Need advice on how to choose home NAS/ storage/ backup solution.

[stevech]

What bundled NAS backup application does all that?

Synology's Time Backup. Standard in their product baseline. It's easy to overlook.
You tell it what folders to backup where and how many revisions to keep, or the time span of revisions.
Has a nice GUI for browsing the histories and retrieving folders/files from the past.

It has saved me from my errors many times - esp. as a consultant doing firmware/software - and sometimes I hit the wrong key or have a mental burp and really need to get yesterday's version, etc. Or last month's financial info I thought I had.

 

[stevech]

I've had some issues with Netgear's support myself! I can relate to that one.

As I'm still researching, and from your info, I'm seeing a few makers among the pack I'm considering:
Synology
Buffalo
QNAP
Western Digital

Any other makers I should consider? Any pro's and con's about any of these ones? Thanks

I'd drop Buffalo and WD.
Thecus may be good but they are pricey and tend to focus on small verticals rather than the consumer.

Thecus, QNAP and Synology are NAS-only companies for the most part- and that gets you much better software.
Tried their on-line demos? If a vendor lacks such, skip it.

 

[stevech]

Time Backup software on Synology.. see bottom left icon in the enclosed screen grab. It's easy to overlook - it's not on control panel but rather it's on the system icon button that's on the top-left of the main window (when logged in via a browser). Time Backup is a misnomer - it's really selected-folders with versioning. Maybe like Apple's Time Machine though I've not used that. I use Time Backup to catch huge areas of the disk and keep last 90 days or so of all versions. I make a habit of not storing stuff solely on PCs these days.

Enclosure.

 

[mervincm]

This. Time machine is only for backing up the internal HDD of a Mac PC. You back up FROM the Mac TO the backup destination. The backup destination can be a few things like a USB connected HDD or a network connected device. If its a network connected device it can be an apple branded solution or a third party NAS. Apple does not support third party NAS solutions but they do work. In fact time machine to a NAS is all I do for backup of my macbook pro.

That being said two places is not enough IMO , so you should add a third place you copy your local Mac files to. Maybe once you have implemented your new NAS, you can repurpose your existing lacie unit as a second backup location.

 

[stevech]

This. Time machine is only for backing up the internal HDD of a Mac PC. You back up FROM the Mac TO the backup destination. The backup destination can be a few things like a USB connected HDD or a network connected device. If its a network connected device it can be an apple branded solution or a third party NAS. Apple does not support third party NAS solutions but they do work. In fact time machine to a NAS is all I do for backup of my macbook pro.

That being said two places is not enough IMO , so you should add a third place you copy your local Mac files to. Maybe once you have implemented your new NAS, you can repurpose your existing lacie unit as a second backup location.

If you put your key files on a NAS as discussed in the prior posts of this thread, instead of or in addition to storing them on the MAC, then all comptuers on the LAN using the NAS get time backup/versioning at the NAS level.

 

[this]

Thanks again for all this education.

How does solid-state fit into this discussion? How do solid state NAS storage compare to disk drives in this capacity?

 

[stevech]

Thanks again for all this education.

How does solid-state fit into this discussion? How do solid state NAS storage compare to disk drives in this capacity?

FOr a consumer, Solid State Disks (SSD) makes great sense for a desktop/laptop. But cost per GB is way too high for a consumer NAS. At least in my financial sensibilities.

I've read about some affordable (sorta) NASes that use an SSD as a cache. Kind of like the hybrid disk drives that are or are not popular.

 

[this]

Thanks, I'm looking into something like the Synology DS214se or similar.

If I were to purchase one, next question would be what Drives would be best to put in. I see a compatibility list on the Synology site. Any advice on how to select the best for me? 3.5" or 2.5" STA or SSD? What do I need to know?

Also, should I use the use my LaCie Cloudbox as a backup to the Synology, (or vice verse) or get another drive for backup?

So many questions. Thanks

Tom

 

[this]

Also, how do I know if my modem/router works with the Synology DS214se (or any NAS I would choose...). I don't see that particular model on their list. Is this critical? My modem/router is a Netgear n600.

On my earlier question I think I got it figured out (3.5" SATA HD is compatible). anything else I should know about selecting HD?

 

[stevech]

Don't worry about routers vs. NASes. It's all standardized under the IEEE 802.3 and TCP/IP standards.

HD: Recommend 7200 RPM. Recommend not-Green (low power, agressive spin-down). I'd go with Western Digital or Seagate, 2 or 3TB drives. I think 4TB is a bit bleedng edge now.

 

[mdgm]

That sounds like file versioning. I agree it is useful to allow recovery of accidentally deleted or corrupted files.

Yes. We all make mistakes and having some protection against the damage they can cause is important.

I made mistakes in looking after my own data. In my case it was moving my laptop and in the process dropping my connected USB drive to the floor breaking it. Then to make matters worse I didn't backup my laptop for a while and the hard drive in my laptop failed.

Then in 2009 I bought my first NAS and now I have several.

As an option, NETGEAR NASes support unlimited volume snapshots, as well as Time Machine and very flexible backup features both to and from clients and other NASes.

From what I've heard over the years very flexible backup features is one of the ReadyNAS's key strengths. Where possible running a backup job on the faster device can help with the performance of running backup jobs. Or you may want the flexibility of configuring all the backup jobs on the one device so you can keep track of them easily.

No matter what device you choose, whichever brand it is, if it stores the primary copy of important data it needs to be backed up.

Features that protect against accidental file deletion, data corruption etc. will help to reduce the likelihood of needing to restore from backup, but backups are still important. I can't stress this enough.

There are problems such as multiple disk failures (more than the RAID level you are using can handle), other hardware issues, filesystem issues, fire, flood, theft etc. that no single device can protect you against.

Having called Netgear's "Professional Product" customer support, and been subjected to the worse that Bangalore can offer, I take a pass on Netgear pro products except for switches which just work.

You may be interested to hear that our support offerings have changed recently.

There's now an online chat alternative to making a phone call, which you may find works better for you.

 

[stevech]

You may be interested to hear that our support offerings have changed recently.

We now offer lifetime 24x7 chat support and 5year Next Business Day shipping coverage that aligns with the existing 5 year limited hardware warranty for new purchases (on/after June 1, 2014) of our Business class ReadyNAS and ReadyDATA storage products: http://netgear.com/about/press-releases/2014/06092014-ProSAFE-Warranty.aspx

Is this vendor-aligned comment in accordance with the forum's policies?

 

[mdgm]

Is this vendor-aligned comment in accordance with the forum's policies?

Can you point me to those? I certainly don't want to breach any forum policies.

I was wanting to point out to you that there is an alternative to the phone support you found wasn't to your satisfaction. I have edited my post above to shorten it significantly and more directly address your comment.

My comment above included some general information which I would consider added to the discussion regardless of which vendor you use.

I'm sure all vendors are looking at ways to improve their support. Just because you may have found a few years ago (or whenever you last looked) support wasn't how you liked it, it doesn't mean things have stayed that way.

 

[stevech]

Can you point me to those? I certainly don't want to breach any forum policies.

I was wanting to point out to you that there is an alternative to the phone support you found wasn't to your satisfaction. I have edited my post above to shorten it significantly and more directly address your comment.

My comment above included some general information which I would consider added to the discussion regardless of which vendor you use.

I'm sure all vendors are looking at ways to improve their support. Just because you may have found a few years ago (or whenever you last looked) support wasn't how you liked it, it doesn't mean things have stayed that way.

well intended, but marketing-speak when your writing goes to the first person with "we have the greatest thing since sliced bread". And a signature line "NETGEAR ReadyNAS Technical Forums Expert" which may mean you're a volunteer not an employee.
This isn't my forum to mange so I'll disagree and shut up.