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

[Mark Knecht]

On Thu, Dec 8, 2022 at 5:38 AM Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.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.

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 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.

Raspberry Pi 4 B's are hard to get and expensive right now. Still, they are
nice little devices but you would probably be limited to USB hard drive
storage.