Hello. Backstory: I've been using Macs for many years with larger internal storage options (3-4TB.) This houses our iTunes music, Plex movies, photos and document collections. We also utilize larger external storage solutions for our photography business (4TB.) Over the years, I've become accustomed to using a system backup application called SuperDuper! and multiple external drives to create 1:1 backups for our main machine. I also utilize a file sync application called ChronoSync to ensure 1:1 copies of our photo business drives. All in all, I have 5-hard drive backups for my main machine, which are rotated frequently and 4-hard drive backups for our photo business, which are also rotated frequently. As you can see, I have a lot going on that needs to be maintained quite frequently and would like to simplify if possible.

New use-case: Now that hard drives are cheaper than ever before, I would rather move into the realm of NAS, but want to see how close I can get to my existing backup solutions?

1. If I purchased the Synology DS920+ with 4-8TB hard drives, could I use each hard drive independently to generate backups directly from the Mac itself whenever I wanted? My thought is that each backup would cover both the main machine as well as the dedicated photos drive into one disk on the NAS. I could then setup an automated solution to perform these 4-separate backups throughout different intervals during the week.

2. If I decided to move away from purchasing Macs with larger internal storage options, could I instead place all my data on the NAS directly and access it at anytime as if it was stored locally? This route would probably mean that I go with a Raid setup, but would need help understanding the best Raid option to choose. My goal for this method is to hopefully allow me the option of no longer needing to worry about my devices having certain internal storage sizes as I should be able to access the singular file on any device that I affectively use (iMac, Macbook, iPad, iPhone, PC, PC Laptop, etc.) Would this option be a solution the NAS can provide? Any downsides to this approach? Of course, I would probably keep some files locally for ease of access, like say 1-2 photo shoots. Once edited and sent off, I could then move that information to the NAS for future access and backup redundancy.

Ultimately, I just want a better solution to what I have today. I have hard drives all over the place. I also want to be able to access data no matter where I'm at in the world for work and I want to be able to utilize my music and movie libraries to stream across all my devices in the house (or on the road too if possible.) Hope the above questions made sense and were clear. If not, please let me know what additional information you require to help me find the right solution for my needs. Thank you for your time!

This is more of an unexpected "what happened" than a question so if it happens to you, you won't panic.
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New DS920+ with 4, 8TB hdd and 4GB of internal RAM.
1. First memory test with 4GB ran as expected. Started it from the "Assistant" and the NAS went into reboot process and then started the memtest. After it was done, the NAS rebooted and everything was normal. Used PuTTy to SSH into the NAS and used the command sudo cat /var/log/messages | grep 'Memtest'
to verify the memtest results. Test passed as expected. Ran two more times - all good.
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2. Installed 4GB stick of Crucial (CT4G4SF8266) and started the memory testing process again. This time when it started the initial rebooting - the NAS shutdown. No LED's, no fans turning - nothing. After waiting several minutes, I long pressed the Power button and the unit started up and went into the memory test. Checked the results, everything passed. Performed the test again two more times and in both cases the reboot worked as expected, went into test, completed and rebooted.
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3. Next I have a 16GB stick of Crucial (CT16G48FD8266) that I installed and started testing. Just like the first test on the 4GB stick, the first test on the 16GB stick failed to reboot and went into a power off state. No LED's, no fan's. Waited several minutes and then pressed the power on button but this time nothing happened. The power on LED would not turn blue no matter how long I held it pressed. Had to remove the power cord, waited 30 seconds and plugged it back in. Long press on the power button and the NAS came back up and started the memory test all on it's own. Tested the 16GB two more times, log shows all the testing for all the memory tests passed.
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I have dumped all the logs after running the tests and will look for any event's / error messages to see if this is normal operation or a bug...
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I have done some research and found this behavior being alluded to in a Synology forum for a different model but no replies or any follow-up posts.
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I have exercised the NAS in each memory configuration after doing the memory testing and there was no abnormal operation, error events or anything else to indicate there was a problem with memory. The NAS enumerates and allocates the added memory and shows everything is as it should be. I have been playing with a number of app's to see if anything fails and so far, everything is good.
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So if you experience this sort of operation when running the *first memory test* on your new upgrade, I wouldn't get to excited as long as the memory passes it testing and you're not getting any error messages or other weird, unexpected behavior.
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DSM 7 is far from perfect. I'm running it on my other two NAS units (DS115j which I use for target practice and a DS718+ which I use for nightly backups for 30 computers) and I've seen some abnormal behavior in Hyper Backup (corruption) on the DS718+, screen display weirdness on the DS115j and a few one-off events on both of those that I could not duplicate. The DS920+ - with the exception of the first time memory test weirdness, has been running great.
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@BobS

Hi there,
Just about to set up a home Plex and backup storage system for home office/home use. I watched the review on the TVS-675 and it looks like it will do the job for me nicely. On the review you state that the TVS-675 is good but not the best. What is the best?
I have very little 4K content but around 12TB of Media that I would like to add to Plex and around 4TB of work related files. I will probably begin to populate the unit with 12TB drives giving me ample storage for the foreseeable future. Any advice on the device and drive manufacturer would be fantastic.

I have heard people mentioning that a HDD will fail either at the beginning or at the end of its life cycle, therefore a stress test should be done on all new HDDs before use.

1. Is it recommended to do a stress test for new HDDs before putting it to use in a NAS?
2. How can I do a stress test? Any software needed? How long will it take? Step by step and alternative methods are appreciated.
3. Can I do it on the NAS itself? This is because I do not own an adapter and power supply for a 3.5" HDD.
4. If #3 is possible, can it be done for the second and subsequent drives on the NAS itself while keeping its RAID configuration? Same reason because I do not own an adapter and power supply.

Thanks and appreciate all responses!

I am planning on buying the Qnap 1288 or 1688 unit with a lot of storage, but want a Qnap backup unit, so am wondering how much storage that should have and which unit to buy.

HI,

Not sure you will get below message as I answered to my own question, not sure how the systen works here? So here we go again :-)

Thanks your answer.



WOW that is a lot of backup, I am planning to purchase the QNAP TVS-h1688X with 10x8TB or maybe 10TB drives and then Seagate IronWolf 125 SSD 4TB NAS Internal Solid State Drive, 2 x 4TB for cache and 2 x 4TH for special storage (probably surveillance) outside the Raid as I will delete these files when they get over 30 days old.



Will also be installing a couple of SAMSUNG 980 PRO 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 Internal Gaming SSD M.2 (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM), unless you think that's a bad idea, can't have enough (too much) storage, can you?



The backup unit I have planned on the QNAP TS-832PX-4G 8 Bay which I will put same size drives in as on the 1688 and the go from there. That have to be enough for starts :-)



Not sure about this: QNAP Dual-Band Wireless PCIe Expansion Card (QWA-AC2600), will that interfere with the boats other wireless configurations. Would be nice to have a wireless connection for the NAS only to use for external units, smart phones, tables and TV's to hear music and watch movies/tv-series?



For camera surveillance I will probably go for the Hikvision DS-2CD2183G0-I 8.0MP 4K (2 pcs as I don't know how the with cover will be, will need to have both port and starboard side covered), as I can also connect those to the chart plotters and use them to safely get the 60 foot catamaran alongside in a marina, not easy to get a large catamaran along side even with a bow thruster, so these cameras will be handy :-)



Again thanks for your many answers, I know that you are probably very busy :-)



Rgds

Benny

Hi,

I watched a lot of NasCompare videos already and thankfully most of them really in depth like no one else. Some things like the GUI of Synology moments, Synology photos and Qumagie was very helpful. Thank you!
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Although all that video, I still feel I need to ask for advice. My case is similar like most of your viewer do, but I'm in torn between Synology and Qnap.
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My case: I'm looking for a place to store my phone camera photos and videos (iPhone X). Mostly take a lot of photos here and there, short videos, screen recording, screenshots when found interesting content. Because I do digital marketing service, so I usually keep them as reference for my future content. These day apple photos feature helped me a lot.
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But due to limited space on my phone 256GB which fully used in 2 year, I subscribed dropbox to keep backup all my camera upload and to allow me to delete less accessed content. But this lead to another problem:
- Dropbox cannot categorize it at all (except business plan), putting everything in a folder (more than 15000 files in it now, I cant even count it because the browse is having trouble selecting it all)
- Accessing my camera upload in dropbox is really slow
- due to the number of files in camera upload, the scroll never end and it so stressing to browse to even try to manually categorize it
- currently used only 220GB in dropbox
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I hesitate using Google and apple due the company is keeping to many things and have interest in AI. So I prefer not to use them to keep everything.
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How big storage I need:
- contains 120GB of camera files a year
- migrate from dropbox file (200GB)
- connect an old 3 TB HDD that I used in my PC (full of files like video) to the NAS, so I can access anytime (WD Red 3TB 2014)
- move 1TB of files from my portable HDD (WD My Passport 4TB 2020)
Is it possible to extract my Passport 4TB as one of the storage and buy another WD Red 4TB?
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Beside that, I have several other storage that would like your suggestion whether to connect it to the NAS or keep it portable:
- 512GB M.2 2280 SSD (Team brand - currently in external SSD enclosure)
- 240GB M.2 (Transcend Jetdrive was for Macbook Air internal SSD)
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Feature I need:
- Live photos
- photo map location
to look photo I took on some place
- photo categorization (screenshot, screen recording)
- people identification
- separate gallery access for several user (will be sharing with my brother, but dont want to get the gallery mixed)
- backup from phone like dropbox
- offsite backup for select folders (synology hyperbackup)
- drive encryption or partition encryption like veracrypt
- remote shutdown (WD My home cant do this even physically), because electricity can be shutdown for hours sometime in my town
- separate folder for photos from different phone and camera
- HEIC to keep the same quality from phone to storage (is it the case?)
- subject identification
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My question:
A. what NAS do you suggest for the case above?
B. In Synology website, only select models can do "Synology Moments", beside facial and subject recognition, can you explain more about it?
https://kb.synology.com/en-id/DSM/tutori...on_Moments
C. if we use hyperbackup, do we can still browse the file inside from synology moments?
D. What Raid do you suggest?
E. I have been offered by DS412+ (USD 208) DS718+ (USD360), does it suit my need?
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Looking toward NASCompare videos, I actually prefer Synology, but the new synology moment made me hesitate due to the lack of maps view.
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Thank you and look forward for the advice

Hi NAS compares team,

The storage space on my Synology NAS (DS1520+) is running out. That's why I bought an expansion unit (DX517). Now I saw your video on youtube called "Understanding the Pros and Cons of the Synology DX517 Expansion - Part I". Unfortunately, part II and III have not been released yet. (Hope they will in future). I am sure that you may would have answered my question in video part 2 or 3.

Anyway, i want to strictly separate the hdd's / storage from the expansion unit from the storage of the NAS to prevent data loss caused by NAS or DX failure. For example if the NAS or DX Powersupply fails or one of them just stops working, the RAID will be damaged, because suddenly several disks disappear at the same time. This is why i want to separate them. Unfortunately, it is not clear to me how to set it up the right way. I am not sure, if i have to create a separate storage pool with its own volume(s) for the new disks in the expansion unit, or if it will be enought to simply add the disks to the existing storage pool and create a new volume within this storage pool? I think the second option (adding drives to existing pool and creating a new volume in there) will distribute the data from volume 1 and 2 which are in the same storage pool, across all HDD's (These in the NAS and DX517) and will not separate them physically on the Harddrives, right?

Thanks in advance and kind regards

Cedric

PS: Hoping to see part 2 and 3 of your video "Understanding the Pros and Cons of the Synology DX517 Expansion - Part I" soon - really interested in it.

Hi,
I have a Synology 1813+ 8-bay with 6 WD RED 3TB drives in a SHR-2 array. I've had it since 2014. I wanted to increase storage by filling the remaining two bays, and have been looking at 6TB drives to start the migration to a much larger array.

Now I'm wanting to increase storage and was considering adding two 6TB drives in the open bays to start moving toward a larger array. I'm seeing a lot of discussion about the WD Red drives being SMR instead of CMR and also 4K vs. non-4K native drives.

1) My drives are WD30EFRX-68EUZN0. Do you know whether these in 2014 were CMR or are they SMR like the ones available today? (Seems like SMR was new tech in 2015-16)
2) What would be my options for increasing storage? Can I add to my SHR-2 array? Can I add two new drive in a second pool/array in the same NAS?
3) Should I look at buying a newer NAS (Synology or other) that might be better for PLEX video transcoding?

Many thanks for your assistance

Cheers

I have a Synology DS1813+. Should I look at buying a newer NAS (Synology or other) that might be better for PLEX video transcoding or just upgrade the storage in this NAS?