Re: [gentoo-user] NAS and replacing with larger drives

[Wols Lists <antlists@youngman.org.uk>]

On 08/12/2022 13:31, Mark Knecht wrote:
> 
> 
> On Thu, Dec 8, 2022 at 5:38 AM Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com 
> <mailto:rdalek1967@gmail.com>> wrote:
>  >
>  > Howdy,
>  >
>  > I've pretty much reached a limit on my backups.  I'm up to a 16TB hard
>  > drive for one and even that won't last long.  Larger drives are much
>  > more costly.  A must have NAS is quickly approaching.  I've been
>  > searching around and find some things confusing.  I'm hoping someone can
>  > clear up that confusion.  I'm also debating what path to travel down.
>  > I'd also like to keep costs down as well.  That said, I don't mind
>  > paying a little more for one that would offer a much better option.
>  >
>  > Path one, buy a NAS, possibly used, that has no drives.  If possible, I
>  > may even replace the OS that comes on it or upgrade if I can.  I'm not
>  > looking for fancy, or even RAID.  Just looking for a two bay NAS that
>  > will work.  First, what is a DAS?  Is that totally different than a
>  > NAS?  From what I've found, a DAS is not what I'm looking for since I
>  > want a ethernet connection and the ability to control things over the
>  > network.  It seems DAS lacks that feature but not real sure.  I'm not
>  > sure I can upgrade the software/OS on a DAS either.
>  >
>  > Next thing.  Let's say a NAS comes with two 4TB drives for a total of
>  > 8TB of capacity from the factory, using LVM or similar software I
>  > assume.  Is that limited to that capacity or can I for example replace
>  > one or both drives with for example 14TB drives for a total of 28TBs of
>  > capacity?  If one does that, let's say it uses LVM, can I somehow move
>  > data as well or is that beyond the abilities of a NAS?  Could it be done
>  > inside my computer for example?  Does this vary by brand or even model?
>  >
>  > Path two, I've researched building a NAS using a Raspberry Pi 4 8GB as
>  > another option.  They come as parts, cases too, but the newer and faster
>  > models of Raspberry Pi 4 with more ram seem to work pretty well.  The
>  > old slower models with small amounts of ram don't fair as well.  While I
>  > want a descent speed, I'm not looking for or expecting it to be
>  > blazingly fast.  I just wonder, if from a upgrade and expansion point of
>  > view, if building a NAS would be better.  I've also noticed, it seems
>  > all Raspberry things come with a display port.  That means I could hook
>  > up a monitor and mouse/keyboard when needed.  That could be a bonus.
>  > Heck, I may can even put some sort of Gentoo on that thing.  :-D
>  >
>  > One reason I'm wanting to go this route, I'm trying to keep it small and
>  > able to fit inside my fire safe.  I plan to buy a media type safe that
>  > is larger but right now, it needs to fit inside my current safe.  Most
>  > of the 2 bay NAS or a Raspberry Pi based NAS are fairly small.  They not
>  > much bigger than the three external hard drives and a couple bare drives
>  > that currently occupy my safe.
>  >
>  > One thing I'd like to have no matter what path I go down, the ability to
>  > encrypt the data.  My current backup drives are encrypted and I'd like
>  > to keep it that way.  If that is possible to do.  I suspect the
>  > Raspberry option would since I'd control the OS/software placed on it.
>  > I could be wrong tho.
>  >
>  > One last thing.  Are there any NAS type boxes that I should absolutely
>  > avoid if I go that route?  Maybe it is a model that has serious
>  > limitations or has other problems.  I think the DAS thing may be one for
>  > me to avoid but I'm not for sure what limits it has.  Google didn't help
>  > a lot. It also could be as simple as, avoid any model that says this in
>  > the description or uses some type of software that is bad or limits
>  > options.
>  >
>  > Thoughts?  Info to share?  Ideas on a best path forward?  Buy already
>  > built or build?
>  >
>  > Thanks.
>  >
>  > Dale
>  >
>  > :-)  :-)
> 
> DAS is direct-attached-storage. I don't think you want that.

Depends. If it fits in the safe, and can be connected using one of these 
eSATA thingy connectors, it might be a very good choice.
> 
> Synology (sp?) is sort of a big name in home & small office NAS boxes. 
> You can buy the boxes with or without drives. I suspect you won't like 
> the prices.

I've been looking :-) I think the empty box costs more than the drives 
you're going to put in it ...
> 
> I wonder if you might consider what data on your backups needs to be 
> immediately available and which doesn't. Possibly buy an 8TB USB drive, 
> take a bunch of the lower priority data off of your current backup thus 
> system freeing space and move on from there?
> 
> I built my NAS devices using old computers ala Wol's suggestion to me 
> maybe a year ago. They work for me but don't have the fastest network 
> interfaces.
> 
I get the impression Dale isn't actually PLANNING his disk storage. It's 
just a case of "help I'm downloading all this stuff where do I put it!!!"

How much storage do you have in your actual computer? How much space do 
you need IN ONE PARTITION? Can you get an external disk caddy that you 
just slot bare drives in?

I've no doubt you have good reason for wanting all this storage. I just 
fail to see why you need huge drives for it if most of the time you're 
not doing anything with it.

Get yourself a basic 4-way DAS/JBOD setup, PLAN where you're putting all 
this stuff, and plug in and remove drives as required. You don't need 
all these huge drives if you think about what you're going to do with it 
all. (And while it takes time and hammers the system, I regularly record 
off the TV getting a 2GB .ts file, convert it to mp4 - same resolution - 
and reduce the size by an order of magnitude - maybe more.

If you've got two hot-swap JBOD enclosures, that's brilliant. You can 
stream from your media centre to a drive, swap it out, and use a second 
system to then organise your collection.

Oh - and if you are worried about disks going walkabout, just LUKS the 
whole disk, and without the key nobody can read it ... build your 
partitions or whatever over it.

Cheers,
Wol