Suggest Me An Affordable/Reliable NAS Drive + Hard Drive Bundle.

whatswrongwithya on 14/12/2022 - 10:14

After loosing a newly bought 6TB WD elements (as a backup) with 3TB data I am looking to get into NAS systems to backup my data.

I have heaps of personal photos and videos etc.

Looking for bundles (hard drives and NAS drives) options without putting burden on the wallet. I am also investing in google photos as well as Blue-Ray burner and disks.

I don't understand WD Blue vs Red or Seagate Barracuda vs Seagate Ironwolf because like people have mentioned in the past that these drives break no matter what.

Computing Computer Component Hard Drive NAS

Comments

  • Hybroid on 14/12/2022 - 10:18
    +5

    Before you jump straight into the hardware, review the 3-2-1 recommended good back up strategy and determine what you want to do first.

    3 copies of your data, 2 local on different media and 1 off-site backup (or cloud).

    https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/

    • whatswrongwithya on 14/12/2022 - 10:39

      Thank you and I am totally going to follow this strategy.

    • Sinnerator on 14/12/2022 - 11:43

      Don't forget the 4th or Hard Print copy also, you know just in case.

    • Chandler on 14/12/2022 - 13:21

      Or even better the 3-2-1-1-0 rule:

      • 3 copies
      • 2 different media
      • 1 off-site
      • 1 air-gapped
      • 0 errors

      I think the last one is the most important. The last thing you want to do is burn your photos to a Bluray thinking your following a good practice (which you are) only to go retrieve your backup to recover some data and discover it didn't finish the burning session properly and the disk is unreadable. **Check your backups!!***

  • Switchblade88 on 14/12/2022 - 10:28

    these drives break no matter what.

    Yep. That's the hard-learned lesson you now know. All drives will eventually die regardless of size, brand, HDD versus SSD. We are waging war against data attrition!

    If you're looking for a very minimal budget solution you can start with a pair of drives, and then manually copy between then - one as live, one as a backup (NOT always connected, NOT stored in the same premises ideally). Brand really doesn't matter nowadays, all the ones listed are fine. Plug them in and copy between say weekly, and if you get identical drives you can also then swap which is the backup each time once they both have the same data. Add a third drive in rotation if you can afford it and store elsewhere.

    From there you start adding additional features like RAID - pairing drives together in one PC or external NAS box for realtime redundancy - or more expensive options like faster access speeds over 2.5GBe ethernet, or more bays in your NAS since you usually don't want/have space for 4+ drives in your PC.

    NAS boxes are purpose-specific for networked data storage, but they are essentially a mini PC and thus have a matching price tag ($600 plus, without any HDDs installed). They work well, but not the best spend if you only have one or two drives in your backup solution since you're just starting out. Better off buying another couple of drives instead.

    • whatswrongwithya on 14/12/2022 - 10:37

      Yup, I got my self a 6tb WD Elements in July this year and It broke after 5 uses and I bought for $209 from CentreCom. I am thinking that a slightly expensive technology or grade will last a bit more longer if not forever? Maybe the disc inside WD Elements 6TB is a cheapo entry level one?

      • Switchblade88 on 14/12/2022 - 10:57
        +1

        More expensive = better is definitely a fallacy. An enterprise drive is simply 'binned' higher than the equivalent consumer drive, but the tech is still the same and thus will fail the same way regardless. Enterprise drives also sit unmoving in a server for years where USB HDDs get moved a lot which skews longevity towards the enterprise HDDs too.

        SSDs will be immune to mechanical issues - you can throw them at the wall - but they will still die eventually. And being 4x more expensive they don't make sense as a pure backup solution; for the same price you can get 4 HDDs and put them in 4 locations to reduce your risks of loss.

    • bdl on 14/12/2022 - 10:44

      Better off buying another couple of drives instead.

      This - just grab another drive, OP will be able to warranty the wd elements drive that they bought in July. Then can plan 3-2-1 from there. Right now with no backup at all, OP is vulnerable. (edit: well, OP has google photos backup but we all know what a pain Google Takeout can be)

    • Chandler on 14/12/2022 - 13:45

      Please note what Switchblade has said here: realtime redundancy.

      #raidisnotabackup. RAID is an availability tool - it is there so that in the event a disk dies, you can still use your data and don't have to go through the process of restoring from a backup. RAID is not a backup tool. Why?

      • Deleted a file? RAID copy got deleted too
      • Made some edits to a file you want to revert? RAID copy has the edits too
      • Got some ransomeware encrypting your files? RAID copy is encrypted too
      • Hardware failure on your disk? RAID got u fam.

      Just try not to write any data to the degraded array because you've lost your protection. Oh, and hope that during the gruelling process of rebuilding the array you don't lose another disk. Try to buy drives in different batches - i.e different dates, different resellers, different vendors/models; to minimise the risk that you have multiple drives fail in succession because they've all been subjected to the same environment.

      Please don't take this as discouragement from using RAID - RAID is good at what it does, which is provides resiliency in the event of a disk failure and keeping your data available. I think the prolifity of home NAS systems has seen an influx of people using RAID (as these NAS systems typically have the capacity and its even frequently advertised), but for home use RAID isn't a necessity - good backup practice is.

  • snickerz on 14/12/2022 - 10:54

    I recently set up my Synology NAS. Bought the DS220+ with 2x Iron Wolf 4TB Drives.

    Previously I used to maintain my data on the Computer HDD + WD Elements + Google Photos / BOX.com, I have to say things are much simpler now with Auto Sync

    Have set up photo backup on family phones as well, so anytime I get a "full storage" error on any device… I can delete the entire photo/video collection without thinking twice knowing all data has been backed up and available via the NAS. Another advantage is I can retain 4k Videos without compromising on quality (we know google photos reduces the video quality significantly and these videos take up a lot of space on phones)

    In addition to the 1:1 backup on the NAS, I take a monthly backup of the NAS onto a WD Elements external HDD

    • whatswrongwithya on 14/12/2022 - 11:01

      I am also looking at Iron-wolf drives in 6tb option but there is Iron-wolf Pro which are a bit expensive….

      • snickerz on 14/12/2022 - 11:07

        Just from my personal experience I initially purchased the DS220j which is the entry-level NAS from Synology. The 220j has in-sufficient RAM to perform even the simplest of operations. Had to get rid of it and upgraded to 220+ and experience has been great since then

        • eswes on 14/12/2022 - 12:45

          Out of curiosity, what kind of things was it struggling with? I was also tossing up between the j and the + but was only planning to use it as a backup system, not for streaming stuff or anything like that.

          • snickerz on 14/12/2022 - 13:07
            +1

            @eswes: The main reason was it took a huge amount of time to back up all my photos. Once the photos were backed up… the thumbnail generation was a Pain in the backside… after all was said and done… while accessing your photos and browsing through the thumbnails would also keep on getting stuck… opening a video would take a long time too…. the unit only has 512 MB of memory which is not upgradeable… IMO the 220j should not even be sold unless with a minimum 1 GB of RAM

            • whatswrongwithya on 14/12/2022 - 13:29

              @snickerz: I just compared the specs b/w two and it makes sense to have latest and better tech but the DS220+ is double the price. I also noticed some YTers are saying to go for a 4 Bay NAS. Whats your take on this? How old is your setup? and is it wise you turn it off when not using and turn on when you feel like looking at archives?

              • snickerz on 14/12/2022 - 13:42

                @whatswrongwithya: This is exactly what my thought process was when I was looking for a NAS! But I learned the hard way. The 220j struggles to backup and display photos/video library. I purchased the 220j on Marketplace from a bloke who sold it to me for 100 bucks. One month later I passed it on via marketplace and got 220+ from MWAVE for 499$.

                My experience since after the upgrade has been pretty good. With 220j I was struggling with the basic purpose of photo backup.

                In terms of 2-Bay or 4-Bay, really depends on how much redundancy you want and how much storage you need. If I am not mistaken 220+ can support up to 16 TB HDD x 2. I am only using my setup with a 2x 4TB.

                I think my setup is almost 4-5 months old. I keep it turned on all the time. My family phone devices are set up to automatically sync data whenever I enter the house and connect to my WiFi. So the photo backup is seamless.

                I also have my office PC and personal PC folders synced with the NAS. So every time I download a file or modify a database, the changes are automatically synced with the NAS (like One Drive or Google Drive)

            • eswes on 14/12/2022 - 15:21

              @snickerz: Thanks for sharing your experience, this is really helpful. Sounds like the j is underpowered.

              • bdl on 14/12/2022 - 17:23
                +1

                @eswes: FWIW I have no problems with mine running one Reolink IP cam and using it as a backup target and file share. I sync it to other offisite Synology, Xpenology and random offiste Linux boxes. Also as a SMB file share to an external plex server (running on one of those refurb Optiplex i5-3570s). Really depends how you plan on implementing it, can't expect a $200 box to do the same as a $1k box

                • eswes on 14/12/2022 - 17:55
                  +1

                  @bdl: Thanks for sharing your experience!

  • nickxau on 14/12/2022 - 11:22

    Lesson 1: NAS is not a backup solution!
    Lesson 2: 3-2-1 backup strategy is.

    As someone mentioned above, ALL HDDs eventually fail - even the best NAS HDDs.

    If you had implemented the 321 strategy you wouldn't be in the situation that you're in now. As you're only using 3/6TB I don't see a compelling reason for you to invest in a NAS setup. Learn from your mistake, practice 321 backups and save a bucket load - just my $0.0212 (factoring inflation@6%).

    • snickerz on 14/12/2022 - 13:10
      -1

      I would disagree mate! Yes NAS setup is not cheap… but it is reliable.

      HDDs do fail…. just like any storage device… but with a NAS you can have 2/3/4 copies of backup and there is a rare chance of having multiple HDDs fail simultaneously!

      NAS Backup on an external HDD would help further to secure your backup

      • nickxau on 14/12/2022 - 16:32

        True but once again you're going back to the fundamental 321 strategy even with a NAS only solution.

        In the rare event where the NAS fails because of a NAS hardware failure, no amounts of backups on the NAS will save you - which comes back to my lesson 1: NAS is not a backup solution.

        • whatswrongwithya on 14/12/2022 - 20:12
          +1

          I am going with NAS 1:1 and Blue-Ray M-discs solution. I'll also get Google One option solely for sharing storage and Photos.

  • bondi on 14/12/2022 - 12:45

    There is really no such thing as affordable and reliable NAS. Once you are on the track of NAS product, the money investment is a must. You would be better off to stick up with WD cloud and it would save your some for sure.

  • nasz on 14/12/2022 - 15:08

    A decent NAS is certainly more robust and dependable than a WD Cloud solution. As a long term user of NAS's and cloud solutions. Synology bespoke RAID option is the best option for reliability and accessability in the even of an disaster. NAS while principally design for network storage can provide a verygood backup solution (I use it for my video/music/photos and document backup) for several devices including Ipads and Iphones. Simple and effective, plus easily upgradeable if required.

    My primary job is a DR and Business Continuity consultant for a major IT company - DR and Resiliency is my 'thang'

  • bdl on 14/12/2022 - 17:24

    OP, maybe also consider https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html as one of your backup targets

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