[SOLVED] NAS and backup - I realize I have no coherent plan. But, is what I'm thinking of doing even possible?

[King_V]

Much to my shame, I've been in IT for over 20 years, and I have never had backups. I've simply been fortunate in that, the one time I that I had a drive failure, it didn't have important data.

So, in December, I picked up a Synology DS218j NAS 2-bay disk station. And, thus far, I've done nothing with it. The one thing I do know is that RAID 1 is an option, and, if one drive gets swapped (say, after a failure), the data will automatically get re-mirrored - the NAS is smart enough to know what it needs to do in this regard (or can be configured that way, at least).

I have to pick up a couple of NAS-oriented HDDs, of course. Now, the amount of data I currently have to back up is less than 1TB. However, I imagine I'll have more if I start using this as network storage - it'll probably be easier to save movies to it, etc., rather than using DVDs and BluRay discs, etc. Still, I can start small and work up from there.

Thus - first thing: get a pair of NAS-intended HDDs. Probably I'll just go with a pair of 4GB drives, which will give me room for future needs. Recommendations?

What I would LIKE to do is:

• Network attached storage, just for the convenience of being able to access the same files from any PC I have.
• Some files/folders should be read/write to ANY user
• Some files/folders should be read/write to me, and read-only to any other user
• Some files/folders should be accessible ONLY to me (or to a specific user)
• Backup (the RAID 1 functionality will essentially do this)
• Protection (from, say if a PC happens to get a virus/malware)

Is what I'm asking possible? I'm not even sure if I've clearly defined everything.

I have read SOMEWHERE that for that last point, I should NEVER mount any of the directories of the NAS as a network drive, but just access it directly via its network path. Attaching as a network drive basically makes it as vulnerable as a local drive, I guess?

Ultimately, I will probably also go with cloud storage/backups as well. But, I'd like to get started, because I clearly procrastinate WAY too much on this. Any guidelines/suggestions for the sorts of specific things I want to do with this would be helpful (or, knowing why something isn't doable or shouldn't be done).

 

[auzzle]

To start to answer your question the Western Digital Red series of HDD's is oriented for NAS devices and can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Red-4TB-NAS-Hard-Drive/dp/B00EHBERSE Additionally, I setup that same NAS for a funeral home a few months back and everything you pointed out seems feasable. The user interface is very easy and functional. There is the capabilities of giving user accounts and assigning different permissions to files and folders. As far as back up the device is capable of raid 1 for REDUNDANCY, but it would also not be a bad idea to setup an offsite back up at a trusted friends house with another synology NAS. In case of a house fire the RAID 1 would do nothing for your NAS that was just burnt to a crisp. You could do weekly/month backups to the offsite NAS. Also in the event that the NAS on your network got a virus you could restore the last backup from the offsite location. Hope I answered all of your questions. Side note, the Synology NAS you have is packed with features and you can find more in their app store. You could download the PLEX application and setup a home media server since you mentioned saving movie.

 

[King_V]

Thanks very much for that info/confirmation. I'm definitely planning on getting cloud storage as well, but I figure I should do things one step at a time, as my typical attitude of "I have to have everything planned out at once" usually just results in personal inertia.

I also wound up ordering (a few minutes ago) a pair of these:
https://www.newegg.com/red-wd40efax-4tb/p/N82E16822234409?Item=N82E16822234409

They had some kind of sale on them, plus an additional discount code, which brought them to $89.99 each.

 

[popatim]

Only an off-line backup will truly save you from that last bullet-point: -Protection (from, say if a PC happens to get a virus/malware) I'd suggest getting an external drive that you can disconnect for this.

 

[USAFRet]

This, centered around my 4 bay QNAP:

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[USAFRet]

Don't be fixated on RAID 1 as any sort of 'backup' beyond physical drive redundancy. It does nothing for data redundancy.

 

[King_V]

Don't be fixated on RAID 1 as any sort of 'backup' beyond physical drive redundancy. It does nothing for data redundancy.

Gotcha - yeah, my expectation for RAID 1 is to be safe if one of the drives fails - the Synology I'm told will automatically re-raid things if one of the drives is replaced due to failure, upgrade, or whatever. I know it won't protect me from viruses, malware, etc., if I actually put a compromised file on it.

But, I plan to start with that, and move on to (in an order yet to be determined)

• data protection (make sure no viruses/ransomware gets on there)
• offsite redundancy (in case the NAS, or my house, catches fire)

I wonder if there's a way to set things up to do a realtime virus/malware scan any time something is written to the NAS...

 

[USAFRet]

Replacing a failed RAID member. Yes, usually that is mostly automatic.
I tested that in my QNAP with the RAID 5. Take one out, put a new, larger on in...let it rebuild.
That rebuild, of course, took several hours.

For AV...the QNAP OS includes McAfee, as well an a Malware scanner.
"This App will add the McAfee antivirus engine to QTS. It provides the options to scan QTS manually or by schedule, with the ability to update virus definitions automatically. By deleting or quarantining the infected files, McAfee helps to protect your data from viruses and malware. "

Your synology OS probably has similar.

 

[mdd1963]

If the NAS ever 'goes south', there are always the little Toshiba external 3 TB USB drives for about $65 or so these days...; get two to be certain at least one works when needed! Leave these detached until needed, preventing them from ever being vulnerable to ransomware...

I've had my own Toshiba 7200 rpm 3.5" drive (in an enclosure, requires AC adapter) for 3 years, only use it perhaps once per quarter for an image backup) with no issues...; it cost $105 3 years ago, but, now I've seen little 2.5" drives in 3 TB capacity for as low as $65 retail)