Hi all, good to see alot of discussion here.
I'm currently using a 1812+ which is still running fine. My strategy has always been to buy a larger NAS, then slowly add/replace HDD over time so the batches are spread out (learnt my lesson from the past). Currently I have 6 WD Red on SHR, and no failures throughout the 8 years.
I also back-up to separate HDDs by just copying the files over.. mainly because these are long term archives. No need daily/weekly backup.
Given the age of the server, I'm now thinking of buying a new 1819+ and deciding if (i) I should maintain the 1812+ as a backup, or (ii) stop using 1812+ and use some of the newer HDDs for the 1819+.
Questions:
1. Can anyone let me know if there is any advantage of using a second NAS for backup, versus my old method of just external HDD?
I haven't tried this feature yet, but isn't it simpler to have a 16TB HDD permanently linked to the 1819+ for regular essential backup via hyper backup or USB copy if I wanted that, and regularly change that HDD? Would the NAS be able to detect multi-bay usb-3 enclosures?
The only thing I can think of is I can reuse some old 2-6TB HDDs, but that's not really necessary to me.
2. Any strong recommendation for HDDs for the new 1819+? I was thinking of WD Red 8-14TB CMR, or Ironwolf... just leaning towards WD Red because of my good experience + matching current HDDs, versus multiple Seagate failures I had with my older NAS.