Hi folks,
Back to mooch some network help again. A year ago, I got some advice on how to 'share' a satelite net connection over a 700 foot distance between 2 separate firewalled networks. I was a network rookie then and still am today, however, a year later and the wireless bridge that I'm using has been bulletproof. Problem is that our end of the bridge was hooked up to a DIR-655 and we were using the USB port in the 655 to do some basic backup of critical files. It was slow (the warnings a year ago were spot on!!), but it worked most of the time.
We've now decided that we need more backup space....we have a couple more computers accessing the network and all of them need some backup space for critical files in case an internal HDD takes a digger. I've toyed with the idea of putting a second shared HDD in the desktop that's almost always on (and is accessing the 655 via wires!), but I'm not super fond of that.
Enter the concept of a budget NAS. Leaning toward a lower end model....it's not going to stream vid or music, it's not going to contain the only copy of any critical files and it's not going to be the primary location to access any data....it just needs to be a network accessible place to put redundant copies of data in case of a 'primary storage location' failure.
I'd also want to try to figure out a way to automate the backup process from computer to NAS.
I've read the 'read before posting' documents and learned quite a bit and they helped me form my proposal. Please tell me where my proposal for what I need is flawed.....
My proposal: Pick up a cheaper BYOD NAS like the DNS-321, put a couple 1TB drives in it (WD Black?, Green?), and set it up as RAID-1. Total cost < $300.
If you add up all of the available computer HDD space, we're talking about just under 1 Tb (1 desktop at 280GB total, 1 Laptop @ 320GB, 2 netbooks @ 160GB) and we wouldn't back up the entire HDD from each machine, so this gives us a bit of room to grow. This is what drives the logic of a 2-drive NAS and twin 1tb drives.
I've read some pretty strong negative opinions of Raid 1 here and in other places. My logic on use of RAID-1 is that this set-up would effectively give me 3 copies of things...one on the 'source' computer and 1 on each of the HDD's in the NAS.
The only thing I don't have a proposed plan for is the automated backup of certain directories from the computers to the NAS.
What am I missing? Flaws in this plan? Better ideas for this functionality on a budget? Suggestions for different NAS box to better meet my needs? Different NAS HDD's for a 321 or the any other recommended enclosure?
Thanks in advance!!
Back to mooch some network help again. A year ago, I got some advice on how to 'share' a satelite net connection over a 700 foot distance between 2 separate firewalled networks. I was a network rookie then and still am today, however, a year later and the wireless bridge that I'm using has been bulletproof. Problem is that our end of the bridge was hooked up to a DIR-655 and we were using the USB port in the 655 to do some basic backup of critical files. It was slow (the warnings a year ago were spot on!!), but it worked most of the time.
We've now decided that we need more backup space....we have a couple more computers accessing the network and all of them need some backup space for critical files in case an internal HDD takes a digger. I've toyed with the idea of putting a second shared HDD in the desktop that's almost always on (and is accessing the 655 via wires!), but I'm not super fond of that.
Enter the concept of a budget NAS. Leaning toward a lower end model....it's not going to stream vid or music, it's not going to contain the only copy of any critical files and it's not going to be the primary location to access any data....it just needs to be a network accessible place to put redundant copies of data in case of a 'primary storage location' failure.
I'd also want to try to figure out a way to automate the backup process from computer to NAS.
I've read the 'read before posting' documents and learned quite a bit and they helped me form my proposal. Please tell me where my proposal for what I need is flawed.....
My proposal: Pick up a cheaper BYOD NAS like the DNS-321, put a couple 1TB drives in it (WD Black?, Green?), and set it up as RAID-1. Total cost < $300.
If you add up all of the available computer HDD space, we're talking about just under 1 Tb (1 desktop at 280GB total, 1 Laptop @ 320GB, 2 netbooks @ 160GB) and we wouldn't back up the entire HDD from each machine, so this gives us a bit of room to grow. This is what drives the logic of a 2-drive NAS and twin 1tb drives.
I've read some pretty strong negative opinions of Raid 1 here and in other places. My logic on use of RAID-1 is that this set-up would effectively give me 3 copies of things...one on the 'source' computer and 1 on each of the HDD's in the NAS.
The only thing I don't have a proposed plan for is the automated backup of certain directories from the computers to the NAS.
What am I missing? Flaws in this plan? Better ideas for this functionality on a budget? Suggestions for different NAS box to better meet my needs? Different NAS HDD's for a 321 or the any other recommended enclosure?
Thanks in advance!!
