You're on the right track, and here are some recommendations:
Storage Setup:
The QNAP TS-873A-8G is a capable NAS choice, and with 8 drive bays, it's well-suited for your purpose.
8x WD Gold 20TB HDDs would give you a total raw storage capacity of 160TB, which is excellent for a YouTuber dealing with video storage.
You can consider a RAM upgrade if the budget allows, as it can help improve performance, especially when dealing with large video files. Upgrading to 16GB or 32GB is a good idea.
While M.2 SSD caching is not strictly necessary, it can significantly speed up read and write operations for frequently accessed data. It's worth considering if your friend works with frequently used video files.
RAID Configuration:
For a storage-intensive use case like video storage, RAID 6 would be a safer choice than RAID 5. RAID 6 provides redundancy against two drive failures, whereas RAID 5 only protects against a single drive failure.
With 8 drives, RAID 6 will give you a good balance between capacity and data protection. It's the recommended choice when dealing with large amounts of critical data.
If you're planning to use this NAS for backup and data redundancy is critical, consider RAID 6 for peace of mind.
Budget:
Your budget of $5,000 should be sufficient for the QNAP NAS, HDDs, and possible upgrades. Make sure to include the cost of HDDs, the NAS unit, any RAM upgrades, and M.2 SSDs (if needed) in your budget calculations.
Remember to keep some budget for other essentials like network equipment (router/switch), power backup solutions, and perhaps additional external backup drives to safeguard the important video content.
Storage Setup:
The QNAP TS-873A-8G is a capable NAS choice, and with 8 drive bays, it's well-suited for your purpose.
8x WD Gold 20TB HDDs would give you a total raw storage capacity of 160TB, which is excellent for a YouTuber dealing with video storage.
You can consider a RAM upgrade if the budget allows, as it can help improve performance, especially when dealing with large video files. Upgrading to 16GB or 32GB is a good idea.
While M.2 SSD caching is not strictly necessary, it can significantly speed up read and write operations for frequently accessed data. It's worth considering if your friend works with frequently used video files.
RAID Configuration:
For a storage-intensive use case like video storage, RAID 6 would be a safer choice than RAID 5. RAID 6 provides redundancy against two drive failures, whereas RAID 5 only protects against a single drive failure.
With 8 drives, RAID 6 will give you a good balance between capacity and data protection. It's the recommended choice when dealing with large amounts of critical data.
If you're planning to use this NAS for backup and data redundancy is critical, consider RAID 6 for peace of mind.
Budget:
Your budget of $5,000 should be sufficient for the QNAP NAS, HDDs, and possible upgrades. Make sure to include the cost of HDDs, the NAS unit, any RAM upgrades, and M.2 SSDs (if needed) in your budget calculations.
Remember to keep some budget for other essentials like network equipment (router/switch), power backup solutions, and perhaps additional external backup drives to safeguard the important video content.