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nigelgower
Contributor II
June 15, 2017
Question

NAS Drive - best options any to avoid - need to upgrade

  • June 15, 2017
  • 6 replies
  • 1590 views
Hi

Currently have a Buffalo NAS 2 bay 500GB set as Raid 1. Have win 10 laptop and PC's.

One of the drives has given an error message a few times - rebooting has cleared so far. Memory also 85% full (not all music).

Hence thinking of upgrading to an at least 2 X 1TB system.

Are any manufacturers / drives better than others? Are there any avoid at all costs?

thanks in advance
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    6 replies

    amun
    June 15, 2017
    Everyone has their own preferences, depending on what you want to achieve... If it's your music (important, granted) and your critical data, then it might be worth looking at NAS from Synology or Qnap - both have good reps. Drives - current faves seems to be WD Red, which are drives intended for use in a NAS.
    If you just want a simple option, then the WD ready populated devices seem popular. I just use a cheap LG NAS for Sonos, but have it all backed up to a Synology NAS - which includes all my other data.
    Personally, I don't see the point of RAID - it's rare that anyone truly needs the extra speed of RAID 0, and RAID 1 and above are more suitable for corporate use. A decent backup system is much more important, for when (not if) your drive fails.
    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    June 16, 2017
    I don't have a brand suggestion for you but do have a couple thoughts. Look at the company you are considering buying the NAS from and their history of ongoing support, don't end up like me with a WD Live drive that Western Digital has apparently abandoned: WD Live status: Last Update:Tue 23 Jun 2015

    You don't need much throughput to satisfy Sonos so about anything will do.

    I'm looking at using a Raspberry Pi computer and USB external drive as a low-cost option, at least it sees security updates and support. I'm looking at doing that here but using a USB to SATA converter to add an old 256GB SSD for a very low power setup. Zero cost to me as I have all the bits in my spare/old parts collection.

    As was said RAID isn't what you need, you need a backup on a different device. I keep two backups, one on my computer and the second on an external USB drive that is left un-connected until I want to add new music to it.
    Dave_O
    Avid Contributor I
    June 16, 2017
    I've had good luck for over a year with Synology / WD Red drives. Their DS216J model is a good fit for 2 bays. Be sure to check that the exact disk model you are considering is on the manufacturers support HW list.
    nigelgowerAuthor
    Contributor II
    June 19, 2017
    Many thanks for comments, decided to use RAID so got instant back up - probably not the best way but it ensures I have a copy.
    denon_buyer
    denon_buyer
    Contributor III
    June 19, 2017
    I use a 3Gb Netbook Live NAS with a second one as a backup that mirrors it. You can get one already set up with the two drives, but I bought them at different times and allows replacement of one or the other. Also works as Cloud Storeage, so I can access my music, photos and files anywhere, even on my phone. Great.
    amun
    June 20, 2017
    Many thanks for comments, decided to use RAID so got instant back up - probably not the best way but it ensures I have a copy.

    RAID is not a backup system - it's so that a device can keep working until the faulty drive is replaced. The type of thing that can take out a drive can also take out the entire RAID setup, so it's not a backup.
    If you want a backup, put a proper backup system in place.
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