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Upgrading old NAS

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Nigel17

New Around Here
First post, so please be gentle...

I have a ReadyNAS Ultra6 in RAID6 (6 x 2TB) to store 2-3TB of family videos/photos/etc from a PC. I use a ReadyNAS DUO v1 (2 x 1TB) in RAID 1 as a backup. As the volume of data has increased I have run out of space on the DUO to backup adequately. I have also migrated off Windows to Mac - in case this affects the solution in terms of compatibility.

My options are:

1. Use a large external HDD as backup instead.
2. Put 2 x 2TB HDDs into the DUO and go RAID 0 or JBOD to give me 4TB capacity of backup.
3. Get a more modern NAS with more capacity.

Any comments or views welcomed in terms of which direction to take.
 
Your backup NAS is fine. Upgrade to two 4 TB drives and stay with RAID 1.
 
Thanks for response. Max drive size for v1 DUO is 2 TB, so only 2TB capacity total in Raid 1, or 4TB in Raid 0.
 
Thanks for response. Max drive size for v1 DUO is 2 TB, so only 2TB capacity total in Raid 1, or 4TB in Raid 0.
NASes usually get upgrades to handle larger drives sizes. But the DUO v1 is Sparc-based, so I can see where it probably didn't.

The last thing I'd do is use RAID0.

If you want a cheap dual-bay NAS, consider a WD MyCloud Mirror recertified.

Backup to an attached USB 3 drive will be faster than network backup, at least for the intial backup. You might consider getting two 4 TB USB 3 drives, then alternating backups, storing one in a firebox or offsite.
 
Am I correct in thinking the reason for steering away from Raid0 is that the risk of loss of data is higher because the loss of any one HDD OR the NAS controller results in loss of all data - as opposed to Raid1 where loss of any one HDD can be overcome by replacing it ( though loss of NAS controller again means loss of all data)?

I like the idea of getting two 4 TB external HDDs and alternating backups. The backups would be quicker with using USB 3 (or even Thunderbolt 2 from an iMac). However, would I have any file compatibility issues by starting to use an iOS-formatted backup HDD which would have my legacy Windows backups and video/photo files plus iOS-formatted backups going forward? I have no problem accessing Windows files on my current Ultra6 NAS from my iMac, so I believe when I copy this current backup to an iOS-formatted HDD I assume I will have no problem accessing them?
 
Correct on RAID0 description.

You don't have a problem accessing Windows files from the ReadyNAS because it supports multiple network file systems (SMB, AFP, NFS, etc.), which is used to exchange data between the NAS and clients. Its drives are actually formatted BTRFS, if you are using the latest OS.

You must choose a format for the USB backup drive, typically FAT32, NTFS and EXT3/4 are offered. MacOS can read NTFS. So if you had to recover data or move it to a new NAS, that would be a safe OS to use.
 

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