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QNAP NAS - SSD caching or Qtier? MyQNAPcloud alternative?

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jcsbox

New Around Here
I bought a QNAP HS-453DX-4G two weeks ago and I need an advice how to fill it.
I am a graphic desginer and I'll use it primarily for my work - direct access and backup for lot of photoshop, illustrator and indesign files, images, pdfs, videos etc and host 1 small Wordpress website as well. Secondarily I'll use it for my family stuff - photos, videos, music, movies etc.

Hardware questions
I plan to buy two 4TB WD Red HDDs in RAID 1, that's simple. But what next?
Maybe two 500GB Samsung 860 EVO for SSD caching, but which type? Read-Only or Read-Write? RAID 0 or RAID 1? Which type of Storage Pool? Or better stick to Qtier solution? What solution do you recommend in my case?

Software questions
I struggle with myQNAPcloud Privacy Policy which sounds pretty bad to me. I really need to share my files and also access them remotely but more securely. Is there any better option to do this? OwnCloud? Nextcloud? OpenVPN server for remote access to all the NAS settings? Do you have any experiences with these?
 
Hardware questions
I plan to buy two 4TB WD Red HDDs in RAID 1, that's simple. But what next?
What solution do you recommend in my case?

Software questions
I struggle with myQNAPcloud Privacy Policy which sounds pretty bad to me. I really need to share my files and also access them remotely but more securely. Is there any better option to do this? OwnCloud? Nextcloud? OpenVPN server for remote access to all the NAS settings? Do you have any experiences with these?

4TB? No offense, but why bother with something so small. Buy the biggest, baddest HD you can afford. It's only a 2 bay (I believe) so at best you can mirror the drives. You can never have too much storage. I upgraded my 2x2TB (max capacity) NAS 2 years ago with 5x10TB so I will be good for a number of years yet. You are in graphic design, you know how big image files can be.

I'd definitely avoid the qnapcloud stuff. Seems really sketchy. Personally very happy with OpenVPN. A great place to start since it's free. You can always change your mind later.

Just my 2 cents.
 
4TB? No offense, but why bother with something so small. Buy the biggest, baddest HD you can afford. It's only a 2 bay (I believe) so at best you can mirror the drives. You can never have too much storage. I upgraded my 2x2TB (max capacity) NAS 2 years ago with 5x10TB so I will be good for a number of years yet. You are in graphic design, you know how big image files can be.

I'd definitely avoid the qnapcloud stuff. Seems really sketchy. Personally very happy with OpenVPN. A great place to start since it's free. You can always change your mind later.

Just my 2 cents.
I'm thinking about 6 or 8 TB as well but I don't know yet how much can I stretch my budget.
Any advice about the SSD's?

I'm really intrested in Nextcloud for sharing files and chat/call/video communication. Especially with the last version of QTS 4.4.1 with PHP 7 support (finally!) - Qapache isn't needed anymore so the installation will be a bit easier.
But for remote access to QTS system with all the settings I'll use OpenVPN. Any better solution?
 
Sorry, no experience with SSDs in a NAS. I haven't had the need to do that with my setup. Typically, the cost is greater and the performance is faster, but it all depends on what you are using it for. I prefer larger capacity so went with NAS-rated drives. I've used both "red" and "ironwolf" and have been happy.

The only real advantage of SSDs that I can see really is using them for cache, if that unit can make use of it.

I tend to use as little as possible from the manufacturer. Similar to my router setup, I run as few "extra" apps as possible to maximize performance. But that's just me. I'd rather run a few Raspberry Pis and let them handle the miscellaneous functions.
 
You can use Qfile on a cell phone or login to your nas device page remotely by setting DDNS up on something else. For example, I use a Netgear router and set DDNS up on that. I loaded qfile on my phone. Then add the NAS manually, don’t search for it on your network even though it will find it. When it asks for Qnap ID it also says or (ip address) in fine print. Use the name you set up using DDNS. Netgear will give the option of setting up a free one like xxxxxxxx.mynetgear.com. No vpn required, just forward the correct ports from your router to the NAS.

Some security tips: use lets encrypt to get your own ssl cert not the default one Qnap comes with. Force https connections so you know you’ll always use encryption. Most importantly, disable the admin account. I wish you didn’t have to keep it on for SSH but you do is you want to use it. If not, turn it off as it’s the most tried username for someone to try and get into your NAS with.

You can create user names and passwords for your clients so they can see whatever you need to share with them.


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