WD Sentinel DX4000 or Synology DS412+ HELP NEEDED

[P(L)1916]

Hi everyone Im new to this forum so take it easy on the guy. I am planning on purchasing a NAS for a small office application and I have spent countless hours researching different NAS systems with that said I'm still not sure as to which one to go with. From what I have read Synology is the leading brand when it comes to NAS. Now what I'm really worried about (partially why I cant decide on which one to get) the Raid Rebuild time as i have read that it can take days, weeks or in some cases even months! Has anyone had real experience with this that could share and give me an approximation of how long it could take? Next when it comes to power outage, how long does it take to reboot and does any data get lost? If anyone had any experience with either one of these systems please share your opinion with me as I have to set this up within the next few days. Any input is much appreciated! Thanks to everyone!

 

[L&LD]

With regards to a power outage; not only can you lose data, but you can be left with an unfixable system (physically). You need a UPS, period.

With regards to rebuilds: with todays huge drives (3-4TB) a second or third drive could fail before you get the array rebuilt. This is why anyone with the intent to really protect the data will have been doing a backup (or two, or three) to an external USB/eSATA drive and storing it off site.

If/when a rebuild is necessary: you're much better off to simply re-initialize the NAS and put the data back from the backup (better off speed wise).


To put a time to this rebuilding? Anywhere from 12 to 96 hrs depending on the size of the disks, the size of the array and the cpu the NAS is based on.

 

[P(L)1916]

With regards to a power outage; not only can you lose data, but you can be left with an unfixable system (physically). You need a UPS, period.

With regards to rebuilds: with todays huge drives (3-4TB) a second or third drive could fail before you get the array rebuilt. This is why anyone with the intent to really protect the data will have been doing a backup (or two, or three) to an external USB/eSATA drive and storing it off site.

If/when a rebuild is necessary: you're much better off to simply re-initialize the NAS and put the data back from the backup (better off speed wise).


To put a time to this rebuilding? Anywhere from 12 to 96 hrs depending on the size of the disks, the size of the array and the cpu the NAS is based on.

thank you very much for the reply as far as re-initializing the NAS does it mean I would have to set it all up from scratch? meaning redo all accounts and basically perform a setup as if i just pulled it out of the box? and would you go with 2 disks for RAID1 or use 3 disks and configure it to RAID5?

 

[stevech]

Hi everyone Im new to this forum so take it easy on the guy. I am planning on purchasing a NAS for a small office application and I have spent countless hours researching different NAS systems with that said I'm still not sure as to which one to go with. From what I have read Synology is the leading brand when it comes to NAS. Now what I'm really worried about (partially why I cant decide on which one to get) the Raid Rebuild time as i have read that it can take days, weeks or in some cases even months! Has anyone had real experience with this that could share and give me an approximation of how long it could take? Next when it comes to power outage, how long does it take to reboot and does any data get lost? If anyone had any experience with either one of these systems please share your opinion with me as I have to set this up within the next few days. Any input is much appreciated! Thanks to everyone!

WD makes good drives (mostly). Forget about their end-user products.
Small NAS can use independent volumes, non-RAID, for better protection.

Please read the Do I Need A UPS thread in this forum, recent activity.

 

[L&LD]

thank you very much for the reply as far as re-initializing the NAS does it mean I would have to set it all up from scratch? meaning redo all accounts and basically perform a setup as if i just pulled it out of the box? and would you go with 2 disks for RAID1 or use 3 disks and configure it to RAID5?

Depending how critical it was (both data importance and system uptime) I would go for RAID 6 with 4 or more drives.

Yes, you would need to setup from scratch - unless you had saved elsewhere the backup config file which should give you a good if not perfect starting place to build on.

If you can only go for a 3 drive setup, then RAID5 is what I would recommend.

(Don't forget to consider a NAS with more bays than you will use for a single array).

(Also; consider to use multiple NAS units that back each other up, while also balancing the network load, if needed).

 

[P(L)1916]

WD makes good drives (mostly). Forget about their end-user products.
Small NAS can use independent volumes, non-RAID, for better protection.

Please read the Do I Need A UPS thread in this forum, recent activity.

Thanks for your reply, i actually researched why all the reviews on the RED series were so bad since alot of them came DOA and from what I found out in a lot of cases its due to shipping where it gets damaged in the process. I always trusted WD with my life so this was odd but i am going to go with the RED series im just gonna buy them at a store so i can eliminate the shipping process. as far as non-RAID im not sure if you can actually do it on these NAS from what i have learned they automatically assign some sort of RAID and i will definitely read the article on UPS thanks once again

 

[P(L)1916]

Depending how critical it was (both data importance and system uptime) I would go for RAID 6 with 4 or more drives.

Yes, you would need to setup from scratch - unless you had saved elsewhere the backup config file which should give you a good if not perfect starting place to build on.

If you can only go for a 3 drive setup, then RAID5 is what I would recommend.

(Don't forget to consider a NAS with more bays than you will use for a single array).

(Also; consider to use multiple NAS units that back each other up, while also balancing the network load, if needed).

Thanks, as of right now i am going for the 4 bay NAS and thanks for the config file backup pointer i will make sure if possible to do so, as far as the second NAS that might be a future project once i get the main one working now did you actually have any experience with Synology? can it be easily trusted?

 

[L&LD]

Much experience with Synology, I do not have. But when Qnap and Synology are in the same sentence from people that use both frequently; Synology seems to be the favored product.

But it's something like a Ferrari/Lamborghini preference when everything else is more Ford/Dodge/GM.

Myself; I find the Qnap to offer more hardware for similar money while the software that both provide is much more than I (or a customer) would ever use.

 

[stevech]

Much experience with Synology, I do not have. But when Qnap and Synology are in the same sentence from people that use both frequently; Synology seems to be the favored product.

But it's something like a Ferrari/Lamborghini preference when everything else is more Ford/Dodge/GM.

Myself; I find the Qnap to offer more hardware for similar money while the software that both provide is much more than I (or a customer) would ever use.

This analogy assumes that Ford/Dodge/GM "NASes" meet the need. It's not about speed, it's about good software and lots of features with ease of use.

 

[L&LD]

If the needs (features) are basic, all NASes should meet those needs. Agreed.

The Ferrari's and Lamborghini's don't simply handle the basics well or even exceptionally, nor do they add features above and beyond the basics - they also throw in some je ne sais quoi or magic too.

With Synology or Qnap, I haven't seen a setup where every single feature that is offered was used. In a home user setting; it might be. But the price of admission for getting all the features enabled keeps most home users in the Ford/Dodge/GM camp.

 

[stevech]

If the needs (features) are basic, all NASes should meet those needs. Agreed.

The Ferrari's and Lamborghini's don't simply handle the basics well or even exceptionally, nor do they add features above and beyond the basics - they also throw in some je ne sais quoi or magic too.

With Synology or Qnap, I haven't seen a setup where every single feature that is offered was used. In a home user setting; it might be. But the price of admission for getting all the features enabled keeps most home users in the Ford/Dodge/GM camp.

I very much discourage home users from buying LG, WD, Seagate, Buffalo, Netgear, ASUS NASes. Not a price issue.