DS920+ for a small/medium advertising agency

[aGraphicz]

Hi

We are an advertising agency with 7 employees and we would like to switch to a NAS System from Synology, in the specific the DS920+.

We mostly work on InDesign and Photoshop/Illustrator files and sometimes on some video animations (so no 4k videos).

According to our budget we can currently afford the DS920+ and 4 SSD (Seagate Ironwolf 110).

Googling around there are discussions where this NAS is not suggested due to the 1gb Ethernet. Other says that it is a good choice.

Now, our goal is to have 7 emoloyees that have access via Explorer (or Finder) to the shared folders. In the specific 3 employees will only work simultaneously with Word, Excel and PowerPoint files and 4 will work simultaneously with the Adobe Suite (mostly Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator).
A remote access to the files should be also possible.

We know the DS920+ is good for not too heavy stuffs like video editing but what's about the tasks mentioned above?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Rusty]

Welcome.

In short it will do just fine regarding tasks mentioned. The only thing I would advise are 2 things.

1) nvme cache if possible - this will help with concurrent tasks with small files
2) bonding the 2x1G LAN - this will also help with multiple concurrent usages. For this, a small smart switch will be needed that support LAG setup (802.3ad standard)

 

[Shadow]

According to our budget we can currently afford the DS920+ and 4 SSD (Seagate Ironwolf 110).

Don't forget to include a backup plan into your budget calculations if you didn't already.

 

[fredbert]

2) bonding the 2x1G LAN - this will also help with multiple concurrent usages. For this, a small smart switch will be needed that support LAG setup (802.3ad standard)

I believe that will maximise the NAS’s combined 2000 mbps (no client device can exceed its own LAN speed). The clients gest/sends packets across both NAS interfaces.

But a simpler option is Adaptive Load Balancing which doesn’t need any specific switch or setup. The client gets/sends packets on one NAS interface, but clients are spread across the NAS interfaces.

This difference took quite a bit of Googling, so I’m willing to bet I’ve not got it 100% correct.

Oh, DSM includes four different ways for bonding interfaces. LAG and ALB are just two of them.

 

[aGraphicz]

2) bonding the 2x1G LAN - this will also help with multiple concurrent usages. For this, a small smart switch will be needed that support LAG setup (802.3ad standard)

Thanks for your quick reply! We already have a switch. In the specific we have this model. Does it work wit the 920+?

Don't forget to include a backup plan into your budget calculations if you didn't already.

Thanks for the hint! I did not quite got if Hyperbackup needs a subscription plan?

We do have a business plan on a cloud system (pCloud). My idea is to store there backups. Would it be feasible?

 

[Shadow]

I did not quite got if Hyperbackup needs a subscription plan?

The HyberBackup package itself doesn't need a subscription plan.

We do have a business plan on a cloud system (pCloud). My idea is to store there backups. Would it be feasible?

Unfortunately I do not see pCloud in one of the supported Cloud backup options in HyperBackup:

Would it be feasible? Depends on what options you have with pCloud. For example, If you can access your cloud via SMB or WebDAV, then you can use those options in HyperBackup (rsync for SMB in that case) to push your backups into your Cloud space.

 

[fredbert]

Thanks for you quick reply! We already have a switch. In the specific we have this model. Does it work wit the 920+?

That page says it is an unmanaged switch. You can bond interfaces using Adaptive Load Balancing but not LAG (802.3ad).

 

[Rusty]

That page says it is an unmanaged switch. You can bond interfaces using Adaptive Load Balancing but not LAG (802.3ad).

Correct. As @fredbert mentioned in the 1st reply there are other options regarding maximazing your LAN speed. I suggested LAN just because you will be able to broadcast your NAS n a single IP and still have users using the max speed (up to 1G per client) without too much trouble regarding configuration and setup.

Would it be feasible?

It would. HB does support pCloud webDAV backup method (even encrypted if needed). Tried and tested.

 

[aGraphicz]

Correct. As @fredbert mentioned in the 1st reply there are other options regarding maximazing your LAN speed. I suggested LAN just because you will be able to broadcast your NAS n a single IP and still have users using the max speed (up to 1G per client) without too much trouble regarding configuration and setup.

I see. I will check for an upgraded switch then. However the DS920+ should work normally with this switch right? I mean without bonding

It would. HB does support pCloud webDAV backup method (even encrypted if needed). Tried and tested.

Many thanks for this feedback! There is out there a guide for HB and webDAV backups?

 

[Shadow]

Many thanks for this feedback! There is out there a guide for HB and webDAV backups?

Probaly. But looking at @Rusty 's post it should be rather straight forward:

You can find HyperBackup insturctions on the link I provided earlier:

Don't forget to include a backup plan into your budget calculations if you didn't already.

 

[Rusty]

I will check for an upgraded switch then. However the DS920+ should work normally with this switch right? I mean without bonding

Yep

There is out there a guide for HB and webDAV backups?

Nothing special. You just follow the HB wizard. On the image above its all you need to do. Click it, enter the server name, user/pass and you are off.

 

[fredbert]

Adaptive Load Balancing bonds the selected interfaces and uses a single LAN IP for them, and one MAC address. To LAN devices (eg my Mac) I only see this IP and Mac, not anything for the physical interfaces.

My ALB setup for LAN1 and LAN2. I've manually set IP and

 

[aGraphicz]

Probaly. But looking at @Rusty 's post it should be rather straight forward:

Nothing special. You just follow the HB wizard. On the image above its all you need to do. Click it, enter the server name, user/pass and you are off.

Great, thanks guys! Looking forward to start this project. Hope everything will work as it should

I will soon receive the Iron Wolf 110 SSDs (it's nearly impossible to find them in Switzerland).