New guy on the block, thinking about building a NAS for my business

[ForwardThinking]

Hi all! Nice to see you guys.

I've recently started thinking ahead down the road about building a NAS for my business after it grows a bit more. The main use-case I have in mind currently would be storing as a backup and possibly as a net-drive (cloud analogous) the large amount of data we have mostly in the form of high-quality STL files.

So not having made a NAS before I figured I'd educate myself ahead of time on what it entails, what hardware would be most cost-effective for my use-case, and making sure I get the security right and such.

Thanks! And based on what I said if you advise I read or watch anything in particular to start I appreciate that!

 

[Tech Junky]

Welcome!

First thing is to decide if you're running anything else other than just using it as a file server.

I use mine for several functions... router / firewall / NAS / etc. and Plex for media playback which like a beefier CPU.

Some file systems like more RAM like ZFS.

Capacity makes a difference when it comes to drives / speed. Does it need to be higher speed or are spinners going to suffice for data speeds? Network speed comes into play as well in determining if the drives would even be maxed out over the network. If the network is standard 1GE in speed then spinners make sense from a price sand point.

Next # of drives determines the case to use. There are NAS like cases for say 8 drives or there are mid towers that can handle up to 13+ drives.

# of drives also will dictate the MOBO to use or HBA's needed for tons of drives.

Raid version will make a difference as well.
R0 - more speed as you add drives
R1 - mirrors the drives for "backup" but no speed increases
R5 - more capacity but no speed but parity drive for backup/restore if you lose a drive
R10 - double speed/capacity << this is my choice / use

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @ForwardThinking.

I would recommend QNAP x2. At least 6 drive bays. With one stored offsite, if possible. And synced with the onsite NAS on a regular schedule.

How important are these high quality STL files? How many copies are available of them? 3x NAS wouldn't be too much depending on the answer.

 

[ForwardThinking]

Welcome to the forums @ForwardThinking.

I would recommend QNAP x2. At least 6 drive bays. With one stored offsite, if possible. And synced with the onsite NAS on a regular schedule.

How important are these high quality STL files? How many copies are available of them? 3x NAS wouldn't be too much depending on the answer.

Hey thanks guys!

They're critical to the business, one of the main products both B2C and B2B. Thus my desire to get them into a more professional, protectable backup like a proper NAS rather than several peoples drives and cloud solutions.

Nice, I'll look into the options mentioned!

 

[L&LD]

Curious about what your acronyms mean.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Curious about what your acronyms mean.

I simple internet search will immediately answer that question.

 

[L&LD]

I know what they stand for, in a general way. I was asking for specifics.

 

[eightiescalling]

Hey thanks guys!

They're critical to the business, one of the main products both B2C and B2B. Thus my desire to get them into a more professional, protectable backup like a proper NAS rather than several peoples drives and cloud solutions.

Nice, I'll look into the options mentioned!

It's been covered briefly but I can't say enough: NAS is not backup, RAID is not backup.

Multiple NAS instances on different sites sync'd over a VPN would work or alternatively cloud storage. Have a think about how you back your data up - how much data gets retrieved later (I assume a lot will be work for clients then just stored for a long time), how much gets edited etc.

Do the maths on storage types and amounts - some of the "smart" storage offerings from AWS can be cost effective if you let them shuffle data to a storage tier that suits data usage. That said, if you go down the cloud storage route think carefully about security and encryption.

Personally I lean towards the DIY NAS that Tech Junky described (if crazy speed is a factor check out his post on building an NVMe NAS). That said for business think about support and availability - where is your time more valuable? I doubt it's maintaining the NAS or repairing it if it breaks. Much as I like my home brew setup, if you're learning this just to do a NAS for the business I'd probably go with L&LDs approach.

One last thing on the backup approach - whatever you decide as the day to day backup approach, make sure you test it regularly!

 

[Tech9]

They're critical to the business

Commercial grade NAS, two units with the capacity you need, one located off-site, synchronized over site-to-site VPN. You perhaps need more than just NAS equipment. Don't waste your time with DIY and consumer products. The project cost will be in thousands, but will work reliably for years.

 

[ddaenen1]

I am running TrueNAS Core now for several years with 4 x SAS 2TB drives in RAIDZ1 with backup to MS Onedrive. I am very happy with this setup which up until today, has proven to be very reliable. The thing with TrueNAS is, you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want but whichever way you choose to go, it can probably handle it.

 

[sfx2000]

Commercial grade NAS, two units with the capacity you need, one located off-site, synchronized over site-to-site VPN. You perhaps need more than just NAS equipment. Don't waste your time with DIY and consumer products. The project cost will be in thousands, but will work reliably for years.

I agree - with the business at hand, better to go commercial - and there, I would suggest reaching out to a consultant/contractor with domain experience in your line of business...

It's fun to do DIY as a personal project, keeping in mind that when things blow up, you get to keep all the pieces...

And depending on needs, might be as simple as Windows Server on a Dell pre-built box...

 

[coxhaus]

I like the idea of a Dell server with Windows Server installed. I was a server guy way way back before I was a network guy. They are pretty solid servers you can depend on.

 

[Tech9]

Windows Server on a Dell pre-built box

I actually use Windows 10 on HP EliteDesk mini-PC at home.

 

[coxhaus]

I use Windows 11 on a Dell Workstation now for my NAS with a low watt CPU to keep power draw low for home use. Windows server is much more businesslike than Windows Workstation.

It depends on where you want to fit and how much reliability you want. A Dell server is top of the of the stack in my way of thinking and is used in big business. It will cost more. It is just something you have to decide. I have no idea on how big your business is or how many employees you have. Also, how much you want to do yourself. This is all your decision.