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Personal Server For Data Backup: Build or Buy?


wagner

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I now have a need for a server to keep all my photo and video stuff on.

 

So, should I try to build something, or our their pre made solutions out there?

 

This will be something that never touches the interwebz and just acts as a place I put all my portfolio and other business media stuff.

 

Would something like this work?

 

http://www.staples.com/NETGEAR-ReadyNAS-100-Series-2-Bay-Diskless-Network-Attached-Storage-RN10200/product_195658?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:195658&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=195658&KPID=195658&gclid=CKbUg4WojcgCFQMJaQodqLgCDg&kpid=195658

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That would work. I suggest synology or qnap NAS boxes. How much space are you talking? Dropbox is a great way to store your stuff, Dropbox for business is 15$ a month gets you unlimited space and 5 user access. No hardware and its always backed up.

 

I also like https://www.barracuda.com/products/backup

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That would work. I suggest synology or qnap NAS boxes. How much space are you talking? Dropbox is a great way to store your stuff, Dropbox for business is 15$ a month gets you unlimited space and 5 user access. No hardware and its always backed up.

 

I also like https://www.barracuda.com/products/backup

 

I don't think Dropbox will work, it takes FOREVER to upload files.

 

Maybe as a failsafe backup, but right now I would like something I can plug into at home and just dump files onto it.

 

At this point I thik a Terabyte would be all I need to start with, just to be sure I don't run out soon. I have not really looked into what size I need yet, I'm just trying to wrap my mind around how to get the device first.

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Just get an external hard drive?

 

eta: Reasons to run a NAS:

 

1) You want to access your files from multiple devices without needing your main computer/laptop running

2) You need constant access to your files and can't suffer the downtime of a bum drive, and you're willing to run a RAID setup with mirroring

3) You want to access your files from outside your home network but don't want to bring an external drive with you

 

If all your stuff will fit on a single external hard drive, just throw it on there and be done with it. If you need offsite storage or more piece of mind than a single drive can give you, use an online backup system or just buy a 2nd drive and keep it at a friends's house.

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I use a wireless nas hidden in the house on its own power circuit and scheduled backups on all my devices that dump to it. That way if I'm ever broken into I have my files. It is a 2T unit and I expect I'll have to up that at some point.

 

This is the best option here or run a hidden Ethernet wire to your NAS.

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Personally I'd go with a personal in home server as opposed to something on the interwebz, but I have poverty internetz. Having to deal with uploads/downloads would be a BIG turnoff for me, and big hard drives are dirty cheap compared to subscriptions

 

just search CL for used servers, could piece something together super cheap

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Just get an external hard drive?

 

eta: Reasons to run a NAS:

 

1) You want to access your files from multiple devices without needing your main computer/laptop running

2) You need constant access to your files and can't suffer the downtime of a bum drive, and you're willing to run a RAID setup with mirroring

3) You want to access your files from outside your home network but don't want to bring an external drive with you

 

If all your stuff will fit on a single external hard drive, just throw it on there and be done with it. If you need offsite storage or more piece of mind than a single drive can give you, use an online backup system or just buy a 2nd drive and keep it at a friends's house.

 

I know 2 media people who got screwed by only using external hard drives, they fail and the cost to do what I need is not there.

 

I think the NAS is going to be closer to what I need. Something I can mirror one drive onto the other to be sure I've got plenty of backup.

 

I've tried using the upload style backup online, but when you are trying to upload a few thousand pictures and RAW files it takes to much time.

 

So, as far as the NAS setups go, what are features I need to look for?

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I know 2 media people who got screwed by only using external hard drives, they fail and the cost to do what I need is not there.

 

I think the NAS is going to be closer to what I need. Something I can mirror one drive onto the other to be sure I've got plenty of backup.

 

OK, but here's your fair warning about RAID (in this case, mirroring): RAID is not a backup system. RAID is a cheap way to get redundant drives to eliminate downtime. I.E., you run a small graphic design studio, and if you have a hard drive failure you don't want your $150/hr designers sitting idle while you restore from tape or offsite storage.

 

RAID does not protect against a power surge that blows both drives in your NAS. RAID does not protect against corrupt data getting written to both drives by a bad drive controller. RAID does not protect against a fire in your closet where your NAS is stored, or a pipe breaking right above it.

 

Just remember, RAID = uptime, RAID != backup.

 

eta: I run a small NAS (2 mirrored drives) in my basement for storing movies. I keep my family photos on there but I also keep them on another external drive in another room. I backup the photos from the NAS to the external drive every few months. About a year ago my kids were playing around on the computer when I'd left the NAS drive open in windows explorer and they somehow managed to select all files and delete them. Guess what mirrored RAID doesn't protect against? So glad I had that backup drive. (I did recover the deleted files but it's a giant pain, you lose the whole directory structure so I would have gone through thousands of photos and put them back into a sensible structure.)

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I know 2 media people who got screwed by only using external hard drives, they fail and the cost to do what I need is not there.

 

I think the NAS is going to be closer to what I need. Something I can mirror one drive onto the other to be sure I've got plenty of backup.

 

I've tried using the upload style backup online, but when you are trying to upload a few thousand pictures and RAW files it takes to much time.

 

So, as far as the NAS setups go, what are features I need to look for?

 

Don't mistake mirrored drives for a backup. They are not. Lightning, theft, an array mis-configuration and your data goes *poof*.

 

IMHO you want a NAS to dump files to and then back that up to an external hard drive.

 

In my case I have two identical encrypted 5TB external drives that contain a backup of everything. One of the drives is always stored someplace offsite. I run a backup, take that drive offsite, then bring the second drive back home to have it for the next backup.

 

Here is the 3-2-1 Rule of Backups:

 

Have at least three copies of your data.

Store the copies on two different media.

Keep one backup copy offsite.

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Well, this has been very educational to say the least.

 

I think my best plan will be the NAS and then at least 1 seperate External that I keep stuff on.

 

Buy one time, cry one time and avoid issues just like buying car parts, camera parts, and gun parts :)

 

 

So now, for my NAS what do I want to stuff it with? What HDs do I want to avoid?

 

The WD Cloud system seems to be a good choice for my needs, or maybe the unit I liked above.

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I would probably go with a single drive NAS and skip the mirroring. The WD My Cloud seems to get decent reviews, 4TB seems to be the price sweet spot on that one. Buy more space then you think you'll need.

 

I stick with either Western Digital or Seagate for traditional HDDs and considering the number of drives I have spinning at one time I've had relatively few failures.

 

I've given up doing RAID at home. Yes I've had to do a couple restores because of drive failures but it's not an environment where an evening of downtime is costing money. I'd rather put the money into more backup drives than RAID.

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I would probably go with a single drive NAS and skip the mirroring. The WD My Cloud seems to get decent reviews, 4TB seems to be the price sweet spot on that one. Buy more space then you think you'll need.

 

I stick with either Western Digital or Seagate for traditional HDDs and considering the number of drives I have spinning at one time I've had relatively few failures.

 

I've given up doing RAID at home. Yes I've had to do a couple restores because of drive failures but it's not an environment where an evening of downtime is costing money. I'd rather put the money into more backup drives than RAID.

 

I'm looking at these two now:

 

http://www.cnet.com/products/wd-my-cloud-ex2/

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-my-cloud-4tb-external-hard-drive-nas-white/2832018.p?id=1219079080973&skuId=2832018

 

Either way based on the all the input from the people who know more than me I will still back everything up on external hardrives just to be 100% safe and covered.

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I've always been steered correctly, as well as lots of people, based on The Wire Cutters recommendations. Usually enough 'heavy' reading to get a good background on the subject too, if you are so inclined.

 

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-network-attached-storage/

 

They seem to like the WD My Cloud as a secondary suggestion due to ease of use.

 

Sorry, I don't know as much to suggest which one is better for you; NAS or Server.

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I run an 8TB WD Mycloud (which uses their Red hard drives) combined it with Carbonite Online Back up and storage. Fast, redundant a couple times over and both on-site and virtual. I go even further by keeping a monthly backup off-site at the bank.

 

You can allocate passwords, shares, etc so your clients can only see and get two what you want them too. It's fairly robust and literally plug and play. I use it all the time remotely to get to my stuff when I travel.

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-my-cloud-ex2100-8tb-2-bay-external-network-storage-nas-black/4220118.p?id=1219708514194&skuId=4220118

 

Zero issues. Knock on wood.

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I rolled my own NAS maybe five or six years ago using an 8-port ARECA RAID card with 1TB drives and SuSE Linux. Great learning experience, been through one drive failure/rebuild cycle, and it's chugging along just fine. If I were starting out today, though, I'd probably just buy a drobo or qnap and have done with it.
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I run server 2012 at home, mostly for the fun of it and I have my storage drive backed up to google drive for less than $10/mo per TB. I'm not exceeding 1 TB since for my business I only keep final edit JPG files and delete the RAW data once a job is complete.
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