External enclosure or new NAS?

[jibs]

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on my current situation and my possible next move. I currently have a QNap 2 bay NAS with 2 x 3TB drives, and a Synology 2 bay NAS with 2 x 3TB drives. Both units are configured in RAID 1 and backup data from different locations in my house.

I would like to expand the storage a bit and I was thinking about adding a 2 or 4 bay external enclosure, connected to the synology to make use of it's ability to put the drives the sleep, something the QNap doesn't seem to be able to do. As much as I want to expand the storage, I would also like to transition from 2 separate appliances into 1 unit, making it easier to manage.

I feel like the difference between selling my 2 units and buying a 4 bay NAS wouldn't cost too much, however I am still left looking for an external enclosure. Going to a 5, 6, or 8 bay unit would be nice, but I don't think I am prepared to spend that kind of money right now. I have thought of rolling my own NAS using a micro server, however I like the support and functionality provided by staying with Qnap or Synology.

Any input into this matter would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[smitbret]

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on my current situation and my possible next move. I currently have a QNap 2 bay NAS with 2 x 3TB drives, and a Synology 2 bay NAS with 2 x 3TB drives. Both units are configured in RAID 1 and backup data from different locations in my house.

I would like to expand the storage a bit and I was thinking about adding a 2 or 4 bay external enclosure, connected to the synology to make use of it's ability to put the drives the sleep, something the QNap doesn't seem to be able to do. As much as I want to expand the storage, I would also like to transition from 2 separate appliances into 1 unit, making it easier to manage.

I feel like the difference between selling my 2 units and buying a 4 bay NAS wouldn't cost too much, however I am still left looking for an external enclosure. Going to a 5, 6, or 8 bay unit would be nice, but I don't think I am prepared to spend that kind of money right now. I have thought of rolling my own NAS using a micro server, however I like the support and functionality provided by staying with Qnap or Synology.

Any input into this matter would be much appreciated.

Thanks

So, you have 2 NAS each with 3TB of mirrored storage?

It will take a little work and moving around of files, but if you are computer savvy at all, it should be a pretty easy thing. Unless there's a specific reason you are using 2 different NAS, here's what I would do.

Get 2 x 4TB and stick 'em in a desktop tower. Transfer all of your data to the 4TB drives. Now, with the 4x3TB, set up a RAIDz1 box using FreeNAS or NAS4Free. You should be able to get into an i3, Server grade Mobo and 16GB of ECC RAM for less than $450. If a little more power consumption doesn't scare you, you could save another $100 by going with an AMD AM3+ CPU like an FX-4300 and an Asus Mobo. 9TB of protected storage. This is your primary NAS. I know you said you prefer OEM, but if you've ever built a PC, you can build and administer a home server.

Now, take the 2x4TB drives and stick 'em in the Synology box, pooled into a JBOD fashion and use it for your daily backups.

As long as you're not sticking them side by side, you'll pretty much get the best of all world's, great performance and data integrity protection from your ZFS server and a great backup system. Case, drives, everything for $700-$1000 depending on how nice you wanna go and whether you have some spare parts to recycle. I was able to cart an entire system for $870 that includes a Fractal Design Define R4 case, modular Corsair PSU, both the 4TB drives, AMD FX-6300, Asus Mobo with 6 SATA ports and 16GB of ECC memory.

Synology's 8-Bay and Qnap's 6 bay start at 799 without drives.

 

[jibs]

Thanks for the insight, I have been reading more and more about rolling your own NAS and it's definitely intriguing. I'm going to look a bit further at this option.

Thanks

 

[VirtualLarry]

smitbret, I was contemplating something similar.

I currently have a Seagate GoFlex Home 3TB pre-built NAS. It has shown some minor file corruption in .TXT files.

I bought a QNAP TS-212-E dual-bay SATA NAS.

I also am looking at building a 4-drive home server with ZFS, using the new Norco 4-bay hot-swap ITX case, a Biostar 1037U ITX mobo, a Flex ITX PSU, and either four 1TB Seagate drives, or use my two 3TB Toshiba drives that are nearly new, and purchase two more to match them. (Or I might just stick them as a mirrored pair into the QNAP.)

I also have a full-tower case, with ten 2TB HDDs, that I plan on running unRAID on, when I can get around to purchasing a full license for it.