NAS Dilemma

[nikwak]

I purchased a Terra-Master F4-220 2 years ago and it's been fine up until about 3 months ago when it died. I have had nothing but trouble with their support over the last 3 months and not been able to access my data on the NAS server. I now find out that the model I purchased was discontinued not long after I bought it and they do not stock any parts for it. They have offered me a £50 discount on a F5-221 (which I cannot afford - partly due to the amount of work I have lost over the last 3 months). I was thinking of downgrading to a 2 bay NAS unit but how would I transfer my 4 hard drives on to the 2 hard drives of the new unit? And, if this is possible, would anyone recommend the Synology DS216J, as I don't think I could buy another Terra-Master after this dreadful experience.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @nikwak.

Sorry to hear about your experience and the data loss. There is free software available to try to recover your data (sorry, I can't remember it right now, but I'm sure others will), but you will need a computer with more than 4 drive bays to use it (or, maybe have a friend help with such a system).

You have learned a hard lesson with your data. I do not suggest you buy a single NAS going forward. Start smaller, if you need to, but do it correctly. At the very least, buy a NAS and an external HDD (or two) to keep backups on.

Ideally, you will want 2x NAS that back up each other (in both HDDs and NAS hardware). To better protect yourself, they should not be identical models either.

There are only two options for a 'real' NAS. QNAP and Synology. I prefer QNAP because they offer much better hardware for less cost.

I know that your budget can't handle this today, but for future reference, buy at least a 4 bay NAS, even if you can only populate it with two drives initially. Not only does it give you room to grow and expand your storage options, but it usually comes with better hardware too.

I wish you the best in your search for a solution to both the data and the hardware side of your issues.

The links below may help.

NAS Data Recovery - How to recover data from your RAID based NAS? (stellarinfo.com)

NAS Data Recovery - QNAP, NETGEAR, Buffalo, Synology (reclaime.com)

 

[bbunge]

I purchased a Terra-Master F4-220 2 years ago and it's been fine up until about 3 months ago when it died. I have had nothing but trouble with their support over the last 3 months and not been able to access my data on the NAS server. I now find out that the model I purchased was discontinued not long after I bought it and they do not stock any parts for it. They have offered me a £50 discount on a F5-221 (which I cannot afford - partly due to the amount of work I have lost over the last 3 months). I was thinking of downgrading to a 2 bay NAS unit but how would I transfer my 4 hard drives on to the 2 hard drives of the new unit? And, if this is possible, would anyone recommend the Synology DS216J, as I don't think I could buy another Terra-Master after this dreadful experience.

Do not think the DS216J is avaliable.

I have a DS219J with two 4 TB WD Red drives that works very well for my family to store backups and media we save for streaming. It is not a powerhouse with only 512 MB RAM but it works very well and recently got the upgrade to DSM 7. I do have mine attached to a UPS to prevent crashes when the power fails.

I believe the current replacement is the DS220J which has pretty much the same specs as the DS219J. For $110 more the DS220+ has more RAM and two GIG Ethernet ports.

Be careful which drives you get for whatever NAS you buy. WD is selling their Red drives in an SMR version for NAS. Many in the field are saying to stay away from SMR drives and use CMR drives (my WD Reds are CMR). Seagate Iron Wolf drives are supposed to be OK but over the years I have had more failures of Seagate than WD so I avoid Seagate products.

B&H Photo has a good selection of Synology at reasonable prices: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...lters=fct_bays_2549:2,fct_brand_name:synology

 

[nikwak]

Welcome to the forums @nikwak.

Sorry to hear about your experience and the data loss. There is free software available to try to recover your data (sorry, I can't remember it right now, but I'm sure others will), but you will need a computer with more than 4 drive bays to use it (or, maybe have a friend help with such a system).

You have learned a hard lesson with your data. I do not suggest you buy a single NAS going forward. Start smaller, if you need to, but do it correctly. At the very least, buy a NAS and an external HDD (or two) to keep backups on.

Ideally, you will want 2x NAS that back up each other (in both HDDs and NAS hardware). To better protect yourself, they should not be identical models either.

There are only two options for a 'real' NAS. QNAP and Synology. I prefer QNAP because they offer much better hardware for less cost.

I know that your budget can't handle this today, but for future reference, buy at least a 4 bay NAS, even if you can only populate it with two drives initially. Not only does it give you room to grow and expand your storage options, but it usually comes with better hardware too.

I wish you the best in your search for a solution to both the data and the hardware side of your issues.

The links below may help.

NAS Data Recovery - How to recover data from your RAID based NAS? (stellarinfo.com)

NAS Data Recovery - QNAP, NETGEAR, Buffalo, Synology (reclaime.com)

Does this mean that I need to plug all four hard drives into my computer at the same time in order to retrieve all the data?

 

[L&LD]

Yes. If the four drives were set up as a single array.

What RAID level were they set up in?

 

[nikwak]

Yes. If the four drives were set up as a single array.

What RAID level were they set up in?

Oh dear. Now you are asking me!I know when I reinstalled the system I was told if I got to a RAID creating page to stop and contact support but I never got to that page

 

[L&LD]

With four HDDs, you (should have) a RAID5 array set up. That would decrease the capacity by 1 drive and give you a 1 drive redundancy (meaning 1 drive can fail and the array should still be working.

Free RAID Calculator - Caclulate RAID Array Capacity and Fault Tolerance. (raid-calculator.com)


With a RAID6 array (not likely), two drives can fail without losing data.

With a RAID 0 array (this is purely for speed, not for data) then if one drive fails, the array fails.

With JBOD, (a simple sequential combination of disks), you may have some data available, but it is unlikely this type of 'raid' (it isn't RAID) was used.

RAID Failures and Estimation of RAID Reliability (raid-failure.com)


As you can see from the above, you may need to borrow a computer with four, three, or even two or one spare SATA connection. Depending on the RAID level used when you first set up the Terra-Master F4-220, two years ago.

 

[dosborne]

Ideally, you will want 2x NAS that back up each other (in both HDDs and NAS hardware). To better protect yourself, they should not be identical models either.

I disagree. Purchasing 2 or more identical units gives you spare parts. In this case, putting the existing drives into an identical unit would have provided access to the data.

My first set of NAS units were a set of 3. I still mirror / live sync 2 units, the 3rd has been cannibalized for parts. Repairing or finding a suitable power supply is typically the biggest challenge.

 

[L&LD]

If identical units, more chance to have them both go kaput in an unfortunately abbreviated time of each other. Or firmware. Or malware. Or security issues.

Two similar but different units with a third backup method that is used is the safest choice.

When/if the systems start failing, you just buy another, to back up the working one. But the data, always, stays safe.