Hi,
I’d like your advice on the choice of NAS for a system I’m installing which is mainly focussed on home surveillance and storage of family photos. I’ve already got part of the solution but am wondering how best to extend for additional storage.

FYI
I’m a software developer that in a past life designed circuit boards and other hardware so I have the ability to delve into the depths of a machine/software but I’m more than happy to use an out of the box solution where thinking isn’t always required.

Requirements
• Home surveillance - Record 8 4k cameras 7/24. Playback from home only, I do not need remote access.
• Storage of family photos. - I’d like to store photos for local access. I’ve too many DVDs, USB drives with multiple copies of the same thing in an ad-hoc way rather than a managed back up.
Ideally I’ve have a separate storage (folder) linked to Google Photos so my phone pushes to Google and they are then synced locally. I can then review the google photos on the NAS and move them to permanent local storage if I want to keep them or delete them if unwanted. I’d like to just use Google as a simple way to take photos and move them to local storage if I want to keep them. This also lets the wife do the same thing without having to download from the phone, ask me lots of questions etc.
• VMs - This is a nice to have and might be a future option but It wouldn’t be a deal breaker if it wasn’t possible to run a VM.
• Maintenance - I‘d like to keep things simple so they are easier to manage once setup. Setup can take time but I’d like to perform basic system monitoring each month rather than making constant configuration updates.
• Backups - Automation of two local backups such as a USB drive connected to the NAS and another network device. I appreciate I should have an off-site backup but I don’t want to use permanent cloud storage at this point. (apart from google photos as previously mentioned).

I don’t use plex, play games or do much home automation. Streaming is Netflix, amazon etc.

Existing infrastructure:
• Netgear managed switch (1Gb) with POE+ available for all 24 ports
• CAT7a cabling throughout the house, CAT8 wasn’t available at the time.
• Where possible all devices are wired even the Chromecasts, only mobiles, tablets, laptops use wifi.
• HP EliteDesk 800 mini G6 i5 10500 32GB RAM (for video surveillance)
o 1TB Seagate FireCuda 530 for the operating system
o 2TB Seagate FireCuda 520 for initial local storage of surveillance video
o 2 x 1TB Seagate FireCuda 530 drives connected via USB 3.2 Gen 2 for additional video storage.

Why am I asking about NAS now?
My initial plan was to expand the current storage using an external thunderbolt 3 enclosure (DAS) connected to the HP mini. I’d reuse the M.2 drives that are currently connected via USB if the enclosure supports them or add some WD Purple drives. The cost of an external enclosure supporting multiple M.2 drives is currently nearing the cost of a NAS. Also I believe one of your videos warned that thunderbolt uses additional resources so am concerned that using it for external storage could negatively affect the recording process for video. I have the option to keep the USB C in the HP mini or replace it with the thunderbolt option.
So I’ve started thinking about pushing the video to a NAS instead of local storage.
Earlier in the year I had reviewed the NAS options and like many people Synology seemed the way to go, however I saw too many people reporting issues recording surveillance video 24/7 which was the whole point of the project. So I decided to go the standalone PC route and use Blue Iris. I’ve got a couple of Amcrest cameras as I liked the build quality although they don’t always get the best reviews for video quality.
However, I recently saw a review of the Asustor LOCKERSTOR 4 Gen2 (AS6704T) and was very interested in the option to use the M.2 slots as storage instead of cache. I’ve a couple of 2TB & 1TB Seagate FireCuda 530 drives which could be used as storage ( and leave the 4 drive bays for later use such as for a couple of mirrored WD Purple drives to store surveillance footage for a couple of weeks. I use the FireCuda drives due to their high durability.

So…
• Do I go for the Asustor option and move my M.2 drives there and buy some additional WD drives.
• Go for Synology DS923+ which supports M.2 as storage but it seems to depend on what you read as to whether this is just for cache or also storage.
• Use Blue Iris or move over to the solution provided by the NAS.
• Or something else?

The budget of £1000 is for the NAS, i am happy to add additional storage as time/money allow.

Hopefully all this information makes sense?
Any/all recommendations gratefully appreciated.

Regards, Lee

Hi

After a long long search on google and reading manual from QNAP, there is no information about a absolut Important information - and I hope you can help me!

My TS873-A full with 8 Bay (every 18TB) and one SSD (System) have a big software issue - the System SSD tell "write protect" and change and reinstall the SSD. So - shit - what to do?? My QNAP Server is a PLEX Server with 8Bayx18TB full of data. And I won't a complete clean new install of the snap Server Q.T.S (not change the QTS System) but I dont know what to to. I have no chance to backup the 8 Bays - so what I have to to to make a clean installation again? This must not be a "mega complex think" - but it looks like. If a Server crash the software is buggy, all data are still on a harddrive, so why is it so complex to reinstall a software?

So bevor i do the wrong thing - and everything a have iss lost - what can I do to clean up the system? On the SSD there is NO Data - only Apps from the QNAP Store. I have to say that I first install all on VOLUME 1 of my 8 volumes, and then I install the SSD Hard drive and move all apps to this volume (it is mark as "System&quot. So I dont know if I format the SSD and resinstrall the QTS, all DATA on Volume 1 and all other Volumes are lost..

Thanks a lot for your help. And QNAP Support did not answer since 1 week...

Hi guys. Long time follower. Excellent info, thank you for all you do. My question pertains to my new QNAP h674 I just received. My main areas of use are PLEX, multimedia, File sharing with family, friends, as well as I maintain my consulting customers backup data on the same NAS. Old nas is TVS 671 I am decommissioning.

Hardware on hand: h674 i5 32GB, 2 x Samsung nvme 1tb, 4 x WD Red Pro 20TB

Im not sure best use for nvme drives. First thought was should I set them up as first pool (system pool) or set the system pool as the 4 Western Digs raid 5 and then add the nvmes as caching later? QNAP setup video starts with nvmes as system but i see your video says use 1st pool with SATA disks. I do have many 4k movies I will be playing.

Can you please advise and explain benefits of each way for my understanding?

THANK YOU!

Lou

Hi,
Waiting for Black Friday sales, but thinking of buying DS920+ for plex and ds923+ to serve as hot backup to 920+ and docker (vm-sonorr, radarr, websie) host. Wondering if my backup unit should be a 920+ and mirror first unit. Any +/- on buying from Amazon or B&H Photo?

Interestingly it states that the M.2 slots support storage pools in the foot notes of the feature page:

Synology SNV3400 series M.2 NVMe SSD drives can be installed through the built-in M.2 slots to enable SSD caching or create SSD storage pools. Drives are sold separately.

Source: https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/DS923+

Hello, all I am at a crossroads regarding which NAS to purchase. Yes, I know both are completely different but the price $700 compared to $1600 for i3 and $1900 for the i5 version for the TVS-h674 I am wonder will ever take advantage of it. I have a friend that has an older model TVS that uses ZFS it is very nice. I want a six-bay NAS for flex ability. I have six Hard drives ready for use. The following is how I am going to use it for home use only. I have five computers one of them is a MAC. I have two 1TB NVMe drivers that I use and if go with the TS-664 I will be using a maximum of 16GB of ram and for the TVS I will use 32GB of ram. The NAS will be used for. I
1. Backups
2. Plex Media Server [HD and 4K movies and home movies, music, collection]
3. One or two VM'S ubuntu etc not at the same time. (light use)
4. One or two containers not running at the same time. (Setup Minecraft server for grandson)
5. Photo Editing using lightroom.

I love ZFS system but I am not sure the $1000 will be worth it. So will TS-664 be ok or save up for TVS-h674? I don't want to purchase TVS if I am not going to take full advantage of it. I would like to here from others.

Hi guys,

We're in need of a storage solution. Currently we buy around 4-6 4TB Lacie rugged HDDs every year for our HD workflow, so we have a lot of these hanging around (maybe 12-16 of them from the last 3 years). We'd usually edit from these drives or sometimes directly from SSD drives used in the filming process (Atomos SSD caddies and Samsung T5 SSD). We would then transfer the footage onto the Lacie HDDs for backup once the project is done.

To add to our storage solution neccessity, it's likely we might be heading into a 4k workflow for some future projects.

Obviously there is probably quite a lot wrong with this workflow which I'm sure I don't need to explain to you... Having watched one of your Youtube videos, I can see that you're expert(s) in this area.

So, we've been looking into NAS solutions and thinking of taking the plunge.

I have a couple of questions:

1. What should we do with our archive from the last 3 years (approx. 40-50TB)?

2. What is the best solution moving forwards for working on projects and archiving them?

To break apart those questions, I've been wondering whether we would need a big enough NAS to cover our archive backlog PLUS enough space for current and future projects. Or whether we should simply buy a DAS / raid solution for archive and NAS for current and future projects. Obviously there are cost implications for both options... maybe we don't even save that much by going for DAS or DAS raid for archive?

It's worth mentioning that the chances of us being asked to delve into archive to change anything or re-edit videos is quite low.

Like I mentioned, to add to complexity I'd like to be able to edit projects in Manchester for some of the week, not travelling to our Studio in Sheffield. This could either be done with the Lacie HDDs that we clear space on or with another NAS in my studio in Manchester.

Apologies for the long winded explanation.

Some advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Mark

Hello,
I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I am looking to back up my computer onto a Synology NAS because it is currently just on the computer itself. I want to be able to just have a 1 to 1 copy of the data with no raid as well as be able to upgrade the storage if needed. Also, I would like to be able to to have the backups happen automatically over the network. In addition I will eventually like to be able to set up an offsite backup that can happen automatically as well to where I would not have to go to the offsite location to update the backup. Is Synology the way to go? Would the NAS that I buy for my home be the same kind that buy for offsite? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Wondered if nascompares actually ever got around to Performance Testing the QNAP TS-h2490FU-7302P-256G? I wanted to purchase one with twelve (12) Micron MTFDKCC3T2TFS-1BC1ZABYY 3.2TB NVMe Gen4 SSD's. I would also have two (2) dual port 100Gb/sec Com Cards. I was planning on having at least 1024 GB of System Memory. Was hoping to achieve around 25,000 MB/sec read speeds with Teamed 100Gb/sec ports. Running CNN models with Data Augmentation and Transfer Learning (VGG19).
Note: It will connect to a Enterprise Windows 2022 Server with Intel Xeon Sapphire Rapids Processors and four (4) NVIDIA A100Tensor Core GPUs.

I am replacing my home NAS. I have a small half depth rack with my network equipment in it. I currently have my nas sitting on a shelf in it but want to convert to a rack mount to free up space. I am looking for 8 drives which i would start with approx 5 12tb drives in. I am converting my extensive video library to digital from both dvd and blu-rays. I am looking for the best bang for the buck. i am not partial to any brand (nas or drive)