Using Ready NAS 104 as individual volumes for long term storage of multimedia files

Question

Hi all,&nbsp;I have recently purchased a Ready nas 4 bay system, with 3x 4tb seagate harddrives.&nbsp;The plan is to use this as a long term storage solution for my partners photography business, which is incredibly data heavy. We need to be able to fill and remove volumes, and access them in the future. My understanding is that X-raid is tyhe system I need to use, and to assign each drive its own volume, however, will I be able to access these volumes again by simply plugging them into the NAS system, or will I need to buy a SATA caddy to access these HDD's later?&nbsp;Cheers

mdgm-ntgr · Answer

Using X-RAID you would have a single volume across all the disks. With three disks you would have a RAID-5 volume. What you want is to disable X-RAID and to create the volumes that you want (a separate volume for each disk).
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It is advisable not to fill a volume more than about 80% for optimal performance.Note that SATA connectors are designed for a limited number of pulls. If you do this regularly you may shorten the life of the SATA connectors. Also if the data is important you should keep multiple copies of the data on different devices.When you remove a disk it is expected that the removed disk is one you no longer wish to use (e.g. because it's failed or you want to use a higher capacity disk instead).
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With a single disk that has a single disk volume on it though if you power down the NAS and remove your disks (label order) and put that disk back in and power on you should be able to access the data.However you can damage disks handling them bare e.g. through Electro-Static Discharge.I understand what you are tryng to do, but I don't think this is the best way to go about it.
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Welcome to the Community!

tsimmo67 · Answer

Thanks.&nbsp;My local computer store recommended NAS as the best storage solution, which is somewhat frustrating.&nbsp;&nbsp;I had assumed that given you can hotswap HDD's, it wouldn't be any different to reconnecting an old HDD in order to access the files stored on there. At the moment we are using external Hdd's, but those things are rubbish for long term storage.&nbsp;&nbsp;

StephenB · Answer

tsimmo67 wrote:
Thanks.
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My local computer store recommended NAS as the best storage solution, which is somewhat frustrating.&nbsp;
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I had assumed that given you can hotswap HDD's, it wouldn't be any different to reconnecting an old HDD in order to access the files stored on there. At the moment we are using external Hdd's, but those things are rubbish for long term storage.
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ReadyNAS supports hot-insertion for disk replacement, but it doesn't support routinely removing and remounting volumes.
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How much data are you talking about (and what is the approx. growth rate)?

tsimmo67 · Answer

We are looking at approx 10-12tb of data as it stands, with a growth rate of approx 3tbs a year, depending upon how much work comes our way. This is weddings and dance concerts, so needs to be accessible in the long term. I am also advocating Cloud storage as well.&nbsp;Given that the NAS system and tyhe 3 harddrives came to around a thousand dollars, I better be able to make it work, or I might be sleeping on the couch for a while! :)&nbsp;

StephenB · Answer

tsimmo67 wrote:
We are looking at approx 10-12tb of data as it stands, with a growth rate of approx 3tbs a year, depending upon how much work comes our way. This is weddings and dance concerts, so needs to be accessible in the long term. I am also advocating Cloud storage as well.
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Given that the NAS system and tyhe 3 harddrives came to around a thousand dollars, I better be able to make it work, or I might be sleeping on the couch for a while! :)
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Cloud storage is probably the most cost effective way to go for archival &nbsp;and backup ($60 per year for unlimited amazon cloud storage is hard to beat). &nbsp;I'd probably still use USB archival/backup, so you aren't fully depending on the cloud storage provider. &nbsp;The main issue is that there is no app on the NAS for amazon cloud storage (or google drive/microsoft OneDrive) and the NAS, so you'd need to manage that manually from a PC.
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Then use the NAS with XRAID, which would give you 8 TB of local storage - enough for about 2 years of work. &nbsp;You can of course grow it to 12 TB later (or more if you replace the 4 TB drives with larger ones).
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I'm not sure which disks you purchased, but generally I'd recommend NAS-purposed drives (VN for seagate, RED for western digital). &nbsp;They have better warranties than desktop drives, and are intended for NAS/RAID. &nbsp;Enterprise drives are another good option - though more expensive. &nbsp;
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DM drives aren't the best choices (though the most trouble-prone appears to be the 3 TB model, not the 4 TB). &nbsp;However, if you have purchased DMs, you might see if you can exchange them for VN.
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Using Ready NAS 104 as individual volumes for long term storage of multimedia files

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