NAS for Small Business

[haughjd]

Current Situation:
Dell Server, Novell Netware 6.5
Users: 7
Warranty: Expired :-(

Should I buy a new server/tape and install Novell Again.

Or look for a NAS to support the office?

Requirements?
Disk: 250GB+ Raid 1 or 5
Speed: Excellent
PC: Windows XP / 7
Users: No More that 10
Admin: To create users, and set permisions on sharing.
Share: Each user to have own "User" drive, and access to "Public"

Backup:
How best to backup?

Applications: None.

So in short looking for a good fast NAS, to support an office of about 7 users, running Win XP/7. These users will be storing and sharing files. Have doubts about a backup option for the NAS.

Budget: £800 / $1000

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Jon
haughjd@endekaceramics.com

 

[thiggins]

There are any number of products that would fill your need. Use the NAS Charts and Product Finder to narrow your search. For service / support, you should probably stick with mainstream brands like NETGEAR, Cisco, Iomega, QNAP and Synology.

For backing up the NAS, you can use attached drives and rotate offsite. Get a NAS with USB 3.0 or eSATA ports for best speed.

Or you can use a NAS that supports rsync backup to back up over the network to another NAS either onsite or offsite.

Some of the above brands also support backup to cloud services like Amazon S3.

 

[haughjd]

Hi

I'm liking the look of the QNAP TS-459 Pro II. Also the other QNAP 4&2 bay options could be good options. It has a nice user interface. The backup options look excellent too. It Looks like the QNAP has a one-touch backup TO/FROM an external drive. And this can also be configured via a "Schedule".

Also looked at the: Iomega StorCenter px4-300d, and Synology DS411+ DiskStation. The Synology isnt HotSwap so thats not so good. And the Iomega, perhaps thats going out my budget, plus it doesnt have a 2bay option for smaller sites.

Do you think either the Synology or the Iomega can do back to external disk as well as the QNAP?

Can any of them run a DHCP server?

When it comes to creating users and giving access to folders - is Read Only possible with either of the above?

Thanks for reading.

Regards,
Jonathan

 

[thiggins]

Both the Synology and Iomegas will back up to external or networked drives. The Iomega can also back up to/from SMB shares (the QNAP cannot).

The QNAP can serve DHCP.

 

[haughjd]

Tim,

Thanks for reading and taking time to reply.

I think either a NAS from QNAP, Synology or Iomega would be a good choice to replace an old file server to support an office of about 5-7 users.

Once other question what kind of control do you have when granting user rights to a folder? Is it for example possible to give some users RO to a folder and some other (managers) RW access?

Thanks and Regards,
Jon

 

[thiggins]

Yes, you can do that. Check out the Admin demos that QNAP and Synology have.
Don't think you can grant different rights to sub-folders if you're thinking of doing that, though.

 

[haughjd]

Hi,

I like the QNAP range. The fact that you can decide if to go for 1/2/4/more drivebay models give the choice depending on the size of the network / site / requirements. So the QNAP range could become a good standard.

Now I'm thinking to purchase a baby QNAP NAS (TS-119P), with Seagate ST2000NM0011 HDD.

This will give me a better idea of what its like to work with one of these in the real world. Before I make a final recommendation that we should consider rolling out its more expensive brother QNAP TS-459 Pro II. I will alwasy be able to reuse the 119.

Any comments on doing this?

Thanks, Jon

 

[thiggins]

Now I'm thinking to purchase a baby QNAP NAS (TS-119P), with Seagate ST2000NM0011 HDD.

Yes. Very smart way to proceed.

 

[haughjd]

I've been pointed towards:
Buffalo TeraStation TS-X2.0TL/R5

could this be a better option than the QNAP? Any quick comment?

Thanks, Jon

 

[thiggins]

Buffalos will only network backup to other Buffalos.

If you want to try a Buffalo, use the same approach as you planned for the QNAP, i.e. buy a single drive version first.

 

[stevech]

I've been pointed towards:
Buffalo TeraStation TS-X2.0TL/R5

could this be a better option than the QNAP? Any quick comment?

Thanks, Jon

Based on user comments and feature comparisons, no.