What type and size of SD drives do I need for the 1019+

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What type and size of SD drives do I need for the 1019+

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Hi there, I am aware there are two slots for SD Drives in the 1019+ and that it can make the cache quicker if you fill these. For most 4K plex, and home/office usage, what size would probably be best? I have been told that this may be overkill but if it gives me slightly better performance then I'm good with it. I'm overseas and have to wait on orders and so I would rather just order everything now versus waiting to see how things go with no SD.

Does this need any special set up or just plug n play?

Many thanks.
 
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0GB, for your listed use cases you don't need them. A RAM upgrade would be a better investment.

But if you really must have them, use the SSD Cache advisor in Storage Manager to tell you what you need, based on your usage.

On my DS918+ (effectively the same unit minus a drive bay), I've used Samsung PM851, PM951, and Intel 760p models without issue, in sizes from 128GB to 500GB. 128GB should be more than enough, but these days 256GB seem to be the most freely available.
 
I would agree with @itsjasper on the RAM side, but the cache will give you just a bit more snappy response while browsing Plex libraries as well. This will not be 3x the speed, make no mistake about that, but it will benefit from it a bit. Still RAM over cache imho as well.
 
Hi again. As I have to wait til around 25 June for all the comp[onents to arrive Im just going to take a punt on the appropriate size of SD so I can get everything ordered and close this project off - is 0.5 or 1 TB generally enough? Many thanks
 
For your use case, given that it is nearly pointless to get ANY (other than slightly snappier displays of Plex libraries), I suggest limiting yourself to a single 256GB stick. The only reason to get two sticks would be if you want to use write cache as well as read cache...again, overkill for your situation. If you're somewhere with frequent (or any...) power outages and you're not using a UPS, you would definitely NOT want to turn on write caching, because that's a good way to end up with data corruption in the event of a power outage.
 
To answer the last question in the initial @slobdiddy post... Cache is created and managed in DSM's Storage Manager using the SSD Cache tab. You'll be asked to choose 'read only' vs 'read/write' cache and set the cache size during setup. Cache creation is a relatively straightforward process; but must be done manually (vs plug and play) after you've created the associated storage pools and volumes.

Read only cache is a relatively foolproof choice. Failure of a read only cache will not result in data loss. However, as others have posted, it is prudent to avoid read/write cache unless you have a compelling case for it. Note that DSM determines which data is stored in cache; and this is 'learned' over time based on which data is accessed most frequently during operation. So you may see no improvement - or even a slight decline in performance - at first.

Read cache uses one SSD per volume. So assuming just one volume on your NAS, one SSD would be required. If budget allows, I'd recommend using a NAS-grade SSD (e.g. Seagate IronWolf) to ensure a long and trouble-free life. However the choice of SSD isn't as critical for read only.
 
Without more information based on measurements (e.g. Synology's Cache Advisor), the best we can do is make an educated guess based on our past/personal experiences. But I understand your circumstances and interests - been there myself. If I were in your situation, I'd go for 2x 0.25TB - best quality SSDs that would fit the budget. I'd start by using one SSD as a read only cache. Then, based on your experiences once the NAS is operational, you'll have the option to use the second SSD as a spare - or add it to the read only cache - or (very unlikely) use it to create a read/write cache.

More cache SSD capacity isn't necessarily helpful. Most caches I've created in the past had vastly more capacity than DSM could use. So you may find yourself downsizing cache later on. But you can't know what will work best until you are operational for a while.

Here's a bit more reading for you from the Synology Website:

Note in the above article that cache also consumes some RAM, based on the allocated size of the cache. So that presents another potential tradeoff.

Hope this helps... Ron
 
Thanks RoCaRay. Educated guess is fine by me as I have zero idea of what to get. It's just looking on Amazon and eBay, these things will take around 3 weeks or more to get delivered.... plus I'm overseas and so there's an additional wait while everything gets sent to a frieght forwarder and batched together for shipping. NAS has come a long way since my first Synology in 2008 and setting up Plex and Clouds for the family will be a fun project. I see the Ironwolf M.2 SSD is way more expensive than other brands. Price-point seems best for 0.48T at around $170, versus 0.24T for $125, so I will think about that.
 
Good luck with your project; and perhaps you'll post the results of your caching experience here, when you're up and running. Note that all SSDs have a useful lifespan that's based, primarily, on the accumulated amount of data written to them over their lifetime. You'll find info about that on the manufacturer's Website. At the Ironwolf level and above(!), you're paying for durability / longer lifespan.

I'll add to the previous posts that if you do try read/write cache is is critical to have a UPS and at minimum 3-2-1 backup. But my sense is that you won't need to do read/write.

BTW... You've selected a great little NAS in the 1019+. I manage one remotely for a friend; and it has performed very well as a media server with the RAM maxed out and no cache. I started with Synology in 2012; and will agree that NAS and supporting technologies like SSD cache have come a long ways.

Ron
 
Thanks
Good luck with your project; and perhaps you'll post the results of your caching experience here, when you're up and running. Note that all SSDs have a useful lifespan that's based, primarily, on the accumulated amount of data written to them over their lifetime. You'll find info about that on the manufacturer's Website. At the Ironwolf level and above(!), you're paying for durability / longer lifespan.

I'll add to the previous posts that if you do try read/write cache is is critical to have a UPS and at minimum 3-2-1 backup. But my sense is that you won't need to do read/write.

BTW... You've selected a great little NAS in the 1019+. I manage one remotely for a friend; and it has performed very well as a media server with the RAM maxed out and no cache. I started with Synology in 2012; and will agree that NAS and supporting technologies like SSD cache have come a long ways.

Ron
Yes backup is key. Final decision is whether I keep my main storage to 16T so I can do an easy USB back up or if I go larger and then get a second NAS for back up and keep it in my outbuilding. A back-up NAS with 24T is probably gonna cost around USD1000. Probably worth it given the dire scenario of permanent data loss.
 
Good that you are weighing the alternatives. Another advantage of a second NAS is that it could "instantly" become your primary NAS in the event of a NAS hardware failure, depending on how the backups are structured (e.g. a versioned HyperBackup that must be restored - vs. a Shared Folder Sync with a mirror image of your data that could be used immediately).

FWIW, started with USB backup; but could not find an enclosure that provided adequate cooling at my (then) 7200ft elevation. And I felt that vibration isolation on the USB enclosure was also inferior to a NAS. Additionally, there was no ongoing drive health monitoring; which we now have on Synology NAS. The upshot in my case was (IMHO) an excessive number of unexpected hard drive failures on the USB backup over time.

FWIW, we currently run two volumes of 6x16TB RAID6 on a 12-bay NAS. We use HyperBackup for a versioned backup on the second volume to protect against an HDD failure or accidental deletion / corruption / malware / etc. A second NAS has 6x12TB RAID5. It is updated nightly as a mirror image of the primary volume using Shared Folder Sync. So the second NAS could become the primary NAS with the installation of a few packages and an update of folder permissions.

We actually have two sets of drives for the second NAS that are swapped to offsite storage monthly. So that protects against fire/water/theft or other physical damage.

Admittedly, I'm on the extreme end of cautious! And I wouldn't suggest that my approach is for everyone or valid in all circumstances.

That brings me to one more thought regarding the amount of time it would take to become operational after a failure. In my case, with ~35TB of data, activating the second NAS takes about 15 minutes. Restoring the HyperBackup (same NAS) takes about 22 hours. Restoring from the second NAS via 10GbE takes about 48 hours. Restoring from the second NAS via 1GbE takes about five days.

Hope this helps... Ron

Ron
 
Ron this is really helpful - thanks so much for your patience in educating me!! I'm really liking the idea of 5x 8T RAID 6 giving me 24T on a 1019+. With a 2Bay 2x12T= 24T back up. Probably only need to back up weekly and I'll need to research the best way of doing this. My existing three Synology NAS units have been good as gold and I think I have only had one or two disc failures, these go back to 2008 and are still working absolutely fine. For me, I want something that will hopefully last another 10 years and if USB storage is going to fail more quickly than NAS then that's a good enough reason for me to buy a second NAS.

One final point, you mentioned that a SSD cache might not have a long life. What is the approx replacement cycle? If it's just 1-2 years I may not bother as this would be a real hassle. If it's potentially a lot longer then fine.

Finally finally, I'm probably going to post links to my final choices for NAS, discs & RAM before I buy (over the next day or two). Grateful if you could cast your eye over these before I commit. Many thanks!!
 
With a durable SSD in read only cache, I wouldn't worry about SSD lifespan. Read write cache is where you're much more likely to see degradation over time. And even there, it all depends on cache write activity level. Fortunately, Synology NAS (Storage Manager) provides an estimated lifespan as a percentage for SSD drives. So if you check that every few months, you'll have a sense of the lifespan in your environment.

My experience with USB enclosures should be viewed as anecdotal. But I believe the points are valid; and also believe the limitations of USB (e.g. transfer rates) will become a bottleneck as data volumes grow.

I'm delighted to help. And feel free to contact me directly via my forum ID if you want to get into details or discussions that may not interest others. I'm a long-ago retired IBM marketing exec. But my career started as an assembly language application programmer with an IBM 360/20 punch card system back in the dark ages of "data processing". I've maintained an active interest in application development and technology for 50 years or so. So I'm certainly not a NAS guru like some folks here; but hopefully I can provide a bit of direction for your thought process and maybe some perspective. I appreciate your comments. Ron
 
Back to the pending purchases. A few points to ponder.

For long-term flexibility, you might want to ensure that the 2-drive NAS is compatible with the 1019+ in terms of HDD migration. That would allow you to easily utilize the 2-drive backup volumes in the 1019+ should the need arise. Check here for HDD migration compatibility:


Best practices for backup suggest maintaining at least 3 copies of your data; with one copy offsite. And I'm concerned that the 2-bay NAS would have no fault tolerance for an HDD failure. So consider rotating two or more sets of 2x12TB HDDs in RAID0 for use in the backup NAS; and keep one set offsite at all times. No need for more than one primary and one backup NAS to accomplish this.

I'm a survivor of several "worst case scenarios" over the years. And my wife spent her carrier as an insurance underwriter for unique and high risk situations (e.g. fiber-optic cable being laid on the Atlantic ocean floor). So admittedly this is a highly jaded personal perspective.
 

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