Advice on setting up a network with NAS/Server.

[addamski]

Hello,

I am a complete novice (numpty) when it comes to networks.
I would like some advice please.

This basic diagram above should show what I think will serve my needs but I would like clarification if it will work?

The main points are:

1. The three workstations should not have access to the internet, only to the NAS.
(Most important).

2. The Internet PC will have access to the net and the NAS to DL stuff to it for the workstations

3. The various TV's and receivers around the house to have access to the videos and music on the NAS and also the Net for streaming.

The NAS device is a Synology DS1513+

Sorry if this seems basic and simple to you all, but I have not done this before.

Kind Regards

Adam

 

[addamski]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9m886obt6jj58fh/Network%20Plan.jpg

This is the diagram sorry it didn't appear above?

 

[casper1973]

Rather than trying to physically isolate the 3 Workstations from the router/internet you can achieve the same result with software. Most business orientated routers will let you block internet access to specific devices via their MAC address. You can also set time limits on internet access. For example I could allow workstation 1 internet access between 12.30 and 13.30 for their lunch break.

I haven't used it personally but routers with DD-WRT or OpenWRT firmware are always very highly rated and come with all of these features.

Going with this approach would lead to a much simpler design like so...

Just a few notes if you do decide to go ahead with your design...
- The NAS drive is not a DHCP server. You will have to statically assign IP's to the workstations and ensure they are within the same subnet as the NAS.
- The internet PC will need two network cards. Both are going to have the same subnet address since the router and NAS are on the same network. This causes major problems and is going to involve setting up static routes and using a subnet mask of 255.255.255.255. This is a lot of added complication for a 'novice.'
- Is there a reason you chose that specific NAS drive? It seems awfully over-the-top for home use.

 

[addamski]

Thanks for you reply.

Sorry again if I am asking very basic questions.

When you refer to the "routers with DD-WRT or OpenWRT firmware are always very highly rated and come with all of these features".

Would these be in place of my existing broadband router from my ISP?

I see the Workstations on your diagram access the NAS via the router. Will this allow for me to use the "Link Aggression" supported by the DS1513+ between the NAS and the workstation 1 or all?

Thanks again

Ad

 

[addamski]

Sorry I missed your question.

I chose that NAS as it has 5 bays and lots of features.
I am a 3D Artist and will be using all three workstations as network renderers etc.
I was wanting to have a couple of drives to store large textures and models and work to be accessed by all three.
Also I wanted to have one drive to be accessed as a VPN from other computers away from home.
Have a drive as a media library for the house and another to act as a cloud for my IOS and other devices to access.
The Link Aggression will be useful for quicker uploading of large files at render time from what I read.

 

[casper1973]

Yes it would replace your ISP provided router. You might already have these setting within your current router but I doubt it also has Gigabit Ethernet ports. Without GB Ethernet ports your data transfers are limited to 12.5MB/sec... or worse. Also be sure to get Gigabit switches or 10/100/1000 as they are sometimes called.

Link aggregation is, in simple terms, combining multiple network connections into one 'big connection' and thus increasing bandwidth across that connection. There is no need for link aggregation to a single workstation as the average read/write speed of a desktop hard drive is around 60MB/sec. A standard network cable (Cat5e) supports 125MB/sec transfer speeds. So increasing bandwidth makes no difference as it was never a limiting factor to begin with. Of course if you are working with SSD's this may be a different story.

Link aggregation between the NAS and Router would make more sense as everything going to/coming from the NAS flows across this link and there are going to be several devices accessing at the same time.

 

[addamski]

Yep I have a Netgear Gigabit switches.

I was only thinking of the Link Aggression between the NAS and the main No1 Workstation so I can work quickly with multiple large files originally.
I see your point tho between the NAS and Router will speed things up all round.
These files will be on an SSD inside the NAS and I have an Intel 240gb 520 SSD as my system drive in my No 1 Workstation, although it will be loading up into RAM (32GB - 1600mhz of DDR3) each time I render.
There are 4 Ethernet ports on this NAS so could have two linking with workstation 1 and two linking to the router.

Is there a decent DD-WRT or OpenWRT router you can recommend at all?

Thanks for helping..

 

[choucove]

This is far more complex than it needs to be.

Disable access to the internet by leaving the Default Gateway empty on a static IP address. That's all you need. You will still be able to communicate with the internal LAN but traffic will not be able to go beyond your router. Your network diagram should simply look like this:

INTERNET CONNECTION -> Broadband Modem/ Router -> Network Switch -> All network devices (workstations, TVs, NAS, etc.)

You can set up DHCP on your router, most likely it's already set up by default, and that should hand out it's IP address as the Default Gateway to get out to the internet. Now the computers you don't want on the internet, just set up with a static IP address instead of receiving one by DHCP. Be sure the IP address you give it is unique, in the same network range as your router and other devices, but will not conflict with the pool of available DHCP addresses assigned by the router. Be sure to leave out a default gateway address on those three workstations. You should have easy access then to internal LAN network but not out to the internet.

 

[addamski]

Thanks,

The NAS can actually have DHCP set up on it. does this help simplify anything further?

As I must admit I don't understand how to implicate all what you said.

 

[choucove]

For the steps of getting access to change the IP address of a computer to a Static IP please see the guide in the Tomshardware Forum:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/25949-42-change-address-windows

I will try and explain out a little more detail on the exact settings you can use to get this all working pretty simply. Whether you run DHCP from your router or your server, you will just want to look at a few things to take note of for now. Primarily this is going to be the IP address of your router (this is your Default Gateway), and the IP address of your DNS Server (often times it is the same as your Primary Gateway, sometimes it will be something else provided by your ISP.) All of your computers should be getting an IP address from the DHCP server within the same network range of your Default Gateway network. I will just use one example below, but your numbers might be slightly different.

Router IP address (Default Gateway): 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Primary DNS Server: 192.168.1.1
Secondary DNS Server: 8.8.8.8

NAS IP address: 192.168.1.40
Workstation1 IP address: 192.168.1.41
Workstation2 IP address: 192.168.1.42
etc.

Now, a computer that is set to receive IP addresses by DHCP will contact to the DHCP server to request an address. This means the server is giving them an IP address, the subnet mask to use, the default gateway address, and the DNS server addresses. For all of the computers and TVs that you want to have internet access on, this is fine. However, for the workstations you do not want on the internet, we don't need all that information. Follow the steps in the link above for changing the IP address of your workstations. All you need to do is put in an IP address that is unique from any others in the SAME NETWORK RANGE, and the same subnet mask as everything else in the network. So, in my example above, you can set your IP address for your workstations to 192.168.1.X so long as X is a number between 2 and 254 which is NOT in use by any other device. The best way to make sure that this is done properly is to look at the DHCP range on your current server. Make sure there is a block of addresses not being assigned (such as the IP addresses from 192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.50) and use those numbers for your static IP addresses. This way the DHCP server is not handing out an IP address to a computer or TV which is already assigned as a static IP address on one of your workstations.

In the fields for Default Gateway and DNS servers, leave those blank. You should now have access to the internal network but not out to the internet, because the computer doesn't know where to go to get out of your internal network without a Default Gateway address.

 

[Beachnative]

Thanks,

The NAS can actually have DHCP set up on it. does this help simplify anything further?

As I must admit I don't understand how to implicate all what you said.

DHCP on the NAS is for itself just like a Windows computer getting it's IP address automatically, not running a DHCP server.

The member who redrew your network map has a clear vision of the directin you need to go.

As for using SSD's, why? That will cost you a bundle and they fail at one time or another. If you are constantly editing them them OK but have a back up plan.

 

[choucove]

Thanks,

The NAS can actually have DHCP set up on it. does this help simplify anything further?

As I must admit I don't understand how to implicate all what you said.

DHCP on the NAS is for itself just like a Windows computer getting it's IP address automatically, not running a DHCP server.

The member who redrew your network map has a clear vision of the directin you need to go.

As for using SSD's, why? That will cost you a bundle and they fail at one time or another. If you are constantly editing them them OK but have a back up plan.

Yes, using SSDs in a NAS is really not going to be beneficial. A set of high-quality 7,200 RPM SATAIII hard drives is enough to saturate the throughput of a single gigabit ethernet connection, so most of the performance capabilities of your SSD would be moot. Setting up link aggregation can be a pretty big challenge to get working right, and requires that not only your hardware support it, but your software as well. If you do wish to set up link aggregation and have two gigabit channels to your workstation, then you can still saturate the entire throughput with a few SATAIII mechanical hard drives in RAID 10 still at less cost than using a couple SSDs in RAID 1. And of course, just as stated above, RAID is not a backup solution. Always be sure you are backing up!