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Second ethernet port on ReadyNas 204
I recently purchased a second-hand RN204 with 4 8TB discs which I have configured with Raid 10 so that I have 15 TB of storage and 15 TB of mirrored backup, which is PLENTY of storage for me. I had...
You could of course set up a different subnet (for example 10.0.0.x) on the second ethernet port of the NAS, and use static IP addresses on both the second NAS port and the MyCloud.
You'd get some status information from the backup jobs on the NAS, but not very much. For instance, you'd get no notifications if a MyCloud disk starts generating errors. Accessing the MyCloud web interface from the PC would require connecting the MyCloud directly to the PC, and manually assigning a 10.0.0.x IP address on the PC - not difficult, but painful enough that you aren't likely to do it regularly.
IMO you'd be better off just using the last LAN port of the router for the MyCloud. If you decide you need more ports later on, you can add a 5 port gigabit switch at that point - cost would be ~$20. That would give you three more unused LAN ports.
The primary NAS is used for 3 purposes: 1) to mirror my personal documents and photos and HOA accounts which are on my PC, and 2) to store my meda for Plex, and 3) to store copies of my PC's and laptop's full and incremental backups. As it is mirrored internally, it also backs all this up to the mirror. I wanted to use one of the USB ports to give me yet another backup storage site "just in case." I am already using 3 of the 4 available ethernet ports on the router, and I'd rather not tie one of them up for the My Cloud, because occasionally I use the spare one for the laptop. Yes, the laptop has WiFi, but when I want to do a full backup of the laptop once every month or two, it goes faster with an ethernet connection as the laptop is old and has a 2.4ghz WiFi connection. Yes, I could buy a faster WiFi adapter, but I am too frugal to spend the money on this for occasional backups.
I have a 5TB USB portable external drive which would work just fine, but 5TB is not big enough. I could buy a larger one, but that would require an AC-powered drive, which would be similar to the My Cloud. Since I already own the My Cloud, why buy yet another device? As I said, I am frugal, which is why I bought the second-hand ReadyNAS (and I am still suffering mild sticker shock). But the My Cloud has to connect via Ethernet, not USB, so the connection is not as simple as an external USB drive.
My PC doesn't need to see the My Cloud. The My Cloud only has to see the NAS, so that it can mirror the files on it. I will only want to look at the My Cloud periodically to make sure it is in good health. I can hopefully do this through the NAS interface and never use the My Cloud interface at all, which would be a bonus as the My Cloud interface sucks.
What concerns me is that if the NAS should fail, which knock on wood won't happen, I would have to reconfigure the My Cloud in some way so as to be able to access it from the PC. But perhaps not? I have not researched this in depth as I wanted to get more feedback first in case someone else has tried it and found it was a bad idea.
I've got half a dozen 1 TB and 2TB SATA drives sitting in a box not being used, but by the time I buy an enclosure that can turn them all into a useful 8TB external drive, it would cost too much, and there are too many possible points of failure.
Does your frugality extend to not being able to obtain a 1GB switch to connect to your router to increase the number of ports available?
You could of course set up a different subnet (for example 10.0.0.x) on the second ethernet port of the NAS, and use static IP addresses on both the second NAS port and the MyCloud.
You'd get some status information from the backup jobs on the NAS, but not very much. For instance, you'd get no notifications if a MyCloud disk starts generating errors. Accessing the MyCloud web interface from the PC would require connecting the MyCloud directly to the PC, and manually assigning a 10.0.0.x IP address on the PC - not difficult, but painful enough that you aren't likely to do it regularly.
IMO you'd be better off just using the last LAN port of the router for the MyCloud. If you decide you need more ports later on, you can add a 5 port gigabit switch at that point - cost would be ~$20. That would give you three more unused LAN ports.
I think this is probably the best solution.
As far as frugality goes, I prefer not to buy anything if I can avoid it by using something I already own. But an intelligent purchasing decision depends on the payback - and the payback in this case would be a usable, accessible backup if the ReadyNAS should fail. As we all know, that is priceless.
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