS1019+. I have two 4tb hard drives from my previous NAS and I will be adding new drives over time. Do the new drives have to be the same brand and model as my current hard drives?

Also, do you have any suggestions on what I can do with my DS716+II after I migrate to the DS1019+?

Thank you again for your time and consideration in this regard and have a great day.

Sincerely,
Eric

Hi! Was wondering if you could help recommend a NAS. Would love something a bit future proof (thinking one with the best processors available right now, one with 2.5gbpe or higher ethernet speeds at least), latest ports etc, I'm going to be using it for a few things, PLEX for sure, some light backups (1 tb ish), general cross-device storage (looking to replace google drive), and potentially be able to spin up a VM on it. I've watched so many of your videos and it looks like there are so many options I don't even know where to start. I'm thinking I probably want to go with something on the newer side like that came out this year or late last year for the future proofing reasons.

Between my wife and I we have the following devices:

2 MacBook Pros
2 iPads
2 iPhone 10

We have a Sonos system with 6 speakers and stream music via Spotify but can download to provide music offline.
We have around 20,000 photos and use iCloud.com for storing word, excel files etc. We currently back up to the cloud and also to WD My Passport

I would like an easy backup facility and also user friendly set up. I have reasonable knowledge but I'm not a techie What would you recommend. Also what would be the cost of the drives to support this system. That seems an awful lot for you to deal with but I would really appreciate your help

Hello.

I have a small home network with a Synology DS-213j serving home/office needs and Plex. It's very nearly full so I want a second NAS, to use solely for Plex. I will then use the 213j for home/office duties only, with the two current 2TB drives mirrored.

So what can you recommend please? I'm not wedded to Synology, and I find their interface a bit clunky/inflexible to be honest but at least it's reliable I guess. However this could be different for a modern system. I'd ideally like a 4-bay NAS, and would start with a single 8TB drive possibly. Reliability and quality for me are most important. I would expect no more than 3 Plex users at a time to be using the NAS, at anything between 720-4k, more or less always on a TV. My maximum budget would be £1000 all-in, though I'd hope to spend less if I can.

Thanks in advance for any pointers... irf