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Has anyone experience of NAS (Network Attached Storage)?

Avatar Rick Churchill
I want to use the NAS as a back up device for my MacBook and PC and also as a file store for files that are not resident on either computer. I may possibly want to use it as a media server which will hopefully stream 4K videos.

I suppose we are in a transition period where 6 and 8K SSDs are still too expensive and so 3.5 inch HDDs are still the media of choice but can I change these later? (Presumably it is possible to put an SDD into the HDD caddy)

Can I get away with just 2 discs?
How do I reconcile local storage with the cloud? (Would I need cloud storage if I have internet access to the NAS?)

Any information would be helpful.

Re: Has anyone experience of NAS (Network Attached Storage)?

Avatar Tony Still
As someone with no experience of NASs, I'll take a punt at your questions:

I also presume that you can replace HDDs with SSDs, though there may be restrictions that force you to switch more than one at a time.

The number of disks will, I think, depend upon what you're trying to achieve with the NAS. I don't see why you can't use any number (though check that the unit is happy with empty bays) unless you want RAID functionality.

A RAID can offer redundancy in the face of a drive failure, speed of access (that I think is called striping), or a mix of these. It might also impose restrictions on the use of dissimilar drives (though RAID users often try to use drives from mixed batches or manufacturers to guard against "bad batches" of drives - there is statistical evidence that this does happen). Two drives can probably support any one of these features.

I don't know what you mean by reconciliation with the cloud. AFAIK, a NAS is logically just a (local) network-accessible external drive so has nothing to reconcile unless you choose some form of file duplication that you want to dynamically maintain.

If you choose to make it available to the wider Internet, it will look like more cloud storage and complement whatever else you have. Other services would depend upon the NAS and its software; you'd probably need a computer available 24/7 to host it too.

As usual, I recommend Howard Oakley's Eclectic Light website where he has a variety of articles on both RAID and NAS.

Hope this helps (and doesn't mislead)!

Re: Has anyone experience of NAS (Network Attached Storage)?

Avatar Stuart Affleck
NAS is something I've long been aware of, interested in, but never stumped up for. Would point out that RAID (any type, not just the striped RAID 0) is not a backup- there is even a website with that name- if a drive goes down, or there's a problem with the unit, you lose your data, at least temporarily. And you can never have too many backups.

https://nascompares.com/2024/12/18/best-2-bay-nas-of-the-year-2024/ might be a good starting point.

Re: Has anyone experience of NAS (Network Attached Storage)?

Avatar Rick Churchill
I can use the NAS for storage which can then be accessed by both my PC and Mac. I understand that these files will not have a backup although RAID gives some security if one drive becomes faulty. In addition I can back up the Mac with TimeMachine (and my PC with a similar application programme) which will of course be security as a second source of files (unless my house burns down).

I am wondering whether a pair of drives in a RAID configuration can share these functions or whether I have to buy more drives. In particular whether TimeMachine will “mix it” with other file storage. Probably it will be just a case of partitioning the drives but I haven’t had this confirmed yet in anything that I have read/watched. At present I have watched that many “How to set up a NAS drive” that only discuss using the NAS for one function.

When I say “reconcile with cloud storage” I mean that at present my phone will synchronise with files in the cloud put there by the Mac or phone but if I store them on the NAS instead I will probably lose the seamless access. I am not sure whether it is possible for files on the phone to sync with the NAS and how easy it is in the field to quickly access information I might need. I could end up with files I want synchronised to all my devices in the cloud (not backed up but pretty secure), files on the NAS in storage (but needed to be backed up) which are not synchronised to my phone plus backup files of my Mac and PC.

Thanks Tony and Stuart for your comments. Unfortunately Howard Oakley's Eclectic Light discussion about NASs refers to his articles in MacFormat (Issue 376) and MacLife (issue 191) which unfortunately are so old to be not accessible to LibrariesWest

The NAS hardware review will be the one to study when I have satisfied myself that NAS will do all that I want.

Re: Has anyone experience of NAS (Network Attached Storage)?

Avatar Stuart Affleck
Rick, unlike on a Mac, you don't need a dedicated drive for Time Machine on a NAS- the usual procedure is to set up a shared folder (eg, QNAP's instructions here https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial/article/how-to-back-up-your-mac-to-qnap-nas-using-time-machine). You can define the maximum size of these folders so you can have (for example) Time Machine, a Windows backup, iTunes…all on one NAS. They also have snapshot capability, so (yes, just like Time Machine) you can recover older versions of files. QNAP for one also has cloud storage options, so you can syncronise and or back up data to cloud providers.

A two-drive option would cover everything you want- assuming you have large enough drives in it of course- but four (or of course more) drives would also allow for higher RAID levels, so one or more drives can fail and the parity data on the others can restore its contents to a replacement.

Re: Has anyone experience of NAS (Network Attached Storage)?

Avatar Tony Still
Dedicated drives for Time Machine/PC-back-up would be advisable (IMHO). Using a 2 disk NAS for them as well as your external data means you've just one duplicated drive away from total data loss.

Accessing information on your phone/iPad from drives other than iCloud drive is good since the Files app matured. I wonder (with no time to investigate) whether a service like Dropbox could share/sync data on the NAS to your other devices.

Sorry that Eclectic Light let you down (my bad, I didn't check). Perhaps my memory was of his writings on RAID.

Re: Has anyone experience of NAS (Network Attached Storage)?

Avatar Rick Churchill
Thanks Stuart and Tony.
I looked at the cost of expanding my iCloud storage but it is far more expensive than buying a NAS device.
I ditched Dropbox when Apple allowed me to send large video files using MailDrop and it took me some time to unravel it from my Mac and PC. I don't want to get involved again.
The QNAP article convinced me that configuring a NAS will be less trouble than I thought.
Although I would like to have more than a 2 bay NAS where the preferred location is too small a space. If I can have a RAID 1 configuration where one drive is mirrored on the other then the data is secure if one drive fails and I will back up to another drive occasionally to keep safe.
I now have to decide on the hardware.

Re: Has anyone experience of NAS (Network Attached Storage)?

Avatar Rick Churchill
I discovered that QNAP do a 3 bay NAS which will fit in the available space so I have placed an order. It will be installed with 4TB drives (giving me 8TB of storage in RAID 5 which allows 1 drive to fail before I lose data).
 
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