Between all of the computers in our office, we use about 5 or maybe 6 TB of data between 1 server, 6 PCs, and a Macbook that's generally off-site. I was mulling over going with this (Synology DS718+) with two 6TB WD Reds in RAID 1, so that we have 2 backups, or simply starting with 1 8TB WD Red if we have more than 6TB, and getting the other later. We have cloud backup for the truly important stuff, but my employer is looking for another possible option, and while I know my way around PCs a fair bit, I've never worked with a NAS or set up a RAID array with the exception of a RAID 0 a few years ago just to experiment, let alone doing all of this over PCs off-site.
I'm having trouble finding clear answers to all of my questions and concerns involving this project and any time I've ever had a hiccup in the past people here have always been very helpful. I have a lot of questions so I'll try to keep them orderly and ranked in order of importance.
Is it possible to back up this many PCs (and one Macbook) to one NAS?
My best guess would be to partition sizes slightly bigger than the target drives so they all back up to their own drive letter, but 8 or 9 partitions on a single drive/array seems overkill. I would prefer to do simple disk images but if I have to I could just do the images and documents from each computer, besides 2 or 3 main ones I'd still like to have full images of. If this isn't possible, what are my alternatives?
Is it possible to do all of this over a regular cable internet connection, and securely?
We don't create extraordinary amounts of data here, some CAD drawings, regular Office documents, and photoshop work, it seems unlikely to ever reach more than 20 gigs in a single evening, but we have a standard cable connection. The speed on my PC by Speedtest.net is 55 down / 2.5 up (Mbps) but this is something I can possibly have upgraded if need be, as at this rate it would take almost 18 hours to back up 20 gigs. My chief concern would be more about having 8 computers doing this a night, and if one small 2 bay NAS could keep up with the demand. Also, of course, we have loads of sensitive information that we'd want secure, but I imagine there's a way to handle all of that. It's not at the very top of my concerns since I'm sure there are solutions I could locate easily, but if anyone having experience with Synology or securely transmitting data has any suggestions as to how to handle that, it'd be much appreciated.
If the network would be an issue, could I back it up here and have someone take the NAS home at night?
Not much of an explanation needs to go into this one. If it's capable of taking care of the 8 or 9 devices I need, but we simply can't work out the upload speed, technically it'd still be off-site in the event of some calamity if someone took it home, but I can see how unplugging it nightly could be a potential issue.
Is it simple to use, or is there a simpler/more economical way?
My experience with NAS devices is absolutely 0. It's always been on my laundry list but one thing or another has always kept it a low priority. Is there some other option I've overlooked that I should know about? I've been reading up as much as I can on my options and after a couple days of reading about this stuff, despite not knowing how well it'll work over a network, this seems like exactly what I need barring the pitfalls if there are any.
Sorry about having to ask all of this here, I haven't seen many resources online that really dig deep into the answers I'm looking for and this was a last resort as far as my research into this goes.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your time and help.
I'm having trouble finding clear answers to all of my questions and concerns involving this project and any time I've ever had a hiccup in the past people here have always been very helpful. I have a lot of questions so I'll try to keep them orderly and ranked in order of importance.
Is it possible to back up this many PCs (and one Macbook) to one NAS?
My best guess would be to partition sizes slightly bigger than the target drives so they all back up to their own drive letter, but 8 or 9 partitions on a single drive/array seems overkill. I would prefer to do simple disk images but if I have to I could just do the images and documents from each computer, besides 2 or 3 main ones I'd still like to have full images of. If this isn't possible, what are my alternatives?
Is it possible to do all of this over a regular cable internet connection, and securely?
We don't create extraordinary amounts of data here, some CAD drawings, regular Office documents, and photoshop work, it seems unlikely to ever reach more than 20 gigs in a single evening, but we have a standard cable connection. The speed on my PC by Speedtest.net is 55 down / 2.5 up (Mbps) but this is something I can possibly have upgraded if need be, as at this rate it would take almost 18 hours to back up 20 gigs. My chief concern would be more about having 8 computers doing this a night, and if one small 2 bay NAS could keep up with the demand. Also, of course, we have loads of sensitive information that we'd want secure, but I imagine there's a way to handle all of that. It's not at the very top of my concerns since I'm sure there are solutions I could locate easily, but if anyone having experience with Synology or securely transmitting data has any suggestions as to how to handle that, it'd be much appreciated.
If the network would be an issue, could I back it up here and have someone take the NAS home at night?
Not much of an explanation needs to go into this one. If it's capable of taking care of the 8 or 9 devices I need, but we simply can't work out the upload speed, technically it'd still be off-site in the event of some calamity if someone took it home, but I can see how unplugging it nightly could be a potential issue.
Is it simple to use, or is there a simpler/more economical way?
My experience with NAS devices is absolutely 0. It's always been on my laundry list but one thing or another has always kept it a low priority. Is there some other option I've overlooked that I should know about? I've been reading up as much as I can on my options and after a couple days of reading about this stuff, despite not knowing how well it'll work over a network, this seems like exactly what I need barring the pitfalls if there are any.
Sorry about having to ask all of this here, I haven't seen many resources online that really dig deep into the answers I'm looking for and this was a last resort as far as my research into this goes.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your time and help.
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