Help! NAS w/ 2 HDD in RAID1 + Ext HDD for 5 local XP users

[raz]

Hey there!

I'm a networking noob thinking of setting up a small NAS with a shared folder to share small accounting files at work.

~5 local WinXP Windows users will be accessing the NAS' shared drive.

Thinking of RAID-1 w/ 2 HDD and an external HDD w/ automated daily backup.

Internet capabilities not needed.

After reading a few reviews, I have filtered it all down to: QNAP TS-212 and the Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL.


- QNAP TS-212 [$270]

+ Slightly faster
+ More "flexible" [do I need flexibility?]


- Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL [$260]

+ Cheaper and comes with 2x1TB drives


I'm fairly certain I'll be getting the Buffalo, but for those who know: will it allow me to set up a simple folder share and a daily automated backup of the said folder to an external drive?


Thank you!

 

[teknojnky]

if you intend to store quickbooks or some other accounting software files on the nas, you may want to research whether or not your program supports storing the files on a nas..

quickbooks has historically had problems storing its files on a nas, just a heads up.

 

[stevech]

< preaching >
A NAS is not backup.
Have some scheme for automatic backup of critical data from the NAS to an attached eSATA or USB drive and keep a backup copy offsite to CYA for burglary.
< /preaching >

Opinion: Synology DS211J or Qnap.

 

[thiggins]

As stevech said, RAID is not backup. Yes, Buffalos allow scheduled backup to an attached drive.

If users are going to be simultaneously accessing files (a la Quickbooks), then you may want to be able to control oplocks. If I remember correctly, QNAPs let you do this on a per share basic. Buffalo doesn't expose oplock controls.

 

[raz]

Acquired the Linkstation.

Tried to use as a storage for Sage's Simply Accounting.

Turns out that the latter requires one to install its "Data Manager application" where the data resides.

So that didn't work.


I'm contemplating installing NFS on the NAT (unsupported out-of-the-box) and seeing if Simply Accounting will be fooled into reading it as a local drive.

Has anyone tried something like that?

 

[GregN]

I'm contemplating installing NFS on the NAT (unsupported out-of-the-box) and seeing if Simply Accounting will be fooled into reading it as a local drive.

Has anyone tried something like that?

NFS on the NAS you mean? Not sure how that helps. The Sage software is running under Windows?

If it requires local storage, have you considered using iSCSI, iSCSI presents as a set of disks local to your machine. Linkstation appears to support iSCSI.

Do you need to share the Simply Accounting data, do you want to use the LS for more than Simply Accounting?

 

[teknojnky]

Tried to use as a storage for Sage's Simply Accounting.

Turns out that the latter requires one to install its "Data Manager application" where the data resides.

So that didn't work.

tried to tell you that in the 2nd post.

I'm contemplating installing NFS on the NAT (unsupported out-of-the-box) and seeing if Simply Accounting will be fooled into reading it as a local drive.

Has anyone tried something like that?

No idea what your talking about here, NFS does not work as a local drive.

Perhaps you mean iscsi as gregn mentions?

iscsi works as a local drive, however only 1 pc can access the iscsi. The iscsi essentially function like an interna/external drive (you can only plug a drive into one computer at a time).

If you need to share the data on the iscsi, then the PC will have to share it out (or run the 'data manager program'). Meaning both the nas and the pc will have to be on to access the data.

 

[raz]

NFS on the NAS you mean? Not sure how that helps. The Sage software is running under Windows?

If it requires local storage, have you considered using iSCSI, iSCSI presents as a set of disks local to your machine. Linkstation appears to support iSCSI.

Do you need to share the Simply Accounting data, do you want to use the LS for more than Simply Accounting?

Correct, NAS. My bad.

Yes, the local workstations running Sage are running Windows.

LS will only be used for Simply Accounting data -- yes, it is to be accessed by all (~5) local workstations.

I was hoping that the NFS share could be mounted as a drive and that it would appear as a local drive to the applications running on the OS. Is that not how it works?

 

[raz]

tried to tell you that in the 2nd post.

Mea culpa.

No idea what your talking about here, NFS does not work as a local drive.

Perhaps you mean iscsi as gregn mentions?

iscsi works as a local drive, however only 1 pc can access the iscsi. The iscsi essentially function like an interna/external drive (you can only plug a drive into one computer at a time).

If you need to share the data on the iscsi, then the PC will have to share it out (or run the 'data manager program'). Meaning both the nas and the pc will have to be on to access the data.

-- This defeats the purpose of a dedicated NAS.. if you are to add a PC to tunnel the data located on the NAS.


UGH: Further reading shows no iScsi support out-of-the-box, but can be installed with custom software builds.

Further edit: Seems like a lost battle :\ -- Should've researched properly beforehand.

 

[GregN]

Correct, NAS. My bad.

Yes, the local workstations running Sage are running Windows.

LS will only be used for Simply Accounting data -- yes, it is to be accessed by all (~5) local workstations.

I was hoping that the NFS share could be mounted as a drive and that it would appear as a local drive to the applications running on the OS. Is that not how it works?

NFS is a *nix sharing protocol, won't work for windows. And any mount would be a network mount.

Tek is right, using a consumer NAS, it is not possible to share an iSCSI drive, it is possible using using a SAN and/or virtualization software ( VMWare, ESXi, etc). iSCSI is not inherently exclusive, only practically so in your case (both Oracle and HP make a windows sharable SAN). Expensive that.

 

[raz]

GregN, thanks for the info. Much appreciated.


After some more research, it seems like the only solution would be to install Linux on this NAS. Sage's Simply Accounting has recently released their "Connection Manager" application for Linux.

Will report on how this goes.

 

[teknojnky]

heh, most nas already run some custom flavor of linux.

its very unlikely you can simply 'install linux' on your nas.

if the nas is already running linux, it may be possible get the 'connection manager' installed as an addon or whatever system is used on that particular nas.

This all assumes that the nas has a compatible CPU and sufficient ram to run both the raid and the 'connection manager'.

I think you still have a long climb ahead of you.

 

[raz]

heh, most nas already run some custom flavor of linux.

its very unlikely you can simply 'install linux' on your nas.

if the nas is already running linux, it may be possible get the 'connection manager' installed as an addon or whatever system is used on that particular nas.

This all assumes that the nas has a compatible CPU and sufficient ram to run both the raid and the 'connection manager'.

I think you still have a long climb ahead of you.

Indeed, this NAS is based on an 1.6Ghz ARM cpu, I believe -- 256mb of RAM


Just finished skimming through a long and confusing forum thread on installing Debian on this NAS.

Screw it. Out of my league.


Time to build a minimal raid-1 Windows sharing box :\

 

[GregN]

GregN, thanks for the info. Much appreciated.


After some more research, it seems like the only solution would be to install Linux on this NAS. Sage's Simply Accounting has recently released their "Connection Manager" application for Linux.

Will report on how this goes.

Careful, the LinkStation is already running Linux (Buffalo's Distro).

Linux comes in many flavors, according to the README for Simply Accounting Connection Manager, they support only two flavors SUSE and RedHat.

From the readme:

Supported Linux Distributions
------------------------------
- SuSE Enterprise Server 10 (32- and 64-bit versions)
- Red Hat Enterprise Desktop 5 (64-bit version)
- Red Hat Enterprise Server 5 (32- and 64-bit versions)

Getting one of those distros on the linkstation is to say the least daunting, and you'd have to buy them, they are the Enterprise versions.

Given that Fedora, a free distro of Redhat, has been ported to the linkstation, it is possible, even probable that you can get the connection manager up and running on LinkStation (no guarantee), but it will not be a simple point and click operation. You will definitely need 'nix chops.

There are several write-ups about Debian/Ubuntu and no one has been able to get the connection manager up and running under that distro.

Best wishes

Update: Superseded by Tek's post (he beat me to the punch)