Looking for a good NAS device

[RikuoAmero]

Hey Kametsu,

I'm getting started on my next computer build and so, I've decided that the first thing I'm gonna do is get a fuckton of storage. I am starting to run out of space (at the time of writing I have just over a terabyte free spread out over four hard drives).

So, the other day, I was watching LinusTechTips and he mentioned a new line of hard drive that Western Digital have released: Red Drives
/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkmEFfCy-88

In the video he explains that these Red drives are specifically manufactured to work in consumer level NAS/RAID arrays. So, given my complete lack of familiarity with NAS/RAID (I understand the theory but have never seen one in action) I need some help.

The following are the online retailers in Ireland that I have previously bought from
/>http://www.dabs.ie/category/components-and-storage,hard-drives,nas/11272-52930000
/>http://www.elara.ie/products/harddisknet.aspx?available=checked
/>http://www.elara.ie/products/harddiskrarr.aspx?available=checked
/>http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/catalog/zkb_01opsl/11_hdd/08_nas/default.aspx

Please, don't give me links to North American retailers, because then I'd have to worry about international shipping and I'll also have to pay customs fees, which I don't want to do. Just go through the above links and tell me which device is best.

I want to buy from them because well, they're in Ireland, thus, I don't have to worry about say a seller from Amazon.co.uk not shipping here.

What I want with the chosen device

1) Very good reliability. I don't want a cheap device that will destroy my drives after five minutes.

2) At least 4 bays for 3.5 inch drives, able to accept 3TB+ drives. Although, a 5 bay compatible with 4TB would be preferable.

3) Both USB 3.0 and ethernet connection

4) Not too pricey. I'm not worried too much about cost, so say a maximum cost of €300-350?

5) One that uses real RAID. By that I mean not say a Drobo that does the following
/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOtbNd3TVGE&feature=player_detailpage#t=360s

where, if the device fails, I'd have to get a replacement device, instead of just sticking the drive in my computer or in a hard drive dock, in order to get at the data.

Okay, thanks people!

[† An IP BreAKDoWN]

I'm looking to get the same thing. It sounds like you want a server instead, or at least another PC that specializes in HDDs. The red drives are the afforable way to go, however if you want the best drives then you want to get enterprise class. If you want a 4 TB hard drive, this is the one you would want to get. Though its a really expensive drive its pretty much the best drive you could buy. Personally I'm going to get 8 of those 3 TBs and a 8 switch RAID controller and throw it into RAID 6, so that way I can have 2 drives fail and still lose no data. As far a the cpu, mobo, ram and all that jazz I'm still deciding to get like a intel/z77 mobo/16 GB on two sticks, or get Opteron 6282/MBD-H8SGL-O/16 GB on 1 ECC stick. Though the PC one looks like its going to be ~$4000 and the server looks like its going to be ~$5000. So I guess its all up to what you want to do.

[RikuoAmero]

Nah, I'm not going to get a server. I just want an external RAID/NAS device. And I might just choose to get the 4TB Red drives, even though they're more expensive - hey 5 x 4TB, even in RAID is still plenty of space, especially considering the 8TB already in my desktop.

[† An IP BreAKDoWN]

Well are you going to RAID them? And don't let the word server scare you, you can just get a small pc and throw in a RAID controller and throw in muiltple hard drives. See thats the problem you'll run into. If you wanted any more hard drives you'd be forced to get a new NAS.

[RikuoAmero]

No, no PC folks. I'm not scared of getting a home server, just I want a NAS/RAID enclosure, which is infinitely more simple and less time-consuming for me. If I wanted another computer, I'd have to get a chassis, CPU, RAM, motherboard, etc, which I don't want to bother with for the sake of a few hard drives. All I'm looking for is opinions on which NAS device is best from those Irish online retailers I linked to.

[† An IP BreAKDoWN]

This is what I would get, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822122064

It's not the best specs, but you won't really find anything good that is out of this range. For the price of this NAS I'd personally just build my own, esp since you have the know how on how to do it. But hey, if you don't want to, your loss. And I'm not going to find a Irish retailer for this, so I'll let you figure that out on your own.

No, no PC folks.

I'm just one person, lol.

[ZeroPenguins]

What An IP BreAKDoWN said is true, building your own server PC is a lot better. Those "simple" NAS enclosure case are hell expensive and not even worth it. I still have a dual core processor laying around somewhere, I personally would rather use that CPU and build myself a new computer. Also RAID controllers are a lot better, gives you more features such as a buffering system (RAM or SSD) for better speeds, better reliability, ethernet speed, crap loads of SATA ports, and other little benefits. Price point wise, they can be cheaper than buying a NAS enclosure.

[† An IP BreAKDoWN]

Yes it does take some time building it, but OMG its sooooo fun.

If you start from scratch you have more available options like extra HDDs and dvd drives and what have you.

[RikuoAmero]

Yes it does take some time building it, but OMG its sooooo fun.

If you start from scratch you have more available options like extra HDDs and dvd drives and what have you.

Sigh...guys...I'm trying very hard to make it clear to you guys. I don't want to build a separate PC just for hard drives, especially if as you suggest, "dvd drives". My desktop right now has a Blu-ray burner drive in it, and the last time I used it was when I put in Ass Creed Brotherhood a few months back. Since then, I've stopped using optical discs completely. A separate PC would entail me to go out and choose a chassis, CPU, RAM, ITX motherboard, RAID card, power supply, copy of Windows Home Server (I'm not quite ready to move to open source OS's just yet). All of that is extra time, money and hassle I don't want to get into. Plus, explain to me how all those components listed above would somehow be cheaper than a NAS enclosure? Off the top of my head, I'm looking at €500-700 (not counting the actual hard drives) there for good quality parts not likely to fail on me.

What I am asking for is a NAS enclosure. Not a PC. Constantly spouting to me "get a PC instead" is like answering someone's query about which Nvidia graphics card is best for him by instead constantly replying with suggestions for Radeon cards. That is not the question I asked. I am asking for a NAS enclosure, not a PC. I know how to build a PC. You all, for lack of a better term, saw me build it earlier on in the year (and were a great help with suggestions and tips, I do thank you for that!). I don't have space for a server PC (even mITX sized!), my room is already quite full.

So please...if you don't have a suggestion about which NAS enclosure is best, then don't bother responding.

[byakuya98]

You need something like this Im assuming?

/>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817388023

[† An IP BreAKDoWN]

Perhaps you didn't see my link so I'll say it again

This is what I would get, http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822122064

RikuoAmero, the point I'm trying to make to you is that you can get the better hardware for the same price. And as for NAS vs OS shiz, NAS might be easier to configure, but its very limited. You say you want a long lasting NAS, but what if you run out of room on your NAS? Those are types of things I'm trying to suggest to you. :/

And here is an example for the price to build your own NAS type of server. http://puu.sh/176MC As you can see it has 0.47 GHz more cpu power, 3 GB more ram, a better PSU, a much better RAID controller, one extra 3.5 bay, along with extra 2.5 bays. Its longer than the NAS storage, but meh. As a OS you can use freeNAS. Here is a good read. http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=3858 Over all the extra $50 would be much more worth it IMO. You could use a different combo and probably get it down to ~$575, but you'd have to take shortcuts.

Though for if you still want to get just a prebuilt NAS then I'd just get that first one I showed you. But thats my preference on NAS in general.

Edited September 21, 2012 by An IP BreAKDoWN

[RikuoAmero]

Perhaps you didn't see my link so I'll say it again

This is what I would get, http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822122064

RikuoAmero, the point I'm trying to make to you is that you can get the better hardware for the same price. And as for NAS vs OS shiz, NAS might be easier to configure, but its very limited. You say you want a long lasting NAS, but what if you run out of room on your NAS? Those are types of things I'm trying to suggest to you. :/

And here is an example for the price to build your own NAS type of server. http://puu.sh/176MC As you can see it has 0.47 GHz more cpu power, 3 GB more ram, a better PSU, a much better RAID controller, one extra 3.5 bay, along with extra 2.5 bays. Its longer than the NAS storage, but meh. As a OS you can use freeNAS. Here is a good read. http://forums.smalln...read.php?t=3858 Over all the extra $50 would be much more worth it IMO. You could use a different combo and probably get it down to ~$575, but you'd have to take shortcuts.

Though for if you still want to get just a prebuilt NAS then I'd just get that first one I showed you. But thats my preference on NAS in general.

Okay, thanks, I'll see if I can find that device on the Irish retailers here...speaking of Irish, that list of options you showed me, won't apply here in Ireland, especially with all the discounts. Which is why I asked for Irish links in the first place.

Yes, an actual server PC would be more flexible, but I don't need another PC. My current desktop does everything for me, the reason I'm looking for a separate NAS enclosure is simply because I've run out of room in it to throw in hard drives (and by that, I mean I have no more SATA and power connectors left, not physical room). I'm looking for a small device I can throw in a corner that would fit preferably 5 drives, with USB 3.0 and ethernet. Everyone else here prefers server PCs, but not me, I don't need or want one. I'm not looking to spend $700 dollars (whatever the equivalent is in euros) on computer components before I even get to purchasing the actual hard drives (and before I get to purchasing components for my next planned build).

Edited September 21, 2012 by RikuoAmero

[† An IP BreAKDoWN]

Okay, thanks, I'll see if I can find that device on the Irish retailers here...speaking of Irish, that list of options you showed me, won't apply here in Ireland, especially with all the discounts. Which is why I asked for Irish links in the first place.

Yes, an actual server PC would be more flexible, but I don't need another PC. My current desktop does everything for me, the reason I'm looking for a separate NAS enclosure is simply because I've run out of room in it to throw in hard drives (and by that, I mean I have no more SATA and power connectors left, not physical room). I'm looking for a small device I can throw in a corner that would fit preferably 5 drives, with USB 3.0 and ethernet. Everyone else here prefers server PCs, but not me, I don't need or want one. I'm not looking to spend $700 dollars (whatever the equivalent is in euros) on computer components before I even get to purchasing the actual hard drives (and before I get to purchasing components for my next planned build).

Are you asking for opinions on what people would buy or to actually shop for you? I showed you that newegg link so I can show you what I would get with the specifications you wanted, its a little more expensive than your range, but a long lasting NAS will be really expensive for the stuff you want. Sorry but its just going to be that way. I found this thats more in your price range: http://www.dabs.ie/products/netgear-readynas-nv--v2--4-bay----no-drives-included-7SLK.html?refs=52930000&src=3 tbh I'm not sure why this is so cheap on this site, the other retailers have this one at 300+. But you have no USB 3.0, have 4 bays, and 12 TB max. But ethernet is faster than USB 3.0 anyways so you could probably throw out 3.0. The only reason I can see you having one with 3.0 is to be able to plug a linux distro loaded on the drive and use that. But idk if thats why you want that. And please stop referring to two people as everyone. It makes it look like you think we represent everyone. LOL

Edited September 21, 2012 by An IP BreAKDoWN

[kingy444]

I use the DNS-320, only a cheap box but with good harddrives never had an issue

[† An IP BreAKDoWN]

Thats only a 2 bay NAS. Though thanks for the input. iIrc RikuoAmero is just going to get a server.

[RikuoAmero]

Okay, update on this. I'm NOT going for a NAS enclosure, peer pressure drove me to drink...I mean into choosing to get a server. Just a question about that, although I'm pretty sure I already know the answer: since my server is just going to be used as a huge storage bin for files, I can just get cheap components, its only the RAID card I have to worry about? (Or would I even need a RAID card, wouldn't the SATA ports on the motherboard be sufficient for RAID? Looking to install 5 drives)

[† An IP BreAKDoWN]

You don't need to get the biggest and best hardware, what I screen shotted would be pretty ok. Though I'd get a little bit more ram. A RAID card is required since not all OS's can see the on board RAID as a RAID. What components did you have in mind?

[RikuoAmero]

You don't need to get the biggest and best hardware, what I screen shotted would be pretty ok. Though I'd get a little bit more ram. A RAID card is required since not all OS's can see the on board RAID as a RAID. What components did you have in mind?

Nothing expensive really. First off, I don't need server specific hardware do I? I don't specifically need to say, get an Intel Xeon compatible motherboard and Xeon CPU, do I? Providing the answer is no, I'll just go with cheap but good hardware, so I've had a look at a couple of cases and this one looks alrighthttp://www.dabs.ie/p...7LGF.html?src=3

CHASSIS: €107.41This is a good case, since it comes with front fans for the hard drives, has room for six hard drives (I plan on getting 5) and the side panel behind the motherboard has plenty of room for cable management. The only modification I'd make to this case would be either adding an exhaust fan or two to the top of the case.I saw this bundlehttp://www.dabs.ie/p...q=bundle&src=16Cost: €124.01NOTE: Since I mentioned I want to use a KVM switch (to save on electricity bills, since I don't want to have to turn on a separate computer simply to check the status of another one), I don't think I can use FreeNAS as the OS, since I remember hearing it doesn't offer onboard keyboard/mouse support...or am I wrong?5 of these hard driveshttp://www.dabs.ie/p...922.html?src=15HDD: €456.31 x 5Question: I've watched a couple of videos and seen a couple of server guides and they mention that my primary drive, the boot drive, has to be large for some reason. Does this mean I can't use a cheap 32GB SSD for the OS?RAID Card:Okay, a cheap 8 port cardhttp://www.dabs.ie/p...6L54.html?src=3€152Power Supplyhttp://www.dabs.ie/p...73X5.html?src=3€112Total Cost (minus Hard Drives)

EDIT: People ignore this for now, I dunno what happened to the formatting. I'll fix it in a little while, once I'm not busy.

Edited September 23, 2012 by RikuoAmero

[† L4ugh]

Do you know what OS you're going to use yet? I don't think you need hardware RAID if you're planning on using FreeNAS. It supports ZFS which has it's own built in version of RAID. I think I'd pick your OS first, and then design your NAS around it based on what features the OS supports.

to a video on FreeNAS. Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to just add it to the post.

[dante15324]

Drobo makes very good NAS devices. They aren't super cheap, but a 4 bay device that has gigabit lan and I think usb 3.0 is like $600. But it's basically plug the drives in, turn it on, and tell it what to do.