Hi everyone.I'm currently facing a dilemma trying to choose the best storage solution for me. I have just bought a Netgear R7000 (Nighthawk) 802.11ac router and would like to build my personal home cloud based on it.My NAS-storage requirements are:- Fast, reliable and "virtually" fail-proof- Hot swappable features, to allow replacing failed HDs on the fly, automatically rebuilding data (disaster recovery). No data loss.- Store high definition media, such as Full-HD (1080p) videos, MP3/FLAC audio, RAW/JPG pictures and stream it to my TV, iPad, iPhone, Android devices, laptops on my wifi LAN- Ability to read/write files anywhere in the world, securely.- Separated profiles, i.e., for admin, regular allowed users and specific users to prevent access to private, classified information/data. Be able to allow access of specific files for specific users.- Mandatory ability to allow me to automatically backup all my data. In this case, I was thinking of buying, for example a 6-bay NAS and setup a RAID config that allows me to use 3 HDs/bays for data and 3 HDs/bays for backup, all bays with same HD brand/model/capacity.- Scalable, allowing me to plug other boxes via eSATA (for example) in the future and expand capacity.1. I was thinking about Netgear ReadyNAS 516 (6-Bay). Any suggestions? Any models other than this?2. One mandatory feature for me is to have the ability to mirror my data on backup dedicated HDs. I know that there's a tradeoff concerning performance vs security (redundancy). I know very little about RAID and thought that maybe RAID6 would be a reasonable option. I also know that if I fill my NAS with 12Tb, 6Tb would be for useful data and 6Tb for backup (in a nutshell). Does it make sense?3. Also, my personal desire it that, once a drive has failed, I would like to hotswap it with a new one so that the NAS rebuilds the information and no data loss occurs. Is it feasible or am I dreaming?4. I know these NASes don't work with SAS HDs. So I'll have to stick to SATA Enterprise Class HDs, such as Seagate Constellation or similar. Higher RPM and internal memory would increase disk I/O. Both Netgear and QNAP sell either diskless or loaded with enterprise class HDs. Any comments/suggestions on this?5. Are these NASes able to stream media "from factory", of course through my wifi router or will I need to install tons of apps/software to do it? Any light on this?6. I have an Apple TV box. May I also use it as another option to stream media (videos, audio,photos) from the NAS to my TV?Thanks in advance for your precious help. I've been reading and studying so much about this that I'm almost deciding to take a Ph.D. exam...

Aloise wrote:1. I was thinking about Netgear ReadyNAS 516 (6-Bay). Any suggestions? Any models other than this?An RN316 is another option. Though the RN516 has a faster processor. The RN716 is faster still, but is more than most home users need.Aloise wrote:2. One mandatory feature for me is to have the ability to mirror my data on backup dedicated HDs. I know that there's a tradeoff concerning performance vs security (redundancy). I know very little about RAID and thought that maybe RAID6 would be a reasonable option. I also know that if I fill my NAS with 12Tb, 6Tb would be for useful data and 6Tb for backup (in a nutshell). Does it make sense?If you have 6x2TB with RAID-6 (dual-redundancy) then you get 8 TB of storage, and 4 TB of redundant data. This allows the RAID array to be rebuilt if two drives fail. This is not a backup though. Backups ideally would be written to a different device (another NAS, USB drives, or perhaps a cloud server). Backups protect against device failure, user error, theft, disaster, etc. RAID only protects against 1 (or 2) failed disks. It is really more about availability (your next question) than protection against loss.Aloise wrote:3. Also, my personal desire it that, once a drive has failed, I would like to hotswap it with a new one so that the NAS rebuilds the information and no data loss occurs. Is it feasible or am I dreaming?Yes, it does work that way. Aloise wrote:4. I know these NASes don't work with SAS HDs. So I'll have to stick to SATA Enterprise Class HDs, such as Seagate Constellation or similar. Higher RPM and internal memory would increase disk I/O. Both Netgear and QNAP sell either diskless or loaded with enterprise class HDs. Any comments/suggestions on this?Personally I use Home NAS drives (I use WD30EFRX at present, though the Seagate ST4000VN000 is also worth looking at). You can of course use enterprise drives if you wish. The home NAS drives are faster than gigabit ethernet for sustained file transfer. BTW, you can also use SSD drives with this device. Though the new 1 TB SSDs are not on the hardware compatibility list at this point. I don't think I'd use SSDs in a RAID array though - you'd be better off with jbod and backups.Aloise wrote:5. Are these NASes able to stream media "from factory", of course through my wifi router or will I need to install tons of apps/software to do it? Any light on this?What you need depends on your playback devices. You'd need an app for IOS, you might not for Android. I don't stream FLAC or RAW, so I don't know specifically about those. Plex is a DLNA server that is an add-on for the NAS - it has the ability to transcode the media if that is needed for playback. Streaming over the internet is more challenging. The openVPN server in your router would help there.Aloise wrote:6. I have an Apple TV box. May I also use it as another option to stream media (videos, audio,photos) from the NAS to my TV?The short answer here is that none of the NAS (ReadyNAS or its competition) work seamlessly with the Apple TV. That's Apple's fault.There is an iTunes server, but it can't do home sharing (Apple keeps that to themselves). You can't directly stream to the Apple TV from the NAS, but you can use airplay (assuming the IOS player supports it). Getting airplay pairing to work on the NAS is a bit more difficult than getting airplay pairing to work on your router.The easiest answer in practice is to put your media library on the NAS, but run the real iTunes on a PC/Mac. Then you can watch the media on the AppleTV and your IOS devices (using the built-in media players).

Thanks for the answers. It's always great to learn from who really knows about it.I've done some recent research and many people advised me that RAID may not be the best option as it may fail and during data rebuild if the box hangs, data is gone.So, I'm still thinking of getting a NAS, but now I'm thinking not to use RAID. Is it worth to have a NAS and not using RAID capabilities? ReadyNAS can work like that?In this case, using a 516 or a 314 for DATA, what option would you suggest for BACKUP? Getting another enclosure for BACKUP so the final setup would be... like... 1 NAS for DATA and 1 NAS for BACKUP?In such scenario, is it possible to connect each other and run some kind of backup software like SyncBack Free to schedule automatic and periodic backup jobs?One of my biggest concerns is related to reliability/security. I'm still trying to find the optimum setup for DATA + BACKUP with all the requirements mentioned before (media streaming for heavy content - FullHd videos, RAW photos... and accessible virtually from anywhere on the planet) and, of course, securely stored behind some sort of firewall or any other security solution.

Aloise wrote:I've done some recent research and many people advised me that RAID may not be the best option as it may fail and during data rebuild if the box hangs, data is gone.If there's a fire, data is gone. If someone steals your NAS, data is gone. If you aren't paying attention and accidentally delete your files, data is gone. If your NAS is mapped as a network share and you click on a CryptoLocker link in an email, data is gone. Etc, etc.RAID is for data availability (it allows you to have access to your data even while faulty drives are being replaced) and speed. As knowledgeable people say over and over here in the forum (some even have it in their signatures), RAID is not a substitute for a good backup strategy.That said, it's easy to see that with the size of today's inexpensive drives and the correspondingly enormous size of 6-bay RAID arrays, hard-drive bit error rates that used to seem completely safe -- like "1 non-recoverable read error in 10^14 (100 trillion) bit reads" -- are now uncomfortably close to "100% chance of a non-recoverable read error somewhere on your RAID array". And the advice you've seen certainly has some basis in reality: When one drive in a RAID array fails, a number of factors conspire to make errors on a second drive more likely.For this situation, the 4-bay and larger ReadyNAS devices support RAID6, which provides two-disk redundancy. With RAID6, your data is safe unless three drives simultaneously fail. The cost is one drive's worth of storage space: With RAID5, a 6x4TB array provides 20TB of storage, but with RAID6 that array will provide "only" 16TB.Aloise wrote:So, I'm still thinking of getting a NAS, but now I'm thinking not to use RAID. Is it worth to have a NAS and not using RAID capabilities? ReadyNAS can work like that?Yes, the ReadyNAS can be configured for "JBOD" ("Just a Bunch Of Disks"). In a JBOD setup, each drive is its own volume; when one fails, the data on it is gone and cannot be retrieved, but the data on all the other drives is unaffected. JBOD could be ok for a backup of your data, but I wouldn't use it for primary storage.Aloise wrote:what option would you suggest for BACKUP? Getting another enclosure for BACKUP so the final setup would be... like... 1 NAS for DATA and 1 NAS for BACKUP?In such scenario, is it possible to connect each other and run some kind of backup software like SyncBack Free to schedule automatic and periodic backup jobs?There are all sorts of options. If you have a second NAS configured identically to the first, you can make it a mirror of your main NAS; if you ever need to take your main NAS out of service, you can replace it with the backup with essentially zero downtime. If you use external USB drives or a NAS that's not configured as an exact mirror, you can choose to backup some portions of your main NAS on a different schedule than others, make hourly/daily/weekly/monthly snapshots, setup an elaborate system of rotating backup sets, etc.The ReadyNAS devices include backup functionality sufficient for most simple backup schemes; there are addons for more complicated schemes. I backup my NAS to external USB drives using a combination of rsnapshot and the built-in backup features.Aloise wrote:One of my biggest concerns is related to reliability/security. I'm still trying to find the optimum setup for DATA + BACKUP with all the requirements mentioned before (media streaming for heavy content - FullHd videos, RAW photos... and accessible virtually from anywhere on the planet) and, of course, securely stored behind some sort of firewall or any other security solution.For CPU- and memory-intensive tasks like video transcoding, the 516 looks like the right device to me, although I'm far from knowledgeable about those new OS6 boxes. I'm sure you'll get more dependable advice from someone who actually owns one of them.For backups, any NAS or collection of USB drives large enough to hold all your data will do.

Aloise wrote:I've done some recent research and many people advised me that RAID may not be the best option as it may fail and during data rebuild if the box hangs, data is gone.RAID sometimes fails, and that is one reason you need a real backup. That doesn't mean RAID isn't useful - and everything fails eventually. Though as fastfwd says, you don't need to use it with the NAS.Whether you use RAID or not, the ideal solution is to (a) have 2 identical NAS (primary and backup), and to back up one to the other automatically (which the NAS can do).(b) Also maintain an off-site copy of your data. USB drives stored in another location is one approach, cloud backup (such as CrashPlan) is another.(a) gives you a fast recovery if the primary NAS fails. (b) preserves your data if something catastrophic happens, and provides additional protection against user error (or something like CryptoLocker). Having 3 copies of all your data on different devices in different places is good protection against loss.

Firstly, thanks once again for your replies. I appreciate and value both your time and information.I'm thinking of getting a 516 for DATA and maybe a 314 or another 516 for BACKUP.'DATAAlthough RAID6 is an option, I am not confortable with it as I am sure I'll have to get some assistance in case of HDD failure. So, I'm thinking of going JBOD on it.I'd prefer to keep backing up the data on this DATA NAS to my BACKUP NAS. In case of an HDD failure on my DATA NAS, I'll have the option to swap the faulty drive and restore data from my BACKUP NAS. Sounds more simple to me...In addition, I'm wondering that in a JBOD setup it's equally easy to access and stream my media files in my wifi LAN. I'm just not sure if I'll have to install additional software to stream such content to my devices (TV, iPad, android smartphone, PC, etc.)BACKUPNo RAID will be used here as well.I only have to design the solution so that I'll be able to have the same capacity on DATA and BACKUP NAS. That's why having two 516 NASes sounds more accurate for me than having a 516 for DATA and a 314 for BACKUP, even with different single HDD capacities on each NAS (i.e.: 6x2TB on DATA NAS and 4x3TB on BACKUP NAS)HDDsI've done some research about enterprise class SATA HDDs and found better reference on Seagate Constellation HDDs than on WD (reds, blacks, greens, whatever, etc...)Other than reliability, my concern here is about I/O. I've read that for faster I/O it would be better to install more HDDs with smaller capacity (i.e.: 600Gb... 1TB at most) but for this, I'll have to buy a bigger enclosure and that's not my point. So, it seams quite a good balance to have a 516 filled with 2 or 3Tb HDDs, but I'm not sure if they are either compatible to ReadyNAS boxes (516, 314 ,etc.) and even if they are on the list of approved/compatible drives by Netgear (what would invalidate any support I might need from them). Here are the models that I'm talking about:Seagate Constellation - 2TB - SATA - 6Gb/s - ST2000NM0033 (without cryptography)Seagate Constellation - 2TB - SATA - 6Gb/s - ST2000NM0053 (with cryptography)Seagate Constellation - 3TB - SATA - 6Gb/s - ST3000NM0033 (without cryptography)Seagate Constellation - 3TB - SATA - 6Gb/s - ST3000NM0053 (with cryptography)In case these drives are either not compatible or non compliant, which other Enterprise Class HDDs (2Tb and 3Tb) would fit RreadyNAS boxes (516, 314, etc.)?

Storage Help (NAS+Media Streaming+RAID+Automatic Backup)

15 Replies

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StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
Jan 02, 2014
Since you are particularly concerned about data loss, you should not use RAID-0 to span multiple disks into one volume. (fastfwd basically said that, I am just underscoring that point).

4TB drives are more cost-effective for new installations. Also leaving a slot empty makes expanding the array more cost-effective later on - especially with RAID-6, where you need to upgrade 4 drives with the larger sizes to get any space increase at all. Much better to pop in a new drive in the empty slot...
Aloise
Aspirant
Jan 03, 2014
Well said!

In terms of HW, after all the great information provided, I think that the best setup for my current needs would be:

*DATA NAS*
Enclosure: Netgear ReadyNAS 516
HDDs: 4x4Tb ST4000VN000 (Gross volume = 16Tb >>> Net volume (RAID6) = 8Tb)
Connection: Directly connected to my Netgear R7000 router via physical GBit/Ethernet port

*BACKUP NAS*
Enclosure: Netgear ReadyNAS 516 or Netgear ReadyNAS 314 (still deciding based on $$$... boy I thought this ball game would be more affordable... :) )
HDDs: 4x4Tb ST4000VN000 (Gross volume = 16Tb >>> Net volume (JBOD) = ~16Tb ...little less indeed)
Connection: ???
Obs: I don't plan to keep my BACKUP NAS on and connected full time. I'm planning to run and connect this box only when I wish to backup data on DATA NAS, depending on my needs.

Questions:
1. Which would be the best way to connect my BACKUP NAS?
a) By also connecting it to the router via GBit Ethernet port (DATA NAS----GBit/Eth-----Router-----GBit/Eth-----BACKUP NAS)
b) Wirelessly (is it possible? Latency would be probably an issue...)
c) Directly to the DATA NAS via GBit Ethernet port using crossed cable? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----GBit/Eth X------BACKUP NAS)
d) Directly to the DATA NAS via eSATA port? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----eSATA------BACKUP NAS)
e) None of the above... :(

2. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4Tb HDDs, in the future, is it possible to install a 5th or 6th HDD on the fly... so that RAID6 automatically rebuilds the array now adding 2 new disks and also without the need to connect a BACKUP NAS to manouevre data on the rebuilding process?

3. How complicated (or easy, depending on your point of view) is it to configure RAID6 (DATA NAS) and JBOD (BACKUP NAS)?

4. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4TB disks, I would have a total net amount of 8Tb of space. In this case, is it enough to have just 2x4Tb disks (JBOD) on my BACKUP NAS or should I install the exact same physical amount, independently of logical amount (net anount of space)?

5. In terms of I/O, 4Tb on a single HDD sound for me like "too big" for a fast throughtput/performance. Would it be better to use 3Tb or even 2Tb HDDs instead?

6. In addition, how can I map BACKUP NAS (JBOD) to get data from DATA NAS (RAID6). ReadyNAS comes "from factory" with this feature or should I install some software like SyncBack Free?

7. I surely won't be using RAID on my BACKUP NAS. JBOD sound like the way to go, but are there any other reliable options or JBOD is really the best pick?

8. I've read something about Synology (DS1513+ or DS1812+) and QNAP (TS-670). Is Netgear ReadyNAS really the best pick? Would they fit/work/perform nearly the same for my needs or is there any better candidate?

Average Prices - Diskless (Amazon):
Netgear ReadyNAS 314 - 4-Bay - $564,50
Netgear ReadyNAD 516 - 6-Bay - $1,109.99
Synology DS1513+ - 5-Bay - $799,99
Synology DS1812+ - 8-Bay - $1,002.73
QNAP TS-470 - 4-Bay - $1,049.00
QNAP TS-470 PRO - 4-Bay - $1,349.00
QNAP TS-670 - 6-Bay - $1,149.00
QNAP TS-670 PRO - 6-Bay - $1,482.00

Tks in advance.

fastfwd

Virtuoso

Jan 03, 2014

Aloise wrote:
1. Which would be the best way to connect my BACKUP NAS?
a) By also connecting it to the router via GBit Ethernet port (DATA NAS----GBit/Eth-----Router-----GBit/Eth-----BACKUP NAS)
b) Wirelessly (is it possible? Latency would be probably an issue...)
c) Directly to the DATA NAS via GBit Ethernet port using crossed cable? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----GBit/Eth X------BACKUP NAS)
d) Directly to the DATA NAS via eSATA port? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----eSATA------BACKUP NAS)
e) None of the above... :(

Aloise wrote:
1. Which would be the best way to connect my BACKUP NAS? a) By also connecting it to the router via GBit Ethernet port (DATA NAS----GBit/Eth-----Router-----GBit/Eth-----BACKUP NAS) b) Wirelessly (is it possible? Latency would be probably an issue...) c) Directly to the DATA NAS via GBit Ethernet port using crossed cable? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----GBit/Eth X------BACKUP NAS) d) Directly to the DATA NAS via eSATA port? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----eSATA------BACKUP NAS) e) None of the above... :(

Aloise wrote:
2. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4Tb HDDs, in the future, is it possible to install a 5th or 6th HDD on the fly... so that RAID6 automatically rebuilds the array now adding 2 new disks and also without the need to connect a BACKUP NAS to manouevre data on the rebuilding process?

Aloise wrote:
2. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4Tb HDDs, in the future, is it possible to install a 5th or 6th HDD on the fly... so that RAID6 automatically rebuilds the array now adding 2 new disks and also without the need to connect a BACKUP NAS to manouevre data on the rebuilding process?

Yes.

Aloise wrote:
3. How complicated (or easy, depending on your point of view) is it to configure RAID6 (DATA NAS) and JBOD (BACKUP NAS)?

Aloise wrote:
3. How complicated (or easy, depending on your point of view) is it to configure RAID6 (DATA NAS) and JBOD (BACKUP NAS)?

In OS4, the RAID6 configuration process requires checking two boxes and clicking OK. Maybe three boxes, actually; I forget.

In OS4, configuring JBOD is very slightly more complicated: After checking a box or two and clicking OK, you have to launch the NAS web interface and click OK there to set the size of each volume.

I assume that OS6 makes the process no more difficult than OS4.

Aloise wrote:
4. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4TB disks, I would have a total net amount of 8Tb of space. In this case, is it enough to have just 2x4Tb disks (JBOD) on my BACKUP NAS or should I install the exact same physical amount, independently of logical amount (net anount of space)?

Aloise wrote:
4. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4TB disks, I would have a total net amount of 8Tb of space. In this case, is it enough to have just 2x4Tb disks (JBOD) on my BACKUP NAS or should I install the exact same physical amount, independently of logical amount (net anount of space)?

2x4TB would be enough to hold a complete copy of all the data on your main NAS. There's no need to install more drives in the backup NAS unless you wanted to store additional data there.

Aloise wrote:
5. In terms of I/O, 4Tb on a single HDD sound for me like "too big" for a fast throughtput/performance. Would it be better to use 3Tb or even 2Tb HDDs instead?

Aloise wrote:
5. In terms of I/O, 4Tb on a single HDD sound for me like "too big" for a fast throughtput/performance. Would it be better to use 3Tb or even 2Tb HDDs instead?

No. The maximum sustained data transfer rate of the ST4000VN000 is 180 megabytes per second. The 3TB version of that drive also does 180MB/s, and the 2TB version is slower, at 159MB/s. See page 11 of the product manual: http://www.seagate.com/files/www-content/product-content/nas-fam/nas-hdd/en-us/docs/100724684.pdf

Aloise wrote:
6. In addition, how can I map BACKUP NAS (JBOD) to get data from DATA NAS (RAID6). ReadyNAS comes "from factory" with this feature or should I install some software like SyncBack Free?

Aloise wrote:
6. In addition, how can I map BACKUP NAS (JBOD) to get data from DATA NAS (RAID6). ReadyNAS comes "from factory" with this feature or should I install some software like SyncBack Free?

SyncBack Free is a Windows application designed for backing up PCs; it is inappropriate for the ReadyNAS, which runs Linux.

The ReadyNAS has built-in backup functionality that is almost certainly sufficient for your needs.

Aloise wrote:
7. I surely won't be using RAID on my BACKUP NAS. JBOD sound like the way to go, but are there any other reliable options or JBOD is really the best pick?

Aloise wrote:
7. I surely won't be using RAID on my BACKUP NAS. JBOD sound like the way to go, but are there any other reliable options or JBOD is really the best pick?

Your choices are a) RAID or b) JBOD. If you surely won't be using RAID, your only option is JBOD.

StephenB

Guru - Experienced User

Jan 03, 2014

Aloise wrote:
1. Which would be the best way to connect my BACKUP NAS?
a) By also connecting it to the router via GBit Ethernet port (DATA NAS----GBit/Eth-----Router-----GBit/Eth-----BACKUP NAS)
b) Wirelessly (is it possible? Latency would be probably an issue...)
c) Directly to the DATA NAS via GBit Ethernet port using crossed cable? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----GBit/Eth X------BACKUP NAS)
d) Directly to the DATA NAS via eSATA port? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----eSATA------BACKUP NAS)
e) None of the above... :(

Aloise wrote:
1. Which would be the best way to connect my BACKUP NAS? a) By also connecting it to the router via GBit Ethernet port (DATA NAS----GBit/Eth-----Router-----GBit/Eth-----BACKUP NAS) b) Wirelessly (is it possible? Latency would be probably an issue...) c) Directly to the DATA NAS via GBit Ethernet port using crossed cable? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----GBit/Eth X------BACKUP NAS) d) Directly to the DATA NAS via eSATA port? (Router------GBit/Eth------DATA NAS-----eSATA------BACKUP NAS) e) None of the above... :(

(a)

Aloise wrote:
2. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4Tb HDDs, in the future, is it possible to install a 5th or 6th HDD on the fly... so that RAID6 automatically rebuilds the array now adding 2 new disks and also without the need to connect a BACKUP NAS to manouevre data on the rebuilding process?

Aloise wrote:
2. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4Tb HDDs, in the future, is it possible to install a 5th or 6th HDD on the fly... so that RAID6 automatically rebuilds the array now adding 2 new disks and also without the need to connect a BACKUP NAS to manouevre data on the rebuilding process?

yes

Aloise wrote:
3. How complicated (or easy, depending on your point of view) is it to configure RAID6 (DATA NAS) and JBOD (BACKUP NAS)?

Aloise wrote:
3. How complicated (or easy, depending on your point of view) is it to configure RAID6 (DATA NAS) and JBOD (BACKUP NAS)?

Both are fairly easy to set up. jbod is one mode of flexraid, so there are more options there.

Aloise wrote:
4. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4TB disks, I would have a total net amount of 8Tb of space. In this case, is it enough to have just 2x4Tb disks (JBOD) on my BACKUP NAS or should I install the exact same physical amount, independently of logical amount (net anount of space)?

Aloise wrote:
4. If I choose RAID6 for DATA NAS with 4x4TB disks, I would have a total net amount of 8Tb of space. In this case, is it enough to have just 2x4Tb disks (JBOD) on my BACKUP NAS or should I install the exact same physical amount, independently of logical amount (net anount of space)?

2x4TB should be enough. Keep in mind that you need to balance the storage manually. For instance, if you have a 6 TB share on the main nas, there is no way to back it up on one of the 4TB volumes on the backup. So you do need to manage your share sizes so you can allocate them to backup volumes.

Aloise wrote:
5. In terms of I/O, 4Tb on a single HDD sound for me like "too big" for a fast throughtput/performance. Would it be better to use 3Tb or even 2Tb HDDs instead?

Aloise wrote:
5. In terms of I/O, 4Tb on a single HDD sound for me like "too big" for a fast throughtput/performance. Would it be better to use 3Tb or even 2Tb HDDs instead?

No.

Aloise wrote:
6. In addition, how can I map BACKUP NAS (JBOD) to get data from DATA NAS (RAID6). ReadyNAS comes "from factory" with this feature or should I install some software like SyncBack Free?

Aloise wrote:
6. In addition, how can I map BACKUP NAS (JBOD) to get data from DATA NAS (RAID6). ReadyNAS comes "from factory" with this feature or should I install some software like SyncBack Free?

The built in backup whould work fine.

Aloise wrote:
7. I surely won't be using RAID on my BACKUP NAS. JBOD sound like the way to go, but are there any other reliable options or JBOD is really the best pick?

Aloise wrote:
7. I surely won't be using RAID on my BACKUP NAS. JBOD sound like the way to go, but are there any other reliable options or JBOD is really the best pick?

In my opinion jbod is fine for backup. Raid is more reliable though, and it is a bit simpler if you only have one volume to worry about.

Aloise wrote:
8. I've read something about Synology (DS1513+ or DS1812+) and QNAP (TS-670). Is Netgear ReadyNAS really the best pick? Would they fit/work/perform nearly the same for my needs or is there any better candidate?

Aloise wrote:
8. I've read something about Synology (DS1513+ or DS1812+) and QNAP (TS-670). Is Netgear ReadyNAS really the best pick? Would they fit/work/perform nearly the same for my needs or is there any better candidate?

This is a Netgear forum :D You can take a look at the various UIs here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=70249&p=414815&hilit=demo+link#p414815

There are some growing pains with Netgear's OS6 firmware.

DrJones

Aspirant

Jan 19, 2014

Aloise wrote:
Hi everyone.

2. One mandatory feature for me is to have the ability to mirror my data on backup dedicated HDs. I know that there's a tradeoff concerning performance vs security (redundancy). I know very little about RAID and thought that maybe RAID6 would be a reasonable option. I also know that if I fill my NAS with 12Tb, 6Tb would be for useful data and 6Tb for backup (in a nutshell). Does it make sense?

Aloise wrote:
Hi everyone. 2. One mandatory feature for me is to have the ability to mirror my data on backup dedicated HDs. I know that there's a tradeoff concerning performance vs security (redundancy). I know very little about RAID and thought that maybe RAID6 would be a reasonable option. I also know that if I fill my NAS with 12Tb, 6Tb would be for useful data and 6Tb for backup (in a nutshell). Does it make sense?

Yes I'd absolutely, 100% recommend RAID6 or dual-disk redundancy, meaning you can lose up to TWO hard drives and still not lose any data. If one disk dies, it's pretty unnerving while you're waiting for the replacement to arrive & then the array to rebuild - dual disk redundancy is very inexpensive peace of mind.

4. I know these NASes don't work with SAS HDs. So I'll have to stick to SATA Enterprise Class HDs, such as Seagate Constellation or similar. Higher RPM and internal memory would increase disk I/O. Both Netgear and QNAP sell either diskless or loaded with enterprise class HDs. Any comments/suggestions on this?

Personally I think the extra money spent on enterprise grade drives is wasted. You will almost certainly NOT see a performance difference in these NAS, and you have to stick very carefully to the ReadyNAS Hardware Compatibility List - you can't just buy any drive you want. You must check the list first and only buy those drives listed.

5. Are these NASes able to stream media "from factory", of course through my wifi router or will I need to install tons of apps/software to do it? Any light on this?

Yes, they do it from the factory; just enable DLNA if it isn't turned on by default.

6. I have an Apple TV box. May I also use it as another option to stream media (videos, audio,photos) from the NAS to my TV?

Absolutely, I do it all the time. You just have to have your content loaded into iTunes, leave your PC with iTunes on & running.

I like AcePlayer for streaming movies directly from my ReadyNAS to my iPad & iPhone.

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Storage Help (NAS+Media Streaming+RAID+Automatic Backup)

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