Absolute beginner with basic questions

[Dave Harper]

For several years I've been using Windows based systems at home and, in addition to cloud backup services, I back up my systems to local USB hard drives. A number of things are coming to a head; as a developer I've become increasingly disenchanted with Windows and Windows 10 has convinced me that Microsoft and I are headed in different directions. Thus, I've decided to migrate to Linux as my primary development platform, something I've used on and off since the early 90's. However, for the foreseeable future, my home network will consist of both Windows and Linux systems. Further, cloud backup hasn't worked out that well for me. The last few services I've used have either been bought out (with prices skyrocketing) or have abandoned the home user market. So, for the first time, I'm looking at the possibility of putting in a NAS. Only problem is I know absolutely nothing about them. I've been searching all over the web and can find a lot of information, but none of it seems to address the questions I have.

1) Can a NAS work with any remote OS? Obviously I'm most interested in Linux and Windows but there are certainly others, such as macOS, etc. It makes sense to me that it would but I've not been able to find any confirmation of this. In fact, just the opposite. Many of the systems I've been looking at, such as the Buffalo TeraStation 1400, specifically mention that supported operating systems consist of Mac OS X and various versions of Windows. No mention of Linux at all.

2) What do users typically use for backup software? The Buffalo TS1400 comes with NovaBACKUP but that only seems to support Windows. Is third party software available and are there any issues to consider here? Or do many users "roll their own" as I have done with my current USB hard drives?

I know there are a lot of other questions I should be asking at this point but the problem is I don't even know enough at this point to know the questions, let alone the answers. However, I'm looking forward to learning about this stuff.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[RMerlin]

All NAS will support Windows File Sharing/SMB, and many of them will also support NFS. Accessing their content from a Linux (or even Android) client isn't a problem. Manufacturers don't list Linux as compatible because their custom management/utility tools that they provide are only Windows/Mac compatible. You generally don't need these tools, you can just use any web browser to manage the NAS.

Backup software: make sure to distinguish between backing up to the NAS, and backing up the NAS itself. Bundled backup software can only be used to backup a PC to your NAS - these will generally not support Linux. You'll need to look at a Linux solution for backing up the PCs.

As for backing up the NAS itself, QNAP/Synology/Asustor (and possibly others) support backing up to a USB disk. They also support backing up to a few select cloud services - you have to dig quite a bit to determine which cloud solutions are supported by each models, as it's not always clearly documented. My only experience there is using ElephantDrive with a QNAP for one of my customers. It's not cheap, but it seemed to work well at the time.

 

[Dave Harper]

Thank you! This clears up my concerns on whether the Buffalo TS1400 will work for me and I can get it without worrying that I'm throwing money away on something that can't work for my needs. Like I say, I have a lot to learn but now I can proceed and learn as I go along.