Network Storage Design

[mike911]

I am deciding between possibility of opting for DIY, Off-Shelf NAS or stay with my existing 2-bay NAS. Understand that there is many different discussions ongoing but I do believe everyone's have a different needs/usage.

Issue now is that I have to spending a large amount of time to manage, re-sort and re-sync my data across all disks as the 2 main drives are constantly full. Which is exhaustive as it can take days to get the sync-ing done.

My Existing Setup
[EXT4] 2x2tb on a Dlink DNS-320 [Service Drives]
[EXT4] 2x1tb and 2x3tb Spare Drives [Backup Duplicate of data]
[New] And recent additional of 2x3tb Spare Drives

There is no RAID 0/1 deployed or scheduled backup done. All syncing of data backup is done manually across other standalone disks through another desktop.

I tend to over backup (1:1 or 1:2, as main:backup), as I have past experience of losing data. My data consist largely on Video Media and some smaller data (School, Work, Personal)

Can anyone share your storage design or some disks management tips for my reference?

 

[jtjt00]

With the number of disks, you can get synology 4 or more bay NAS running SHR.

 

[mike911]

I'm thinking of a few setup ideas, cause I'm not sure if 4bay would have restrictions to mount spare disks to perform internal (faster) transfers for backup than over network. But if I were to go to 5 bay NAS solution the price would increase quite alot.

Setup 1 - Off Shelf NAS (4Bay) - Cost $550-600
1tb for scratch + Synology/Asustor Installed Apps
3tb for video
2tb for data
1 Spare for backup hotswap

Setup 2 - Off Shelf NAS (4Bay) - Cost $550-600
1tb for scratch + Synology/Asustor Installed Apps
3x3tb Software RAID5 for videos and data
No Spare slot for mounting backup drives

Should I go for 5bay (With or without RAID) to have a spare slot always ready to mount the spares for backup. Then perhaps I could consider diy nas as a solution. But will need to find a cost/power effective solution to match as close as a off-shelf NAS.

 

[jtjt00]

If you are into DIY for NAS, here is a good thread for a start:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/storage-clinic-119/build-your-own-nas-byon-4251807.html

....Then perhaps I could consider diy nas as a solution. But will need to find a cost/power effective solution to match as close as a off-shelf NAS.

 

[mike911]

If you are into DIY for NAS, here is a good thread for a start:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/storage-clinic-119/build-your-own-nas-byon-4251807.html

Thank you. Did read abit in the past. I'll run through again. Downsides that i see so far about DIY is the power consumption and the parts finding (especially casing to keep the budget low). Otherwise it can offer good expansion, flexibility and even performance.

 

[mike911]

Read some reviews between asustor and synology NAS. Anyone has any comments about asustor nas (i.e. plugins, data management, reliability)? Comparing between an Intel Atom AS-304T vs a Marvel DS414 cost similar. but an intel Synology variant (DS412+) cost way more.