I'm new to the NAS world and I would like your advice for the small business of a friend (a photo lab).
What are the requirements:
1. the device will be connected to a small network of up to 5 workstations consisting of Windows (XP and 2000) and Mac PCs.
2. all workstations need to have access to the data stored on the NAS, but there is absolutely no need for user accounts or any other restriction. Ideally, all the workstations should see the NAS as a network drive and have full access to it (the different workstations do not represent different users as they act as interfaces to different equipment machines - plotters, scanners, minilab, etc).
3. data integrity is mandatory and for a number of reasons I think I should avoid RAID5 and go for something like RAID1. Apparently a backup solution is needed. Usually each customer of the lab provides his own external hard drive for backup, so the NAS should be able to backup specific folders to external USB or eSATA drives.
4. media serving, print servers, ftp server, http server (except for management) are not wanted and ideally should be avoided altogether.
5. performance is not an issue, but should not be below some acceptable levels. The LAN is a switched gigabit ethernet network.
6. capacity and future expansion is a major issue. With digital photo file sizes growing rapidly, there is a need for 5-10 TB *now* and should be expandable to 20TB soon (is it a viable solution to add more NAS devices in the future?).
7. a major issue is that the network device will be installed by a knowledgeable person but it will be maintained by non-technical stuff as there is no IT personnel involved. So although a complex initial installation can be tolerated and maybe a periodic maintenance, the device should be simple to use in everyday's scenarios. A dedicated file server is something I believe should be avoided and I dont feel confident for the likes of SANs etc.
Can you provide some recommendations? If not for specific products, some directions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance,
Andreas
What are the requirements:
1. the device will be connected to a small network of up to 5 workstations consisting of Windows (XP and 2000) and Mac PCs.
2. all workstations need to have access to the data stored on the NAS, but there is absolutely no need for user accounts or any other restriction. Ideally, all the workstations should see the NAS as a network drive and have full access to it (the different workstations do not represent different users as they act as interfaces to different equipment machines - plotters, scanners, minilab, etc).
3. data integrity is mandatory and for a number of reasons I think I should avoid RAID5 and go for something like RAID1. Apparently a backup solution is needed. Usually each customer of the lab provides his own external hard drive for backup, so the NAS should be able to backup specific folders to external USB or eSATA drives.
4. media serving, print servers, ftp server, http server (except for management) are not wanted and ideally should be avoided altogether.
5. performance is not an issue, but should not be below some acceptable levels. The LAN is a switched gigabit ethernet network.
6. capacity and future expansion is a major issue. With digital photo file sizes growing rapidly, there is a need for 5-10 TB *now* and should be expandable to 20TB soon (is it a viable solution to add more NAS devices in the future?).
7. a major issue is that the network device will be installed by a knowledgeable person but it will be maintained by non-technical stuff as there is no IT personnel involved. So although a complex initial installation can be tolerated and maybe a periodic maintenance, the device should be simple to use in everyday's scenarios. A dedicated file server is something I believe should be avoided and I dont feel confident for the likes of SANs etc.
Can you provide some recommendations? If not for specific products, some directions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance,
Andreas
