The need to have a device that is capable of storing different kinds of a file even on online network is highly recommended for many people. Also, a device that is capable of protecting every single piece of data that is stored inside the computer is very essential.
Drobo 5N is most preferred for the following uses: small office environment, home office and even home that needs a network for different purposes. For example, the Drobo NAS is a simple device but it is capable of providing safe
Monday, November 25, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
Synology DiskStation 2-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS213 Review
Over the years, Networked Attached Storage (NAS) has significantly evolved to contain the most important features of a conventional PC-based server. NAS is a computer data storage device that allows users to clear their server drive space and have access to their data quickly. Moreover, it also features a Redundant Storage Container that enables one or two hard drives to malfunction without the risk of data loss. Synology America Corp. is offering Synology DiskStation 2-Bay NAS DS213 that is
Monday, November 18, 2013
UNRAID - What Is It
UNRAID is software that is used for managing and storing digital data using a storage server. The technology was designed for digital storage such as videos, music, photos and movies. It provides an array of hard drives and gives the opportunity to share data to the local network. The most important thing that this technology offers to users is that it protects the data inside the drives. The most common benefits of this technology include: helps the individual save money, has the ability to
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
WD My Cloud EX4 8TB Personal Cloud Storage NAS Review
Legitreviews has a new review of the WD My Cloud EX4 8TB Personal Cloud Storage NAS. This is Western Digital's first four bay NAS box. It is powered by a Marvell ARMADA 300 SoC at 2.0GHz CPU and 512MB DDR3 of RAM (not upgradable). Being primarily a hard drive manufacturer, it is not surprising that Western Digital ships this new NAS in various configurations with WD Red NAS hard drives pre configured to run in RAID 5 mode.
Setup is easy:
WD is trying to make personal storage easy and
Setup is easy:
WD is trying to make personal storage easy and
To Drobo or No Drobo
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="208"] Drobo! (Photo credit: pixelthing)[/caption]
There is a discussion of the question of whether to go with a Drobo or some other type of external storage over at the Macrumors forum. The discussion deals with the question of whether the Drobo is reliable enough and what sort of speed you can expect when running a Drobo. As with most discussions about the Drobo, there are a range of opinions. One writer states that Drobo tends to be
There is a discussion of the question of whether to go with a Drobo or some other type of external storage over at the Macrumors forum. The discussion deals with the question of whether the Drobo is reliable enough and what sort of speed you can expect when running a Drobo. As with most discussions about the Drobo, there are a range of opinions. One writer states that Drobo tends to be
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Synology DS214se Reviewed
Smallnetbuilder has reviewed the Synology DS214se two drive NAS. This is Synology's entrant in the small and inexpensive NAS category. Even though it runs only $160 or less, though, this NAS still features the full suite of the Diskstation Manager software. Synology does consider this a single purpose NAS, given its low CPU power and limited RAM, so it would probably be best not to try running too many applications on the NAS while trying to maintain high file throughput.
Speed was measured
Speed was measured
Monday, November 11, 2013
New NAS - Terra Master F2-NAS 2
Terra Master is a name new (to me at least) to NAS manufacturing. There is a comprehensive review of the new Terra Master NAS over at http://us.hardware.info.
The F2-NAS 2 is a two drive bring your own disks enclosure with a striking design. The case has a handle on the top for easy transportation. The TerraMaster F2-NAS 2 runs on a Marvell 6282 1.6 GHz ARM processor and has 512 MB RAM and 512 MB flash memory making it fit in the more affordable NAS market.
Performance of this new NAS
The F2-NAS 2 is a two drive bring your own disks enclosure with a striking design. The case has a handle on the top for easy transportation. The TerraMaster F2-NAS 2 runs on a Marvell 6282 1.6 GHz ARM processor and has 512 MB RAM and 512 MB flash memory making it fit in the more affordable NAS market.
Performance of this new NAS
FreeNAS Restore Default Configuration Using SSH
Here is a tip teaching how to restore FreeNAS to the default configuration using SSH in case you lose access to the web based interface:
cp /data/factory-v1.db /data/freenas-v1.db && reboot
This will overwrite your current configuration with the default configuration stored in /data/freenas-v1.db and immediately reboot.
This can come handy if you have to reset a machine without using the web interface (because maybe you can’t access that) and without having to plug in a
cp /data/factory-v1.db /data/freenas-v1.db && reboot
This will overwrite your current configuration with the default configuration stored in /data/freenas-v1.db and immediately reboot.
This can come handy if you have to reset a machine without using the web interface (because maybe you can’t access that) and without having to plug in a
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Another Quick Review of the Synology DS214se
There is a review of the new Synology DS214se over at micromart.co.uk. The reviewer does a quick run-through of the 2 drive NAS boxes specifications and capabilities. He concludes that performance is good but not great. And he worries that the lower power processor and RAM necessary for Synology to keep the price so low will cause problems for people who try to use the software that powers the NAS to do multiple jobs at once:
What concerns me is that it can be relatively easy to overload the
What concerns me is that it can be relatively easy to overload the
ZFS File System for NAS
A discussion of the ZFS file system choices for building your own NAS is over at the overclockers.com.au forum.
One post lists the major choices available to implement ZFS at home, emphasizing BSD over Linux choices:
A list of ZFS platforms:
FreeNAS - complete features (BSD)
NAS4Free - better interface (BSD)
ZFSguru - easiest solution (BSD)
Solaris - for the nerds not wanting to jump a sinking ship
Nexenta - for the lovers of proprietary software
Linux - for the casual and
One post lists the major choices available to implement ZFS at home, emphasizing BSD over Linux choices:
A list of ZFS platforms:
FreeNAS - complete features (BSD)
NAS4Free - better interface (BSD)
ZFSguru - easiest solution (BSD)
Solaris - for the nerds not wanting to jump a sinking ship
Nexenta - for the lovers of proprietary software
Linux - for the casual and
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Selecting the Best Hard Drive for a Network Attached Storage (NAS)
There is a nice article over at custompcreview.com discussing options for choosing hard drives for use in a NAS. Over the past few years, the major manufacturers have made this a simpler task by releasing drives specifically designed for use in a NAS such as the new drives from Seagate and the Western Digital Red drives.
The article deals with the issues associated with running hard drives in a NAS:
Another point of failure is the drives themselves. Many users (myself included) opt for
The article deals with the issues associated with running hard drives in a NAS:
Another point of failure is the drives themselves. Many users (myself included) opt for
The Thecus N4560 NAS is Reviewed
Over at Smallnetbuilder there is a new review of the four drive Thecus N4560. This is a relatively low cost Intel Atom processor 4 bay NAS focused on the home user. Although the NAS has decent performance, Smallnetbuilder concludes that there are better 4-bay NAS options out there:
At $543, the Thecus N4560 is by no means the cheapest four-drive NAS. In fact, there are seven NASes that are cheaper. As you might expect, the top four cheapest NASes have low (poorer) Total NAS scores. But there
At $543, the Thecus N4560 is by no means the cheapest four-drive NAS. In fact, there are seven NASes that are cheaper. As you might expect, the top four cheapest NASes have low (poorer) Total NAS scores. But there
The Thecus N4560 Reviewed is Reviewed
Over at Smallnetbuilder there is a new review of the four drive Thecus N4560. This is a relatively low cost Intel Atom processor 4 bay NAS focused on the home user. Although the NAS has decent performance, Smallnetbuilder concludes that there are better 4-bay NAS options out there:
At $543, the Thecus N4560 is by no means the cheapest four-drive NAS. In fact, there are seven NASes that are cheaper. As you might expect, the top four cheapest NASes have low (poorer) Total NAS scores. But there
At $543, the Thecus N4560 is by no means the cheapest four-drive NAS. In fact, there are seven NASes that are cheaper. As you might expect, the top four cheapest NASes have low (poorer) Total NAS scores. But there
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
"I think I might be cursed" thread - Too Many Hard Drive Failures
A thread over at http://ask.metafilter.com/251359/I-think-i-might-be-cursed discusses what to do after too many drive failures. There are quite a few good posts which lead to the conclusion that Synology is the way to go.
The discussion also deals with Raid 1 versus Raid 5. In fact, reading that thread led me to do the analysis in my recent post "Raid 1 vs Raid 5 Cost Comparison." This post was what got me thinking:
Three WD Reds ($300): two for a RAID1 setup, one for external off-site
The discussion also deals with Raid 1 versus Raid 5. In fact, reading that thread led me to do the analysis in my recent post "Raid 1 vs Raid 5 Cost Comparison." This post was what got me thinking:
Three WD Reds ($300): two for a RAID1 setup, one for external off-site
Raid 1 vs Raid 5 Cost Comparison
I did a cost comparison using current prices on Amazon to see what the difference in price is between a 4 bay NAS using two Raid 1 volumes and one Raid 5 volume. As you can see, going with Raid 1 arrays means about a 30% premium per terebyte.
These costs do not take into account the cost of the NAS enclosure itself which should add around $360 at least for the least expensive 4-bay Synology
These costs do not take into account the cost of the NAS enclosure itself which should add around $360 at least for the least expensive 4-bay Synology
Synology Goes After the Low-End Market with the All-New DS214se
Synology seems intent on grabbing the low-end part of the NAS market. It has introduced the low priced (MSRP around $180) DS214se two bay NAS. The NAS runs the full DSM software, but it obviously is lower in power and RAM running a single core 800 MHz processor with 256 GB of DDR3 RAM.
Synology claims that the new NAS will still achieve speeds when reading that will support multiple HD video streams:
Centering on the core features of NAS devices, Synology DS214se provides handy and
Synology claims that the new NAS will still achieve speeds when reading that will support multiple HD video streams:
Centering on the core features of NAS devices, Synology DS214se provides handy and
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Yet Another Help Me Find the Right NAS Forum Thread
Another of the threads where people are helping others find the right NAS for their needs is over at http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1223281#p25610075. This thread has some good discussion of Synology vs QNAP vs Drobo. A particularly interesting post is this one where the writer compares two different Synology NAS devices and states exactly what the "j" means in several Synology product names:
I have two Synologies (a DS411+II and a DS211j), and I love both of them. One
I have two Synologies (a DS411+II and a DS211j), and I love both of them. One
Your Own Cloud Server in a Box: Western Digital's My Cloud 2TB NAS box
The theregister.co.uk has a review of the new Western Digital My Cloud 2 TB NAS box. This NAS joins the recent trend of NAS devices that allow for remote access to your files - not just from your LAN but also from the internet when you are away from home.
WD’s mobile app, WD 2 Go, has long let you draw down files from your Live and upload them too as if - your home broadband bandwidth permitting - it was your own personal Dropbox.
Speaking of which, WD 2 Go can tap into that too, and
WD’s mobile app, WD 2 Go, has long let you draw down files from your Live and upload them too as if - your home broadband bandwidth permitting - it was your own personal Dropbox.
Speaking of which, WD 2 Go can tap into that too, and
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Help Me Choose a NAS Forum Thread
I found another forum thread about choosing a NAS - this one over at stereo.net.au. The thread started almost a year ago, but still is receiving new posts. A sample post:
I currently own a Synology DS212j, which recently replaced a Netgear ReadyNAS duo.
Pros
Synology is, in my opinion, way better. Faster network performance. I could never reliably stream anything from the ReadyNAS, so it ended up just being a backup repository while I played music from a USB Drive attached directly to
I currently own a Synology DS212j, which recently replaced a Netgear ReadyNAS duo.
Pros
Synology is, in my opinion, way better. Faster network performance. I could never reliably stream anything from the ReadyNAS, so it ended up just being a backup repository while I played music from a USB Drive attached directly to
Choosing Hard Drives for a NAS
Computerworld (Michael Horowitz) has a post about choosing hard drives for a NAS. The post goes through the thought process in choosing a small NAS. He chose a single drive NAS and a 1 TB Western Digital Red drive - all for the purpose of simplicity:
Besides having fewer tickets in the hard drive failure lottery, the single platter 1TB model will use a bit less electricity, will run a bit quieter (according to published specs) and should run cooler (always a good
Besides having fewer tickets in the hard drive failure lottery, the single platter 1TB model will use a bit less electricity, will run a bit quieter (according to published specs) and should run cooler (always a good
Friday, November 1, 2013
Recommendations for NAS to Work with IMAC
There is the beginnings of a thread over at the Macrumors forum from a user asking for recommendations for a NAS to work well with an IMAC. The first response is another recommendation for UnRaid:
I have had an unRAID setup running 24/7 for several years. My array consists of 8 drives, one of which is for parity. While it's not the fastest system around, it does its job effectively and efficiently.
I share your concerns with having just one parity drive and this is the primary reason why I
I have had an unRAID setup running 24/7 for several years. My array consists of 8 drives, one of which is for parity. While it's not the fastest system around, it does its job effectively and efficiently.
I share your concerns with having just one parity drive and this is the primary reason why I
Synology DSM 5.0 Beta
Synology is going to reveal a new version of its operation system (Diskstation Manager) 5.0 (at least a beta version) in January in London. No word from Synology as to what DSM 5 holds in store, but if you follow the link below, you can register to be among the first to know on January 16th in
Official HP Microserver Owners Wiki and Thread
For owners of the popular HP Microserver that can be used as a NAS with a number of different NAS distributions, there is a wiki and discussion thread over at http://n40l.wikia.com/wiki/HP_MicroServer_N40L_Wiki.
Great little hardware that is remarkable
Great little hardware that is remarkable
Drobo 5D: Not Exactly a NAS but Speedy Storage Using USB 3 or Thunderbolt
There is a nice review over at TUAW of the 5 drive Drobo 5D - an attached storage device that provides for both USB3 and Thunderbolt connectivity. The review includes a good description of the Drobo and speed test results with both USB 3 and Thunderbolt:
The tests were performed both with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0. Using Thunderbolt, the standard test results (nine different file sizes between 4 KB and 1024 KB) showed average speeds as follows:
Sequential Read: 140.504 MB/Sec
Sequential
The tests were performed both with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0. Using Thunderbolt, the standard test results (nine different file sizes between 4 KB and 1024 KB) showed average speeds as follows:
Sequential Read: 140.504 MB/Sec
Sequential
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)