Can someone explain to me the point of a NAS....
Discussion
.... I know what they do, so I don't need that literally explaining.
I'm more wondering what the point of them is when they cost as much as a cheap PC, which is infinitely more configurable?
I've already got a laptop I have with a USB hard disk plugged in, which is OK but the connection isn't particularly reliable. If I were going to spend north of £300 for a NAS box, I feel I may as well just build a cheap PC and stick a hard drive in that, or get a cheap old Dell desktop or similar.
And does anyone have any recommendation to a network attached storage device that doesn't cost as much as an entire PC? It's just basic media and document storage for the house. Cheers!
I'm more wondering what the point of them is when they cost as much as a cheap PC, which is infinitely more configurable?
I've already got a laptop I have with a USB hard disk plugged in, which is OK but the connection isn't particularly reliable. If I were going to spend north of £300 for a NAS box, I feel I may as well just build a cheap PC and stick a hard drive in that, or get a cheap old Dell desktop or similar.
And does anyone have any recommendation to a network attached storage device that doesn't cost as much as an entire PC? It's just basic media and document storage for the house. Cheers!
Narcisus said:
For me it would be a safer way to store 100k + Photo's and Videos. Single point of failure and all that. I'm tight however so just have loads of disks and a few scripts running now and then !
I'm tight too so wondering if that might be the way to go!paulrockliffe said:
The point of the NAS in that example is that it is low-power. Why would you want a cheap PC that could do 10 times as much stuff if you have to sit in a cupboard to do it, you have another machine that can do it anyway and it costs you twice as much to run it?
Fair point but would it use less power than a laptop? I'm sure mine only uses about 5-10w in low power mode.b
hstewie said:
hstewie said: If you've the technical aptitude to do all of that there may be absolutely no point in a NAS at all.
Sometimes people don't and just want something they can take out of a box and plug in and (usually) be up and running quickly with.
I can see the appeal, although I expected them to be less money. There are cheaper ones, but I don't see them being recommended generally.Sometimes people don't and just want something they can take out of a box and plug in and (usually) be up and running quickly with.
I'd also say that most NAS boxes have RAID 1 - i.e. mirrored disks, which is performed by the hardware, not a Windows server or using software and therefore more power to keep the disks in sync. You then have a copy if a disk fails.
They also often offer some "cloud" functionality - which is a bit hit and miss, and also have built in stuff to back up to Amazon S3, OneDrive / other cloud storage services, and can offer encryption before it's uploaded as well.
You can do all this with a windows machine, but will need to setup the software, some of which will be paid for so the NAS is supposed to do this out of the box.
As also said, their power consumption is a lot lower - plus often quiet or silent so can be sat on a desk next to you without a constant buzz!
Or you get something like this: https://buy.hpe.com/uk/en/servers/proliant-microse...
Which is then a Windows server, but NAS sized.
They also often offer some "cloud" functionality - which is a bit hit and miss, and also have built in stuff to back up to Amazon S3, OneDrive / other cloud storage services, and can offer encryption before it's uploaded as well.
You can do all this with a windows machine, but will need to setup the software, some of which will be paid for so the NAS is supposed to do this out of the box.
As also said, their power consumption is a lot lower - plus often quiet or silent so can be sat on a desk next to you without a constant buzz!
Or you get something like this: https://buy.hpe.com/uk/en/servers/proliant-microse...
Which is then a Windows server, but NAS sized.
TameRacingDriver said:
I can see the appeal, although I expected them to be less money. There are cheaper ones, but I don't see them being recommended generally.
It's an area where I think mostly you get what you pay for.You tend to see Synology and maybe QNAP recommended for a reason.
Thing is when you think about it a NAS is literally just a computer computer running a operating system that's customised to do NAS stuff.
Sharing out a folder on your old laptop might be absolutely fine but whichever way you go make sure you have a separate backup/sync going ideally to cloud storage.
TameRacingDriver said:
Narcisus said:
For me it would be a safer way to store 100k + Photo's and Videos. Single point of failure and all that. I'm tight however so just have loads of disks and a few scripts running now and then !
I'm tight too so wondering if that might be the way to go!NAS disks have been around longer than Netflix, Spotify and free cloud storage. They made more sense back in the day when you could steam your home stored movies and music.
Ours cost £80 (not inc drives) so it’s still good value. These days it serves as a file server and backup solution. Very unintrusive little black box next to our router.
Ours cost £80 (not inc drives) so it’s still good value. These days it serves as a file server and backup solution. Very unintrusive little black box next to our router.
Maybe I'm paranoid, I have a NAS that backs up to another NAS nightly, and that backs up to the cloud.
Probably comes from when I was doing wedding photography, but much prefer it to worrying about relying on Microsoft to do what I want, especially since it can't even keep mapped drives connected.
Probably comes from when I was doing wedding photography, but much prefer it to worrying about relying on Microsoft to do what I want, especially since it can't even keep mapped drives connected.
RemarkLima said:
You can do all this with a windows machine, but will need to setup the software, some of which will be paid for so the NAS is supposed to do this out of the box.
As also said, their power consumption is a lot lower - plus often quiet or silent so can be sat on a desk next to you without a constant buzz!
Or you get something like this: https://buy.hpe.com/uk/en/servers/proliant-microse...
Which is then a Windows server, but NAS sized.
I use a microserver plus Stablebit Drivepool, which lets you mix and match drive sizes like a Synology or similar. As also said, their power consumption is a lot lower - plus often quiet or silent so can be sat on a desk next to you without a constant buzz!
Or you get something like this: https://buy.hpe.com/uk/en/servers/proliant-microse...
Which is then a Windows server, but NAS sized.
Here’s the thing though: I’d like to have a Mac back up to it - Synology has that built in. The only solution for windows is intended for commercial environments and is $800.
I could run some other OS and lose days to configuring it all but that’s really where NAS works well - plug it in, set up in minutes, and get on with your life.
TameRacingDriver said:
Narcisus said:
For me it would be a safer way to store 100k + Photo's and Videos. Single point of failure and all that. I'm tight however so just have loads of disks and a few scripts running now and then !
I'm tight too so wondering if that might be the way to go!paulrockliffe said:
The point of the NAS in that example is that it is low-power. Why would you want a cheap PC that could do 10 times as much stuff if you have to sit in a cupboard to do it, you have another machine that can do it anyway and it costs you twice as much to run it?
Fair point but would it use less power than a laptop? I'm sure mine only uses about 5-10w in low power mode.bhstewie said:
hstewie said: If you've the technical aptitude to do all of that there may be absolutely no point in a NAS at all.
Sometimes people don't and just want something they can take out of a box and plug in and (usually) be up and running quickly with.
I can see the appeal, although I expected them to be less money. There are cheaper ones, but I don't see them being recommended generally.Sometimes people don't and just want something they can take out of a box and plug in and (usually) be up and running quickly with.
RemarkLima said:
TameRacingDriver said:
Narcisus said:
For me it would be a safer way to store 100k + Photo's and Videos. Single point of failure and all that. I'm tight however so just have loads of disks and a few scripts running now and then !
I'm tight too so wondering if that might be the way to go!Sure you can re-purpose old hardware to become a NAS. In some ways it may be better to re-use old stuff rather than dumping it. The NAS solution is s simple Out of box solution for people with a bit of technical knowhow but not necessarily to a professional IT level.
I have Synology NAS setup with a couple of discs in a Hybrid RAID configuration. Once set up, it just quietly sits there next to my router. The provided software allows me to back up my Macs and all the photos taken on our phones. It's capable of more such as Home cinema streaming type stuff but I couldn't be bothered in the end.
I have Synology NAS setup with a couple of discs in a Hybrid RAID configuration. Once set up, it just quietly sits there next to my router. The provided software allows me to back up my Macs and all the photos taken on our phones. It's capable of more such as Home cinema streaming type stuff but I couldn't be bothered in the end.
Aunty Pasty said:
I have Synology NAS setup with a couple of discs in a Hybrid RAID configuration. Once set up, it just quietly sits there next to my router. The provided software allows me to back up my Macs and all the photos taken on our phones.
If it's on the same site it's not really a backup! You're just making a copy.Sheepshanks said:
Aunty Pasty said:
I have Synology NAS setup with a couple of discs in a Hybrid RAID configuration. Once set up, it just quietly sits there next to my router. The provided software allows me to back up my Macs and all the photos taken on our phones.
If it's on the same site it's not really a backup! You're just making a copy.Not all my disks are plugged in at one time and I have my Cloud save plus another separate hard drive that's kept away from the house.
I've had a NAS for about ten years now and have been very happy with it. I've got two on two sites and all our phone stuff (photos / videos) goes to them.
Main advantages for me:
Main advantages for me:
- You own your stuff so if Google / Amazon suddenly closes your Google account (which does happen), or decide they aren't doing photos any more, you won't lose everything
- They are designed to be on 24/7 so are far more energy efficient than a PC
- Useful for centrally storing things you might need remote access to. For example, when I go on holiday I put a scan of my hotel / flight etc. details on there so if I lose anything I can still get to it all (yes, you could use something like Dropbox
)
- You own your stuff so it's your responsibility to look after it
- You have to manage everything - install the SSL certificates, set up the users and permissions, configure remote access etc. It can be a faff.
- Probably more expensive than a cloud service (less so the longer the hardware lasts)
Synology has here for years for storing photos, music, movies etc. Runs plex and things to serve them to me wherever I am in the world. Also runs as a private cloud server and backups my google drive and my Microsoft cloud. Additionally I have an offsite backup for all
My documents and images etc that are irreplaceable and they are additionally in iCloud. Plus I have a time machine backup hidden in law where in the house.
I don’t want to let any data
My documents and images etc that are irreplaceable and they are additionally in iCloud. Plus I have a time machine backup hidden in law where in the house.
I don’t want to let any data
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: If you've the technical aptitude to do all of that there may be absolutely no point in a NAS at all.
Sometimes people don't and just want something they can take out of a box and plug in and (usually) be up and running quickly with.
I've got the technical aptitude, but sometimes it is nice not to have to use it, and the low power/noise/cost is a handy bonus.Sometimes people don't and just want something they can take out of a box and plug in and (usually) be up and running quickly with.
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