My NAS is Failing

[coxhaus]

I turned on my NAS this morning and it is telling me to perform an immediate backup. So, I am on the clock looking for something to backup 750 Gig too.
I found a 2 TB hard drive that says it fits in my old pfsense Dell 3020 PC. So, I am going to try it.

I tried a software update but it now tells me I need a Synology account to upgrade to 7.2? Maybe it was a software bug in Synology. What does having an account do for me?

I only run my Synology long enough to update pictures and I turn it off. My NAS spends most of it's time turned off.

 

[drinkingbird]

I turned on my NAS this morning and it is telling me to perform an immediate backup. So, I am on the clock looking for something to backup 750 Gig too.
I found a 2 TB hard drive that says it fits in my old pfsense Dell 3020 PC. So, I am going to try it.

I tried a software update but it now tells me I need a Synology account to upgrade to 7.2? Maybe it was a software bug in Synology. What does having an account do for me?

I only run my Synology long enough to update pictures and I turn it off. My NAS spends most of it's time turned off.

Well spin up and down especially full shutdown/startup is where the most stress happens so it may be a bad drive. Do you have multiple drives in RAID 1 or 5? If so you should be able to just swap a drive and it will rebuild. But it is possible one of the shutdowns didn't go properly and a failed write or failure to flush cache has left the drive in a bad state. If that is the case should be able to run a test and repair on the drive(s) but I'd do the backup first. I'm assuming you're shutting down properly (via interface or power button) and not cutting power to it etc? In reality the drives will sleep when not in use so just leaving it running is probably better and won't use much power.

I don't know about their account but my guess is it at least allows you to update the software. You might be able to download and update the software manually rather than via the NAS interface. As long as the account doesn't cost anything, might as well just create one. Everybody wants you to create a damn account these days.

Even if you are running RAID you should still have a regular backup plan......

 

[coxhaus]

It is a small 1 drive NAS. I only use it to store pictures on. It runs about 12 days a year. I have it set to turn off in the morning around 8am.

I got my old pfsense PC running but Windows is taking for ever to update. I don't have a back up for pfsense any more but I can build it on the fly now if I need it. The 4th gen cpu did not work that well any way. I swapped harddrives as I had pfsense running off a laptop drive which pulls less power. I am now running a full size hard drive that had an old copy of Windows 10 on it for this PC. I will move my data to my Windows 10 PC when it finishes updating.

I still need to know about a Synology account. Is it going to be required in the future for new updates. Why do I need it? Maybe I should switch to Microsoft Windows for storage.

 

[drinkingbird]

It is a small 1 drive NAS. I only use it to store pictures on. It runs about 12 days a year. I have it set to turn off in the morning around 8am.

I got my old pfsense PC running but Windows is taking for ever to update. I don't have a back up for pfsense any more but I can build it on the fly now if I need it. The 4th gen cpu did not work that well any way. I swapped harddrives as I had pfsense running off a laptop drive which pulls less power. I am now running a full size hard drive that had an old copy of Windows 10 on it for this PC. I will move my data to my Windows 10 PC when it finishes updating.

I still need to know about a Synology account. Is it going to be required in the future for new updates. Why do I need it? Maybe I should switch to Microsoft Windows for storage.

Maybe someone else can give info on the Synology account. As far as the NAS do you have a USB to SATA adapter or does it have an esata port etc? If so just hook another drive up and do the backup that way, likely faster than over the network and easier.

 

[coxhaus]

My only USB drive is only 500 Gigabytes. It is not large enough I already looked.

I guess I am going to have my data readable in 2 places for a while until I solve it. I prefer my data readable.

My hard drive is pegged running Windows updates for the last year. I quit using this PC when I bought my 4K TV.

 

[drinkingbird]

My only USB drive is only 500 Gigabytes. It is not large enough I already looked.

I guess I am going to have my data readable in 2 places for a while until I solve it. I prefer my data readable.

My hard drive is pegged running Windows updates for the last year. I quit using this PC when I bought my 4K TV.

One of these or an external enclosure are options too

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sabrent-sata-to-usb-adapter-for-2-5-sata-drives-black/6521020.p?skuId=6521020

That's for a laptop drive but there are ones for full size too. I'd say invest in an external enclosure either way and have automated backups to it.

 

[coxhaus]

At some point I plan to buy another NAS. The question is will I buy Synology. I thought so but if they get too controlling then maybe not. I want to buy one with SSD. M.2 would be nice but not necessarily needed. I don't want a lot of spinning drives as they are too noisy for me.

I guess the other option now is I have a spare Dell 3020 PC I could use. I need a bigger hard drive. A new one.

 

[bbunge]

Use a hard drive in a USB enclosure to back up the NAS. Order from Amazon and you could have it tomorrow. Use one of the drives from an old PC that has the space for your files.

 

[tgl]

FWIW, I have a Synology DS420+ which does software updates quite happily, and I do not have any sort of "Synology account".

 

[drinkingbird]

At some point I plan to buy another NAS. The question is will I buy Synology. I thought so but if they get too controlling then maybe not. I want to buy one with SSD. M.2 would be nice but not necessarily needed. I don't want a lot of spinning drives as they are too noisy for me.

I guess the other option now is I have a spare Dell 3020 PC I could use. I need a bigger hard drive. A new one.

SSDs are coming down and if all you need is 1 or 2 TB it may be feasible cost wise. Honestly though for a NAS M.2 is probably way overkill and 2.5" drives are a lot cheaper for higher capacities (and less issues with heat, don't have to worry about heatsinks and active cooling etc). Spinning drives are obviously the most economical but SSDs are coming down and the reduced noise, heat and power may make it worthwhile depending what your capacity needs are (and budget). Of course with SSDs, they rarely give any warning of failure so it is still necessary to have a regular automated backup in place.

I do use a desktop with 500G 2.5" SSD as my storage and that backs up to 1TB external spinning drive (spins up at 3AM every day just for that) and also a script which encrypts the backup and uploads it to onedrive, might as well use that 1TB included storage for something. I don't collect movies etc so my storage needs are pretty small. As long as the PC just turns on once a day (scheduled task can wake it then shut it down) then it can be perfectly sufficient. If it needs to run all day or frequently the power draw of older PCs can add up over time. Mine is up near 100W, its a very old Core2Quad, but for occasional use I can't justify the cost of a NAS. I use that desktop for a few other tasks too so it makes sense to just use it for storage as well. Surprisingly, it can still handle quite a bit for being 15 years old, it is hooked up to my TV as well and runs any streaming I've tried just fine, even blu-ray rips (3D ones even) play fine. So it just keeps on truckin' for now.

My needs could easily be met with a USB HD off the Asus router but I do not trust having a drive with some sensitive files connected directly to an internet facing device with questionable security.

 

[drinkingbird]

Use a hard drive in a USB enclosure to back up the NAS. Order from Amazon and you could have it tomorrow. Use one of the drives from an old PC that has the space for your files.

Bit of an echo in here

 

[coxhaus]

After a couple hours of Windows 10 updates, I am a couple of hours into copying files from my Synology DS120j NAS. I hope it all works.

I was thinking if I do another NAS I would like 5 SSD 4 TB drives. I looked for them last black Friday but they never got cheap enough. Maybe this year will be different.

 

[drinkingbird]

After a couple hours of Windows 10 updates, I am a couple of hours into copying files from my Synology DS120j NAS. I hope it all works.

I was thinking if I do another NAS I would like 5 SSD 4 TB drives. I looked for them last black Friday but they never got cheap enough. Maybe this year will be different.

Well that's certainly a big step up. Regardless, even if you use one of the protected RAID types, a single power surge or hardware failure can take the whole thing out so still plan on a backup. Even if you fire up an old PC once a month with some spinning drives in it.....

The other thing with SSDs is if they all have the same rated life, they're all going to fail around the same time (like car headlights). Though the decent ones have such good write endurance these days, unless you're writing hundreds of gigs a day probably not really a concern.

Once you've backed up you can probably run a repair on the NAS and see if it was just a corrupted file/filesystem (often not a sign of failing drive) or if you have physical bad sectors, in which case time to replace the drive.

 

[coxhaus]

My NAS is on an APC smart-UPS 1000 battery backup.

I may pull the drive and update the firmware on it if there is a newer one. I am also going to update the Synology if I don't have to create an account.

 

[sfx2000]

I turned on my NAS this morning and it is telling me to perform an immediate backup. So, I am on the clock looking for something to backup 750 Gig too.
I found a 2 TB hard drive that says it fits in my old pfsense Dell 3020 PC. So, I am going to try it.

I tried a software update but it now tells me I need a Synology account to upgrade to 7.2? Maybe it was a software bug in Synology. What does having an account do for me?

I only run my Synology long enough to update pictures and I turn it off. My NAS spends most of it's time turned off.

Might be a false alarm - key thing is go slow and steady...

Leave it running and don't make changes just yet - updating the FW might only compound the problem...

Check SMART stats, see if there are issues there - the drive is spinning I assume, and I agree that it's a good idea to start copying data off it - good reason why NAS's should always be included in the back up plan.

Firmware - you don't need a Synology Account to download the firmware direct from the Support Web Site

Download Center - download | Synology Inc.

Discover technical information with whitepapers, user guides, and datasheets to learn more about Synology products. Download the latest software patches to enjoy the best technologies.

www.synology.com

 

[coxhaus]

So, it was a long day yesterday and I am not sure how I feel about it. I backed up my data on to a Windows 10 PC. I updated my Synology to the latest 7.2 software and ran a SMART quick test and it said my hard drive is healthy. WTF. Now what?

My Windows 10 hard drive is an old 2 TB drive. I don't really trust it. It is turned off and now I need to decide what to do. But I am not sure I trust Synology now. It kind of sounds like buggy software to me.

 

[L&LD]

I would never trust data to a single disk (and a NAS with one drive isn't a NAS, to me).

That Windows 10 HDD is exceptional, but I wouldn't trust it either.

Get a NAS with 4 bays or more. Populate at least two bays today with WD Red Plus drives. Copy your data to the new setup and monitor it for as long as possible (at least a month) before deleting your data from the other locations.

Your current 'NAS' isn't and wasn't 'trustworthy' (with a single drive), to begin with. Consider yourself lucky you haven't lost any data yet.

 

[eightiescalling]

Given WDs recent antics marking drives as "old" and untrustworthy just on the 3 year mark (i.e. the day the warranty expires) causing all sorts of problems with the hosting NAS, I wouldn't be recommending them.

There have been a few different discussions on the forum over the last few months about drives but between the SMR/CMR debacle and that I'm surprised WD Reds (or variants) retain the mantel of go-to drives so well.

 

[L&LD]

None of those 'antics' have affected me at all. Buyer beware and allow yourself to fail (at least sometimes).

 

[eightiescalling]

Buyer beware and allow yourself to fail (at least sometimes).

I agree - the question is how much buyer beware can be mitigated by research and how much can't be based on the manufacturers behaviour.

The only reason Red Plus exists as an offering is WD were caught out when they quietly changed the WD Reds from CMR To SMR and dealt with it by offering a "new" more expensive product - the Red Plus. I understand the reasons they made the original change but the lack of transparency didn't help them. In my friends case it left him wondering why his array was permanently slower simply by replacing one failed WD Red with another.

Given the % of drives in home NAS solutions that will have been bought at the same time for initial population, having them all warn at about the same time is just a recipe for panicked users. I get what WD were trying to do it just seems their approach was ill thought out.

I should stress to @coxhaus , I'm not saying they're bad drives - they do still have a good reputation but WD aren't doing themselves any favours.