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A Reasonable NAS Alternative?

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ottavik

New Around Here
NAS Wizards...

I'd like to ask for some informed opinions as to why this product is decidedly inferior to a straight-up, 2-bay NAS (either Synology or QNAP). (There are multiple versions, including those that mount into front-accessible drive bays in a desktop machine.)
https://www.accordancesystems.com/products/araid-t3500
Pro:
-- 2 copies of stored data automatically maintained in volumes with independent file systems (pre-formatted compatible with host OS).
-- data is accessible if either drive fails.
-- data is accessible while a replacement for a failed drive is automatically rebuilt from the surviving drive.
-- a backup drive (for offsite storage?) is instantly created by pulling one drive and swapping in a replacement.
-- data on a drive pulled from this unit is natively accessible on the host computer or any other running a compatible OS (I am assuming NTFS formatted drives).
-- attached to a host OS (Windows in my case), any program (backup, imaging, folder synchronization, editing, ...) can be easily installed and used.
-- interacting with and managing the host environment is reasonably straightforward (for me) as I am extremely familiar with Windows (I do not know the Linux environment).
Con:
-- expense...the drive-less price is somewhat higher than a celeron-based NAS unit.
-- expense...requires a host computer to maintain network connectivity for all users.
-- potential throughput decrease, especially if an external enclosure is attached to host machine via USB 3.0 (I think).

I need the data archive capabilities of a NAS system. I understand and fully accept the need to back up (3-2-1, got it!) that data...but I cannot get comfortable with how that backup will function in the NAS environment. I have read countless threads and posts returned by a search for "backup" in posts by "stevech". I rule out online options due to volume (2 - 3 TB). I don't need versioning capability. I am also leery of creating backups in a proprietary format that can only be read with NAS-resident software.

What I need...
-- mirror / replicate / synchronize folder structures from one drive to another (either between volumes within a NAS or from NAS to and external drive.
-- some subsets of data (I think they are termed "shares", but am uncertain) need regularly scheduled nightly synchronization (user data).
-- some subsets (digital music library) change infrequently so need synched only on demand.

I have investigated Synology. I find their documentation severely lacking and their online DSM demo crashed on me twice. I have leaned away from QNAP based on post that indicated Synology backup was more straightforward (a scary assertion).

Again...Is a NAS unit clearly superior to the ARAID unit, and, if so, why?

Your insights are greatly appreciated.
 
A slight explanation is in order from a retired former computer service tech.
The enclosure is the NAS and Raid refers to how the drives in it can be setup.
The part about "2 copies of stored data..." is Raid 1 or mirroring".
NAS stands for Networked Attached Storage. (a box with disk drives in it)
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or sometimes "Independent") Disks.
As explained in the following link.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370235,00.asp

Be advised you still need a good backup plan.
A circuit board or power supply in a NAS can fail and you can loose all data in the NAS.
I have my first NAS with two 2tb drives backed up to a second identical NAS automatically nightly.
Also recommended is a battery backup.
After my power is out for one minute the drives automatically do a orderly shutdown.
That said I have three of the least expensive brands, Buffalo two disk units, I bought without drives for about $150 each.
I populated them with Western Digital RED designed for NAS service.
Buffalo configures them by default to Raid 1 but I have mine set as "JBOD" (Just a Bunch Of Disks).
In my years as a tech I've seen data loss in all common Raid configurations.

Joe
 
Last edited:
A slight explanation is in order from a retired former computer service tech.
The enclosure is the NAS and Raid refers to how the drives in it can be setup.
The part about "2 copies of stored data..." is Raid 1 or mirroring".
NAS stands for Networked Attached Storage. (a box with disk drives in it)
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or sometimes "Independent") Disks.
As explained in the following link.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370235,00.asp

Be advised you still need a good backup plan.
A circuit board or power supply in a NAS can fail and you can loose all data in the NAS.
I have my first NAS with two 2tb drives backed up to a second identical NAS automatically nightly.
Also recommended is a battery backup.
After my power is out for one minute the drives automatically do a orderly shutdown.
That said I have three of the least expensive brands, Buffalo two disk units, I bought without drives for about $150 each.
I populated them with Western Digital RED designed for NAS service.
Buffalo configures them by default to Raid 1 but I have mine set as "JBOD" (Just a Bunch Of Disks).
In my years as a tech I've seen data loss in all common Raid configurations.

Joe
Joe... Thank you kindly for the reply, you make a lot of good points. Though I am quite puzzled about what characteristics in my post lead you to conclude "an explanation is in order". Perhaps that the title did not ask "A Reasonable 2-Bay Raid 1 NAS Alternative?".

A brief examination of the referenced hardware would quickly lead to the conclusion it is a 2-bay implementation of mirroring.
I made clear in the "Con:" section that a host computer (sorry, forgot to explicity state -- with one or more shares) is required to maintain network accessibility -- the NAS part.
I also stated I understood the backup requirement -- "3-2-1, got it!".
Okay..."battery backup", a reasonable point but not germain to the question posed.
As I said, a lot of good points...but no attempt to answer the primary question of the post.

Now, for your situation...
Is it not the case that in a 2-drive JBOD array, the risk of single drive failure is twice as high as that of a solitary drive?
Is it also not the case that the failure of a 1 drive in such an arry carries the very high risk of losing all the data in the array, as there is no control over what data (files or parts thereof) are written to which disk? Especially so if the drive containing the MFT fails. Yes?
And, is it not true that if a JBOD array needs to be rebuilt, the array is inaccessible until that process is complete?
So...what happens if a drive in the primary array fails and while that array is rebuilding from the secondary a drive in the secondary array also fails? Catastrophic data loss?

Again, the primary question posed initially remains...
 
with a JBOD array a failure will lose some data depending on which drive. If the first drive isnt fully used and fails you lose all your data.

Some arrays can be used while being rebuilt. a RAID 1 array for instance. JBOD not so much as all it does is add another drive to the end of the other drive to make it seem like one big drive, very different from raid 0 that is performance orientated as well.
 

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