NAS alternative - SSD?

[davek_964]

I have a 20TB Synology NAS that I've had for quite a few years. About a month ago, it warned me that one of the drives was dying. I've only used a fraction of the space, so even with a dead drive I have about 13TB free, but obviously reduced redundancy.

It was originally bought for streaming ripped DVDs and music, but the world has changed and it's not really used for that now. It is simply used as a backup for some things (far less than you could fit on a USB stick).

I'm reluctant to replace the drive - it's a fairly big box, and a bit noisy when the fans are running.

I assume I could replace the drives in the NAS with SSD, but it still seems more than I really need these days. An SSD would be fine - but it would be simpler if I could access it from the network.

So - something like network accessible SSDs (where I could simply buy a couple so that I have redundancy) - or a (phsycally) smallish SSD based NAS.

Are there such things? I've searched, but "network SSDs" never shows anything useful.

[JimbobVFR]

I've got an SSD (2.5" SATA) in a cheap USB enclosure plugged into my Asus router USB3 port.

This is the enclosure I use
https://amzn.eu/d/98kscbw

If you're still using a ISP supplied router this may not be possible but it works very well for me.

Edited by JimbobVFR on Friday 15th March 09:36

[davek_964]

JimbobVFR said:

If you're still using a ISP supplied router this may not be possible but it works very well for me.

Edited by JimbobVFR on Friday 15th March 09:36

We're not - the ISP router is in modem mode only. I can't remember if our router has USB though.

Thanks - I'll take a look.

[JimbobVFR]

On my Asus RT-86u I actually have 2 USB ports with one blue and one black, the Blue one is USB3 and the black one only USB2 so make sure you use the correct blue one if your router is the same.

[paulrockliffe]

It sounds like you don't even really need a NAS, you could use one Drive etc to match your stuff by the sounds of it.

Perhaps your best option is to take the good drive(s) from your NAS and put them in your PC and use them there to create backups there, including synced copies of One Drive or whatever and then use your Cloud service to make everything available to your networked devices.

If you do retain the NAS option, it might be worth finding some hardware to put your drives in that lets you run UnRaid or similar. That way you can cover the backups with a solid RAID setup, but also have the option to quickly spin up services on your network when you find you need them. I am in a similar boat, I have a big array of data that is rarely used these days, but the server is running CCTV services, Home Assistant for automations, Pi Hole to kill adverts on my network, even a Windows VM that means I can use Windowsy things from my Android Tablet. Nothing life-changing perhaps, but because the hardware is sat there and the platform so easy to use, you don't need much reason to use x y or z because the barrier to setting it up is so low.

[BlueMR2]

You could use a raspberry pi with an ssd or 2, small and low power and should have reasonable data rates. You can hide it out the way or have it on the desk plugged into a network hub or direct.

[Griffith4ever]

Just chuck a couple of small cheap SSDs in your RAID box: (if that's your goal - they'll have redundancy and be on the LAN - however, just getting a new HDD might be cheaper!)

https://www.itpro.com/nas/29491/can-you-put-an-ssd...

[mikef]

Griffith4ever said:

Just chuck a couple of small cheap SSDs in your RAID box.

Not sure about that. I run several Synology NAS units including a DS414slim (4 x 2.5” drives). I loaded it with SK Hynix laptop SSDs and they failed one after another - just not up to the 24x7 stop-start usage. I would recommend SSDs listed as compatible by Synology (which tend to be more expensive enterprise models).

The Synology NAS ran far quieter with SSDs but not noticably faster; the gigabit ethernet interface was more of a limiting factor

[mikef]

davek_964 said:

So - something like network accessible SSDs (where I could simply buy a couple so that I have redundancy) - or a (phsycally) smallish SSD based NAS.

Are there such things? I've searched, but "network SSDs" never shows anything useful.

This looks intriguing, but I have no personal experience: https://www.qnap.com/en/product/tbs-464

Review: https://www.storagereview.com/review/qnap-tbs-464-...

Edited by mikef on Friday 15th March 23:26

[rodericb]

Which model NAS?

[Condi]

A very basic duel drive Synology NAS with 2 x SSD in is great for having a "personal cloud". Photos, documents etc automatically back up there and with Synology apps or Docker you can use it as a little "always on" PC for doing all sorts of useful things. So much more flexible than an external HD.

Edited by Condi on Saturday 23 March 16:56

[Baldchap]

BlueMR2 said:

You could use a raspberry pi with an ssd or 2, small and low power and should have reasonable data rates. You can hide it out the way or have it on the desk plugged into a network hub or direct.

I have a pi5 running two drives setup as a NAS. It does work, it never crashes (I don't use an SD card in it at all) and it hasn't made an appreciable dent on the electric bill, but the data rates aren't anywhere near what you'll get from something like a Synology NAS.

You pays your money, you takes your choice.

[theaxe]

I'd also go for putting the data into the cloud, then you have a copy that's away from your main computer. OneDrive/Google Drive are easy. I use Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive for my backups. I think it costs about $1 per TB per month.

[ARHarh]

My only issue with online services is right now they are competitively priced to gain customers and create a dependance on their services, I fear these costs will go up faster than inflation once the customer base are committed. This is already happening with the likes of reolink cameras and a few others. Every company out there needs a subscription based income these days.

[davek_964]

Online isn't an option. There are some files that I am intentionally keeping offline, and I would prefer it stayed that way.

After thinking about it, I've decided that replacing the failed drive is the simplest option. I no longer live alone - and the NAS provides an easy way of limiting access to other people in the house - which is something I do want to continue doing.

[Condi]

ARHarh said:

Every company out there needs a subscription based income these days.

This was my reason for going for a NAS over a subscription. If your data is held by Amazon/Google etc then you're subject to their pricing changes and generally reliant on someone else for quite valuable stuff.

[thebraketester]

Condi said:

ARHarh said:

Every company out there needs a subscription based income these days.

This was my reason for going for a NAS over a subscription. If your data is held by Amazon/Google etc then you're subject to their pricing changes and generally reliant on someone else for quite valuable stuff.

True. I have swung between my NAS and dropbox for the last few years and drop box is winning at the moment with most important things duplicated to the NAS. Drop box has saved my bacon a few times recently with their versioning feature where you can roll back to previous versions of a file.

[ARHarh]

Doesn't every office type program offer version control, it certainly used to 20 years ago. It looks like MS office is forcing you to use onedrive for version control, I think this just validates my point. Easy to do version control in Libraoffice.

[thebraketester]

ARHarh said:

Doesn't every office type program offer version control, it certainly used to 20 years ago. It looks like MS office is forcing you to use onedrive for version control, I think this just validates my point. Easy to do version control in Libraoffice.

Maybe. This wasn't an office file.