Queries on NAS and DAS Devices

[darkarn]

Hi, I am looking around for a new storage device and got quite... confused to say the least, so need some help here to sort out my thoughts (in time for next week's SITEX hopefully)

Situation
Currently, I have three HDDs:

1. Hitachi 3TB: My main HDD in a USB 3.0 enclosure that I always plug into my laptop
2. Seagate 1TB: Sitting inside my family's PC as backup for the 3TB
3. Samsung 2TB: Sitting inside my family's PC as backup for the 3TB

My workflow is Laptop>HDD 1>HDD 2/3 (Depending on what I am working on)

I want to shift HDDs 2 and 3 out of the PC to free up the SATA ports a bit and to avoid a case whereby if the PC goes down, my backup also goes down (almost happened last week, thankfully it was just a case of having to reseat SATA cables that was preventing some of the HDDs from being detected properly). I also thought that now might be a good time to upgrade a little .

I am working with a budget of $150 and prefer no RAID/JBOS whenever possible. I prefer to solve this by end of SITEX, hence prefer to buy locally (unless got some insanely good Black Friday deal from Amazon).

Options
At first, I was looking at DAS solutions and found only one that suited me:

Hotway Probox ProRaid HUR3-SU3S3 ($119). Only issue I have is that it has a RAID button in front; I am worried that if I accidentally press it, the device may just reformat my HDDs (even though the manual says must hold for three seconds and then press another button at the back) . But of course, this option is the fastest due to USB 3.0 and that it is the closest to my current workflow.

Then I decided to give NAS a shot (since I have been eyeing NAS for some time and wanted to give that technology a try) and found several options:

1. D-Link DNS-320L ($99). I was quite surprised at being able to get a NAS for this cheap (even cheaper than the DAS somemore), may want it (especially if they sell it for cheaper at certain timings during SITEX) as a nice way to start playing around with NAS. But I have been hearing not so good things about it like the unit dying off easily and that it is the slowest according to SmallNetBuilder; is this the case all the time?

2. D-Link DNS-327L ($159). This option is pushing my budget a little but the USB 3.0 port can be handy as I do have an USB 3.0 HDD enclosure that can work with that. The lack of reviews and SmallNetBuilder not reviewing it yet makes comparison a little tough though...

Seeing how things are, I asked myself if I can go expand my budget by at most $50 and found these options:

3. NETGEAR RN10200 ReadyNAS 102 ($219) Has three years of warranty, which comes in handy (compared to the others which has only two years). Looks like a good all-rounder with decent apps and speeds.

4. Synology DS214se ($207) Quite impressed with the software and OS for this device. It is just too bad that there is no USB 3.0 port.

5. Thecus N2310 ($199) Fastest I have seen so far, quite impressive. No iSCSI though, will that affect anything?

Either way, for all 5 options, I realise that I will need to change my workflow a little (i.e. NAS first and then backup to USB enclosure using the USB port) and that accessing the NAS via Ethernet will be slower. I also will need to reformat both HDDs, which means there will be a short period of time when my data will be vulnerable. May I know how much this reduction of speed is in real-world conditions?

Other Questions
1. Are my analysis of the options correct or am I missing something?
2. If using NAS, when the NAS goes down, can I use Parted Magic on my laptop to access the HDDs (after pulling out from the NAS)?

Thanks for reading this long post and hope to hear from you all soon

 

[Gribber]

I have a 327l and i m impress with the speed in terms of the $ i paid for.

The 327l is only gd for people who needs a pure storage space to keep data

 

[Asure7]

If you have no need for network capabilities, there is no need for NAS which is usually a lot slower compared to direct usb 3.0 connection for the entry level ones.

The Hotway Probox model you are looking at uses RAID/JBOD.
If you do not want that, and just want a basic multi-bay enclosure, take a look at HF2-SU3S2.

HOTWAY | HF2-SU3S2

 

[darkarn]

I have a 327l and i m impress with the speed in terms of the $ i paid for.

The 327l is only gd for people who needs a pure storage space to keep data

Thanks, does this mean that I should only move files in or out of the NAS (instead of working directly) How fast is it?

 

[darkarn]

If you have no need for network capabilities, there is no need for NAS which is usually a lot slower compared to direct usb 3.0 connection for the entry level ones.

The Hotway Probox model you are looking at uses RAID/JBOD.
If you do not want that, and just want a basic multi-bay enclosure, take a look at HF2-SU3S2.

HOTWAY | HF2-SU3S2

Thanks, I found some shops that are selling it for 188 dollars. Am not sure if I want it as right now, not sure if it is a good idea to put 4 HDDs in the same place compared to two

 

[darkarn]

Update: Thought through it a little and am siding more with the NASes cos of can schedule weekly HDD scans and notification features.

But I am still quite confused over their concept: I noticed that all NASes insist on making a shared folder during setup; does this mean that I can access only the shared folders on my Windows computer?

Also, am I right to say that I cannot use the NAS as if it is an USB drive?

Paiseh, triple post cos typing from phone

 

[Gribber]

Thanks, does this mean that I should only move files in or out of the NAS (instead of working directly) How fast is it?

You could work directly with it not a prob at all.

At 60-80MBps no issue to work or play videos on it simultaneously

 

[Gribber]

Update: Thought through it a little and am siding more with the NASes cos of can schedule weekly HDD scans and notification features.

But I am still quite confused over their concept: I noticed that all NASes insist on making a shared folder during setup; does this mean that I can access only the shared folders on my Windows computer?

Also, am I right to say that I cannot use the NAS as if it is an USB drive?

Yes, you could access the files as if its like a shared folder.

How do you propose using a NAS like an usb drive? a network drive opens to unlimited possibilities as compared to an USB drive

 

[darkarn]

You could work directly with it not a prob at all.

At 60-80MBps no issue to work or play videos on it simultaneously

Wah, quite high leh... How about the apps?

 

[Gribber]

Wah, quite high leh... How about the apps?

What kind of apps are you looking for? Or you meant installing your apps on the NAS?

 

[darkarn]

Yes, you could access the files as if its like a shared folder.

How do you propose using a NAS like an usb drive? a network drive opens to unlimited possibilities as compared to an USB drive

Hmm... I not sure how to best phrase it, I am thinking of using it like as before; a network drive on the Windows PC connected to my laptop.

The least I want is that the NAS has the exact file and folder structure (filesystem different is ok) as whatever I am having on my current USB 3.0 HDD.

What kind of apps are you looking for? Or you meant installing your apps on the NAS?

Good point, I first-timer so not too sure what I exactly want I quite impressed with Synology and Thecus (and by smaller extent, Netgear) cos' of the amount of apps I can install on the NAS. D-Link one like not very well-supported

 

[Gribber]

Well. Pay peanuts gets monkey ma.

It all boils down to what you want from the NAS.

Initially you mentioned(irrc) you only want storage bank.

If you want rich nas apps support, Synology will be a good choice instead but comes at a cost

 

[Gribber]

The NAS will have the same exact file and folder structure the way you create your shares and etc. It all boils down to how you mirror it.

 

[darkarn]

Well. Pay peanuts gets monkey ma.

It all boils down to what you want from the NAS.

Initially you mentioned(irrc) you only want storage bank.

If you want rich nas apps support, Synology will be a good choice instead but comes at a cost

You are right, at first I wanted a storage bank, but when I looked up NASes more and saw the possibilities...

 

[darkarn]

The NAS will have the same exact file and folder structure the way you create your shares and etc. It all boils down to how you mirror it.

Hmmm... So if I share the root directory, I should be able to do what I wanted?

 

[Gribber]

Hmmm... So if I share the root directory, I should be able to do what I wanted?

Yes
10chars

 

[darkarn]

Yes
10chars

Thanks lol

 

[darkarn]

Ok, quick post-SITEX update: The DS215J that was just launched seems to be the perfect tie-breaker for this situation...

But after more discussions with my friend, I decided to hold until next show when I can get the NAS and proper NAS-ready HDDs as a bundle, I hope that's a good decision...

Meanwhile I just hang in there with another USB enclosure

 

[danielkok]

Ok, quick post-SITEX update: The DS215J that was just launched seems to be the perfect tie-breaker for this situation...

But after more discussions with my friend, I decided to hold until next show when I can get the NAS and proper NAS-ready HDDs as a bundle, I hope that's a good decision...

Meanwhile I just hang in there with another USB enclosure

Same situation as you. And decided on the same course of action as you too!

DS215J next show in March!