This topic has been marked solved and closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
Which Ready NAS do I need please? I just don't understand some things.
Hi,
I apologise in advance for asking the below which have probably been asked before - but not found by me.
First, I currently have:
* Ultra 2 with 2x2TB WD red
* Pro 2 with 2x1TB WD
I now need storage of 4TB in one machine. The HCL for drives of the above shows many drives that are discontinued (Australia).
So I'm looking at the new OS6 models ...
* It seems to me that a 4 bay makes sense - but if I used XRAID 2 with 4x2TB disks, would I have 4TB? I have seen posts where snapshots automatically take up available space. Can I use 4x 3 or 4TB drives?
* I don't understand the differebce between the 1, 2 and 3 series 4 bay models. Are series 1 superceded?
* Ehat is the EDA500 - or what does it do?
* Can I backup from the new OS6 models to my Ultra and Pro?
Thanks for your help. I want to get a model that won't be discontued 'next week'.
Re: Which Ready NAS do I need please? I just don't understand some things.
The 100 series and 200 series are for home. The 200 series is more powerful than the 100 series.
The 300 series e.g. 314 would be the logical replacement for your Pro 2.
The EDA500 is an eSATA expansion chassis. Better to get the unit with the number of drive bays you need where possible rather than get an expansion unit.
X-RAID2 with 4x2TB disks would give you a volume that is larger than 4TB. The volume would be about 5.4TB.
You can use any drives on the compatibility list. There are even some 6TB disks on there. Be sure to add smaller disks before larger ones.
Snapshots do take up some space, but they are very efficient in how they do so. The oldest automatic snapshots are automatically removed when volume usage exceeds 95%.
Yes you can backup from your OS6 NAS to your legacy NAS. Do you plan to have your OS6 NAS and your legacy NAS at the same site or at different locations?
Re: Which Ready NAS do I need please? I just don't understand some things.
Thanks mgdm,
How does that work ?
Would I have 2 XRAID2 arrays or one array covering all disks? (Logically I should only have approx 4TB).
I see the HCL allows 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 TB disks. Does that mean the first two could be 2TB, the second pair 4TB - if so would the latter only use the amount of the smaller disks?
"Yes you can backup from your OS6 NAS to your legacy NAS. Do you plan to have your OS6 NAS and your legacy NAS at the same site or at different locations?"
The trick question!
Undetermined (it's an 'is it possible to use them for backups' question so I would know if that was an option.)
Currently I use a different external hdd Mon-Fri (5 disks) for daily full backups and off-site storage.
* Does it matter if each pair are different brands?
Re: Which Ready NAS do I need please? I just don't understand some things.
I think you should price out both the RN314 and the RN204. Most home users won't see any performance differences. If the prices are similar, go with the RN300 series. If you are interested in HD video transcoding with plex, the RN314 might also be a better choice (The RN204 can transcode 720p reasonably well, but stutters fairly frequently on 1080p).
With 2x2TB and 2x4TB you would have a 4x2TB RAID-5 layer and a 2x2TB RAID-1 layer using the remaining space on the 4TB disks.
Yes, and that will give you 8 TB of space on the RAID volume. There is one important restriction - new disks need to be at least the largest size already installed. So if you start with 2x4TB you can't add 2 TB drives.
I suggest starting with 2x4TB (which will give you 4 TB storage now). Later on, you can add a 3rd 4 TB drive to grow to 8 TB of space. Adding a 4th 4TB drive would bring you to 12 TB.
You can backup from your OS6 NAS to an OS4 one. Depending how you want to do it would depend which way I would recommend.
This certainly works (I do it other way around myself, my pro-6 is my main NAS running 4.2.x firmware). You want to avoid using the default "guest" owner when you create the shares ("admin" works just fine).
Backing up your main NAS to your older ones is a great approach.
BTW, if you don't have a UPS, you should get one. A larger one (1500VA) can handle all three NAS and your router. If the NAS aren't near the router you'd want a small gigabit switch that connects to all three and is aslo UPS protected. That allows you to share the UPS over the network (since it only has one USB connection).
For SeaGate I would look at SeaGate NAS disks and for WD, I would consider e.g. WD RED Pro disks.
The Seagate NAS disk is the ST4000VN000. I generally choose WD over Seagate, but of course other people here will tell you the exact opposite 🙂
For WD I'd recommend the normal reds (WD40EFRX). The Red Pro's are higher performance disks, and have a 5 year warranty. The WD40EFRX has a 3 year warranty, and is not as fast. However, it runs quite a bit cooler. I run WD30EFRX in my Pro-6, and have had no problems with them. Both are fine choices
Re: Which Ready NAS do I need please? I just don't understand some things.
If you have any idea you will want to increase capacity in the future, do not start with a full chassis.
If you start with 4x2TB, and you replace 1 with a 4TB, you gain absolutely nothing unless you utilize the extra space as non-redundant. You need a second 4TB, at which point you have added a total of 2. If you start with 2 x 4TB, you start a little smaller. But when you add another 4TB, you add 4TB to the array. I'm not sure if a 3TB or 4TB is the "best bang for the buck" right now, but it's defionately not a 2TB or smaller.
FWIW, you may also want to look at converting your Ultra and Pro to OS6. I finally got replaceemnts for all my devices that are not compatible with OS 6 (not 64 bit x85) and am in that process now. They will work fine as backups for your new system if you keep them as OS 4.2.x, but having them all on one OS, especially one that will continue to be supported (though not officially on the legacy hardware), makes a lot of sense.
