[NAS] Synology NAS owner club!

[i1magic]

I am sitting on the fence with regard to Synology/QNAP/DIY NAS.

I compared the 5 year cost of using NAS plus one cloud provider (Google One 2TB tier), versus dual cloud provider (Google One 2TB, plus Microsoft Office 365 Family with up to 6*1TB), it seems to be cheaper to go with dual cloud providers, if I only need 2TB.

Compared configuration:
DS420+ with 4*4TB or 4*8TB
DS220+ with 2*4TB or 2*8TB

Then if you need another NAS to back the NAS, wow, that is a very significant cost adder.

Do you guys always run your NAS 7*24? I have not got any USB HDD failed as I only use them on demand, say once per week. And for my personal cloud WD MyCloud 3TB, even less, like once per month.

If you only need 2TB, then just go Cloud.

If you want to have 8TB or more, then go NAS.

If you want to go NAS, for 4 bays or less, normal NAS will be ok. If you go DIY NAS, do one that is at least 6 bays.

I got those cheap $2-$3 Google Shared Drive from Taobao with unlimited space for me to dump stuff that I want to backup that is not confidential.

 

[xiaofan]

Storage is not just about price alone, you should do a comparison on usage of what can and can't Cloud vs NAS.

I agree. It is just for my particular use case -- archiving of photos/videos taking from iPhone and Android phones. Roughly 450GB generated over the past 5 years.

My WD Cloud 3TB is pretty okay for backing up documents but has pretty bad mobile apps for photo backup. So I am looking for NAS with better mobile apps.

I do not download movies or use torrent, only streaming apps like SingTel Cast, YouTube, Youku and Tencent Video. I also have SingTel TV subscription.

 

[i1magic]

Storage is not just about price alone, you should do a comparison on usage of what can and can't Cloud vs NAS.

My personal POV.



For Personal, actual important data should be <100GB. Excluding pictures and videos.


For pictures and videos (excluding movies), probably < 2TB.


Anything more should be movies and video footages liao, which will need local NAS.

Are my assumptions correct?

 

[batniss]

I am sitting on the fence with regard to Synology/QNAP/DIY NAS.

I compared the 5 year cost of using NAS plus one cloud provider (Google One 2TB tier), versus dual cloud provider (Google One 2TB, plus Microsoft Office 365 Family with up to 6*1TB), it seems to be cheaper to go with dual cloud providers, if I only need 2TB.

Compared configuration:
DS420+ with 4*4TB or 4*8TB
DS220+ with 2*4TB or 2*8TB

Then if you need another NAS to back the NAS, wow, that is a very significant cost adder.

Do you guys always run your NAS 7*24? I have not got any USB HDD failed as I only use them on demand, say once per week. And for my personal cloud WD MyCloud 3TB, even less, like once per month.

U can always pump into cloud or ext hdd. I just treat my data more important than cost. Thats all.

End of the day, how important is your data. If not important why backup?

Yes my NAS runs 24*7

 

[xiaofan]

U can always pump into cloud or ext hdd. I just treat my data more important than cost. Thats all.

End of the day, how important is your data. If not important why backup?

Yes my NAS runs 24*7

The data are of course important and that is why I am thinking of triple redundancy.

But I will say I tend to trust the cloud providers like Google/Apple/Microsoft than Synology/QNAP/WD/Seagate when it comes to reliability.

 

[xiaofan]

once bitten twice shy. i have the same incident donkey years back and that is the reason why i have 2 NAS. 1 to backup the main NAS.

alternatively, u can do cloud.

HDD has a lot of moving parts?

Yes my NAS runs 24*7

I guess if I buy a NAS the life will be longer as I only use it on demand and not 24/7. I only run my ONT and wireless router 24/7 but not other IT related equipment.

The horror story here about mechanical HDD failure or NAS failure seem to related to 24/7 operation and things can be worse with 4 HDDs or more HDDs in a NAS due to temperature and vibration.

Friends from Seagate/WD seem to suggest changing external HDDs every three years.

 

[xiaofan]

My personal POV.

For Personal, actual important data should be <100GB. Excluding pictures and videos.

For pictures and videos (excluding movies), probably < 2TB.

Anything more should be movies and video footages liao, which will need local NAS.

Are my assumptions correct?

I think your assumption will cover majority of the use cases.

Still a local NAS can be useful even if the data is less than 2TB because the desire to have a local copy. Cloud providers can be down as well and you can also accidentally delete the files.

But all in all, I guess I do not need a 4 bay NAS since the local data will not exceed 4TB in the foreseeable future, probably a two bay DS220+ will do. But still I will explore other DIY option first.

 

[batniss]

The data are of course important and that is why I am thinking of triple redundancy.

But I will say I tend to trust the cloud providers like Google/Apple/Microsoft than Synology/QNAP/WD/Seagate when it comes to reliability.

How reliable depends on how much u invest if u decide on having it in house over cloud vendors.

Likewise the same applies for cloud providers.

 

[batniss]

I guess if I buy a NAS the life will be longer as I only use it on demand and not 24/7. I only run my ONT and wireless router 24/7 but not other IT related equipment.

The horror story here about mechanical HDD failure or NAS failure seem to related to 24/7 operation and things can be worse with 4 HDDs or more HDDs in a NAS due to temperature and vibration.

Friends from Seagate/WD seem to suggest changing external HDDs every three years.

My hdds some of them lasted more than 5 years. So far i keeps upgrading my hdds capacity so it i cant really tell u how long my mech hdd will last (longest). Having said that i do have enterprise grade hdd for my main unit.

If you have so many push backs, i think better for you take cloud as a service rather than investing in NAS.

People who get NAS usually use it more than just storage. If your sole purpose is purely storage, go cloud. That's my 2cents.

 

[batniss]

I think your assumption will cover majority of the use cases.

Still a local NAS can be useful even if the data is less than 2TB because the desire to have a local copy. Cloud providers can be down as well and you can also accidentally delete the files.

But all in all, I guess I do not need a 4 bay NAS since the local data will not exceed 4TB in the foreseeable future, probably a two bay DS220+ will do. But still I will explore other DIY option first.

Delete the files? There is versioning (some called it shadow copies) for cloud providers.

Even my Synology has versioning enabled so if i accidentally removed a file, i can always have it reinstated.

 

[jtjt00]

I guess if I buy a NAS the life will be longer as I only use it on demand and not 24/7. I only run my ONT and wireless router 24/7 but not other IT related equipment.

The horror story here about mechanical HDD failure or NAS failure seem to related to 24/7 operation and things can be worse with 4 HDDs or more HDDs in a NAS due to temperature and vibration.

Friends from Seagate/WD seem to suggest changing external HDDs every three years.

.
In my case, my DS418 run 64 hours per week:
Weekday: 6 hours
Weekend: 17 hours

 

[xiaofan]

Delete the files? There is versioning (some called it shadow copies) for cloud providers.

Even my Synology has versioning enabled so if i accidentally removed a file, i can always have it reinstated.

You do not have that option for Google Photos. Google Drive has the file versioning but not Google Photos.

But anyway this is not a major problem. The features and ease of use of Google Photos make it hard to be replaced.

Probably a 2 Bay DS220+ with 2*6TB HDD will serve me well already.

Typical workflow for many people:
Mobile phone -- NAS
Mobile phone -- Cloud

My current workflow:
Mobile phone -- Cloud (Google Photos)
Google Cloud -- temp local storage on computer (monthly, manually).
Local temp storage -- USB HDD x 2 (monthly)

I tried with mobile phone to WD Mycloud but it is a failure due to lousy mobile apps.

Potential future workflow with a NAS, which is indeed simpler.
Mobile phone -- Cloud
Mobile phone -- NAS
NAS -- USB HDD

 

[batniss]

You do not have that option for Google Photos. Google Drive has the file versioning but not Google Photos.

But anyway this is not a major problem. The features and ease of use of Google Photos make it hard to be replaced.

Probably a 2 Bay DS220+ with 2*6TB HDD will serve me well already.

Typical workflow for many people:
Mobile phone -- NAS
Mobile phone -- Cloud

My current workflow:
Mobile phone -- Cloud (Google Photos)
Google Cloud -- temp local storage on computer (monthly, manually).
Local temp storage -- USB HDD x 2 (monthly)

I tried with mobile phone to WD Mycloud but it is a failure due to lousy mobile apps.

Potential future workflow with a NAS, which is indeed simpler.
Mobile phone -- Cloud
Mobile phone -- NAS
NAS -- USB HDD

U can always store your photos as files.

The NAS can hibernate-deep sleep your external hdd accordingly so u can have it plugged in all the time (another option)

 

[xiaofan]

.
In my case, my DS418 run 64 hours per week:
Weekday: 6 hours
Weekend: 17 hours

Yes this seems to be a good duty cycle to use a NAS to prolong the lifespan.

Probably I will run only during weekend for 16 to 24 hours, as I will not use it for streaming, rather only for file storage.

 

[batniss]

Yes this seems to be a good duty cycle to use a NAS to prolong the lifespan.

Probably I will run only during weekend for 16 to 24 hours, as I will not use it for streaming, rather only for file storage.

Interestingly i believe on another school of thought. Shutting down and up actually stresses the disk more and ended up getting the disks killed more frequently than keeping it constantly on.

 

[xiaofan]

U can always store your photos as files.

The NAS can hibernate-deep sleep your external hdd accordingly so u can have it plugged in all the time (another option)

Yes that is a way but there is some complications as Google Photos and Google Drive are not integrated. I actually do not use Google Drive for file storage as of now.

Right now Google Photos backed up in High Quality is free. I have used it for about 4 years plus. They will start to charge from 1 June 2020 and I will pay for Google One subscription. After that I will still mainly use Google Photos, but probably I will use Google Drive a bit as well.

Google has done two changes which affect Google Photos.
1) In 2019, decouple Google Photos and Google Drive
https://blog.google/products/photos/simplifying-google-photos-and-google-drive/
https://support.google.com/photos/answer/9316089?hl=en

2) Starting June 1, 2021, photos and videos backed up in High quality will start to count towards the Google Account storage. It is free prior to that.
https://blog.google/products/photos/storage-changes/
https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6220791#zippy=,original-quality,high-quality

 

[xiaofan]

Interestingly i believe on another school of thought. Shutting down and up actually stresses the disk more and ended up getting the disks killed more frequently than keeping it constantly on.

Yes that is also a valid concern.

By right it is said that Desktop HDDs are configured for constant on/off operations and NAS HDDs are configured for 24/7 use.

However, I just have the habit of shutting all computers down after use and I consider NAS as a small computer as well.

Haha, maybe I can use cheaper desktop HDDs for my usage pattern and not NAS HDDs. (Edit: not really worth it as the price difference is not that big if I only need two HDDs or even 4 HDDs).

 

[batniss]

Yes that is also a valid concern.

By right it is said that Desktop HDDs are configured for constant on/off operations and NAS HDDs are configured for 24/7 use.

However, I just have the habit of shutting all computers down after use and I consider NAS as a small computer as well.

Haha, maybe I can use cheaper desktop HDDs for my usage pattern and not NAS HDDs. (Edit: not really worth it as the price difference is not that big if I only need two HDDs or even 4 HDDs).

I am using regular hdd and enterprise hdd for main units not those marketing gimmick nas drives. Save your money on those. Its usually slower and more pricier. No need at all.

 

[bencheongcm]

Thus there is a Cloud Sync function on Synology to sort of sync you file accross cloud. I think if you want super safe, get 2 NAS for "HA/ DR" setup and then use cloud cloud with a 1TB or 2TB for whichever account you use the most of important document.

By the way anyone knows how to setup Mega to work on synology cloud sync?

 

[xiaofan]

Thus there is a Cloud Sync function on Synology to sort of sync you file accross cloud. I think if you want super safe, get 2 NAS for "HA/ DR" setup and then use cloud cloud with a 1TB or 2TB for whichever account you use the most of important document.

By the way anyone knows how to setup Mega to work on synology cloud sync?

FYI it does not work for Google Photos even though it works for Google Drive. You may have to use gphoto-sync with docker but it may not be able to download original quality photos properly as per reports. Using Google Takeout is easier.

As for mega, try this one.
https://www.synology.com/en-sg/dsm/packages/MEGAcmd