Cost, Ease of Use for NAS

[seematt]

I've been mulling this NAS backup for a while after initially stumbling on a Terastation 1TB for about $500 or so. Reviews were so-so, and I think it was version 1 (is this now the 'LIVE'?) as opposed to the 'PRO II' which is more expensive. I like the idea of RAID 5, but I'm thinking that just RAID 1 will be OK just to backup data. I toyed with the idea of making my own box, but Linux has always seemed too cryptic to me.

Netgear makes a NAS Duo, but you have to supply the second disk, and if I'm gonna spend $400 on a 2 drive Raid 1, why not spend the extra couple hundred for a Terrastation which provides all the drives?

On this website I can compare NAS solutions in terms of speed, however they're not equal when it comes to price...some include drives some don't. I also like the idea of a backup client agent software.

Is there a best of class option in the $5-600 range with RAID 5 and drives included? Or a 2-disk option in the $300 range?

 

[thiggins]

I think you are limiting yourself by not considering BYOD NASes. The ReadyNAS Duo is among what I would call "best in class" for dual-drive NASes. Yes, it's expensive, but its feature set and ease-of-use is among the best.

If the NAS is primarily for backup, I would stay with RAID 1 vs. RAID 5 and either buy two RAID 1's or invest in off-site backup to supplement the NAS onsite. See Smart SOHOs Don't Do RAID.

 

[seematt]

OK, so RAID 1 it is for SOHO...

But using NAS charts is a bit confusing...ReadyNAS Duo does not appear if you select 2 drive BYOD (maybe because it comes with one disk?). Would it be possible to add price to the selection criteria, perhaps as a secondary option so that if a performance measure was first, the results would be graded by performance and then by price? Perhaps this is too much for the SOHO user like myself...Maybe something like CNET's 'best buy' ranking?

So between the Ready NAS Duo and Synology DS207, what's your suggestion? thanks Tim, I appreciate the effort that goes into running an educational site like this one!

 

[thiggins]

ReadyNAS Duo does not appear if you select 2 drive BYOD (maybe because it comes with one disk?).

That's correct. "BYOD" devices are those that come completely without drives.

I'll put the price filter on the "To Do" list.

I have always resisted "Best Buy", "Editors' Choice", etc. because I firmly believe that buyers need to do their homework to evaluate their needs. Instead I put up the forum so that readers like yourself can ask a wider (and very knowledgeable) audience about their preferences and experiences.

Both the Synology and ReadyNAS are decent choices. Synology is really pushing a lot of features onto their NASes, but is a smaller company with a 2 year warranty that says you contact the "local dealer". Good luck with that! Netgear provides a 3 year warranty, that doesn't include the external power brick. But at least you can go back to the factory for warranty service.

 

[seematt]

Ready NAS It is and checkout New Egg!!

New Egg's price was about 40bux higher than 'Sparco.com', but New Egg has an awesome customer service rep AND they have a Bonus going on now, order the second drive for the Ready NAS for %50 off!! ReadyNAS Duo 750GB with an extra Seagate Barracuda came to $565 vs. $619 at 'Sparco.com', some of that is due to NewEgg's free shipping. And throw in a Linksys WRT54GL for $59 (-$10 mail in rebate) and I'm hooked up for now.

Thanks Small Net Builder!

 

[thiggins]

Sounds good. I'm sure you'll let us know how you like the ReadyNAS!

 

[corndog]

I'd like to put an extra plug in here for the ReadyNAS. Maybe they're not the best performers out there (albeit still acceptable) but they just keep working, month after month. Additionally, when you start to run out of space, the ReadyNAS X-RAID expandability will put a smile on your face.

And, Tim, with all due respect to the way you totally rock for running this site and the volumes of valuable information you continually put out, I disagree with your Anti-RAID5 stance. In terms of reliability, spinning hard drives are at least hundreds of times more likely to fail than NAS motherboards. In addition, if your ReadyNAS motherboard dies, you can pull out all the drives and put them into another ReadyNAS and they will work. I tried this when upgrading from an NV+ to an 1100. Not sure if this holds true for the other NAS options out there, but with the ReadyNAS product line, your data is quite safe.

 

[thiggins]

I disagree with your Anti-RAID5 stance.

I'm not anti-RAID 5 in general. I do think, however, that many consumers are fooled into thinking that RAID 5 is more secure than RAID 1 and that a single RAID 5 server is sufficient as a backup strategy.

 

[corndog]

Fair enough.