What is Better?

[timlab55]

Santa Claus has asked for his list and this is the only item I'm debating. Currently right now I have 4 computers (wifes included), and I would like to store everything in one location. I also have some video as well, but mostly, I want a storage device for backups. So which would be better the WD 2TB My Passport Wireless Pro Portable External Hard Drive, Wifi USB 3.0 - WDBP2P0020BBK-NESN or a NAS? I have a 1GB/s internet speed (sometimes I don't think so), and my router doesn't have a usb port to add devices to, but I do have switches to plug something into. So I asking the experts.
Thanks

 

[tekrich]

Don't waste time with those USB drives.

Buy, or build a NAS. It's much better for everyone.

 

[Keith Gorham]

My current solution is Windows Home Server. It is old, but still works great. Not sure if it can be found anymore.

 

[timlab55]

With my current situation, what kind of read/write speeds can I see? How much is a beginner system as I've never had one. I don't like HD, compared to SSD. Are there any NAS out there that have SSD?
Thank you

 

[L&LD]

NAS. NAS. NAS.

If there are any questions at all? The answer is always a NAS.

Wireless USB external, 2TB drive? No.

QNAP NAS of at least 4 bays (remember, you do not need to populate all the bays at once, but it is recommended).

If you must buy only a two-bay NAS.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083W6YQ9G/?tag=snbforums-20


Don't be put off by the price. You'll still be (happily) using this in 2030...

You can put any drives you want in a NAS. But the HDD's recommended are the WD RED's (for NAS use). For SSD's, look for similarly marketed NAS capable products too.

With USB (and horror! Wifi connected external drive...) you can expect around 30MB/s maximum.

A good NAS should hit the limits of the hard drives you install (with 2 in RAID1, around 150MB/s or faster, reads).

 

[degrub]

NAS is not backup. You have to backup the NAS as well. Many forget to do that and are surprised when the raid array has a failure on a single disk.

If you want the cheapest approach and possible quicker backup snapshot copies ( straight file copy, not compressed, not encrypted), use 2 USB3 drives. Make two copies. If the data is critical, then store one offsite. SSDs are getting cheap enough at 1 TB to possibly use that rather than spinning rust. i would use different manufacturer drives between the two to lessen a little, the common mode failure issues if using spinning rust.

and never over wireless. Always over a cable. An then disconnect and power down the backup device.

Otherwise, if it is something you will let run in the background every night or once a week, then sure, a NAS is just fine. A lot more expensive initially. And you are basically using in the USB enclosure the same drive as in a NAS.

Beyond rsync, there are several decent commercial packages beyond what MS offers by default. Acronis makes one. There are others. Apple Time Machine is fine as well. Just make sure you have two separate copies for any approach you use.

i have both setups. Two copies has saved me several times. Both from mechanical/software failure and once from infection.

 

[timlab55]

There is one backup program I have found that is great and user freely, and the tech spt is outstanding. It's called Allway Sync. What I do is when I'm in the office, I use excel alot. and the changes I make are quick and simple. But once I turn off my desktop (because my fur baby's love to lay on the top with the exhaust fans are), I have to cover it up, and that is why I turn it off. Anyway, once it's off, I can't access the data from my SSD that are inside my desktop. So that is why I was thinking why not a wireless HD. I know they are very slow as far as data speed. Any suggestions about the 2 USB3 drives and how would I connect them.
Thanks for the input degrub?

 

[degrub]

Why not put a wire rack a few inches above the fan exhaust for them to lie on ?

sync is a partial back up. it is a mirror of the current user file state and changes to that state. It attempts to keep both the same. i use backup to make a snapshot of all the files. i also snapshot the entire system disk so i can restore if something bad happens.
i would use that to supplement the synchronization routine.

So many things can go wrong over wireless that i would not trust it.

plug one in any USB3 port when you need to run the backup ? otherwise leave the backup disks in the drawer.
If you want to run a continuous sync, then just install the drive in the case and use internal connections. Connect an external drive when you need to run a backup.

If manual backup approach is not reliable, then any automated approach will be a help. A NAS is just a more expensive way to do it. Going that route, i would get a Synology 2 bay NAS and set it up in Raid 1 (mirroring) so that you are only vulnerable to the box failing. You still need to snapshot backup the NAS with a USB3 drive as a failure during replacing a NAS drive can be catastrophic for the user.

i have an internal drive for routine backups. i run daily incremental and weekly full snapshot of the entire disk. i keep the last three full snapshots. i use a NAS once a week for a second snapshot of the entire disk. The NAS is normally powered off. It turns on by schedule and runs the backup snapshot and then turns off. It captures the system disk and the backup disk. The NAS is backed up to USB3 disk once per month.

 

[timlab55]

NAS is not backup. You have to backup the NAS as well. Many forget to do that and are surprised when the raid array has a failure on a single disk.

If you want the cheapest approach and possible quicker backup snapshot copies ( straight file copy, not compressed, not encrypted), use 2 USB3 drives. Make two copies. If the data is critical, then store one offsite. SSDs are getting cheap enough at 1 TB to possibly use that rather than spinning rust. i would use different manufacturer drives between the two to lessen a little, the common mode failure issues if using spinning rust.

and never over wireless. Always over a cable. An then disconnect and power down the backup device.

Otherwise, if it is something you will let run in the background every night or once a week, then sure, a NAS is just fine. A lot more expensive initially. And you are basically using in the USB enclosure the same drive as in a NAS.

Beyond rsync, there are several decent commercial packages beyond what MS offers by default. Acronis makes one. There are others. Apple Time Machine is fine as well. Just make sure you have two separate copies for any approach you use.

i have both setups. Two copies has saved me several times. Both from mechanical/software failure and once from infection.

I love your suggestion, as I already do this is an internal SSD. But comes the problem which is what I"m trying to solve. That is, I had mentioned that during the day/night I'm using playing my games or running spreadsheets. When I turn off my desktop, I usually go out to the living room and when I want to look at something that I did, I pickup my laptop but I can't access the information that I want. This is the problem, in which I was looking at the wifi hooked into my network or a NAS. I think the NAS might be too much, so any other suggestions?
Thanks.

 

[thiggins]

The solution can be as simple as an old Windows or Linux machine with file sharing enabled.

As other have pointed out, never trust your data to a single device. More backups are always better.

A single-bay QNAP or Synology NAS should be fine. Both support backup to an attached USB drive.

 

[L&LD]

OneDrive.