Need advice NAS acquisition advice for animBacker857: small biz, £2000 EUR

[animBacker857]

Usage type: small biz

Preferred form factor DS (DiskStation)

Number of bays: 6-bays or more

Do you have any existing drives that you plan on using? No

Prefered RAID array setup for this NAS: not sure

This NAS will be used for: backup, multimedia, downloads (torrents, USENET, WebDAV, FTP, etc.)

Max budget for this setup: £2000 EUR

Number of users that will utilize this NAS: 1

Any preferred network connectivity? /

Where will this NAS be used: LAN and over the Internet

Any special network requirements: /

Special cloud provider connectivity: /

Additional information:
I'm a solo 3D Artist and work from home using Windows, dealing with lots of asset files, photos and videos. I make and download a lot of junk, and have been looking to buy a first NAS to keep everything in once place, instead of juggling between my 4 external passports+ an old laptop for some photo storage. Currently have around 12TB of data, and it's growing.

Been doing NAS research for a while, and am stuck between the DS920+, DS1621+, DS1821+ and DS1621xs.

Was wondering if buying the DS920+ would be sensible as a first NAS, but I would prefer more bays to avoid upgrading sooner for more storage. I'm also still confused on which of specs are more suitable for my needs, and not overkill or too slow.
It would be great to be able to do video editing off the NAS directly, but if that gets too costly, copying over needed files locally can work too. I at least want to be able to preview photos quickly and watch videos off the NAS as needed to find reference quickly.

Also was wondering about suitable RAID set-ups for this kind of thing, if planning to buy hard drives as 8TB.
Especially if I can use my previous passports to do mirror back-ups.

Any advice appreciated, my mind is melting from weeks of research, YouTube video comparisons, and reddit posts...

 

[Rusty]

It would be great to be able to do video editing off the NAS directly

Depending on these needs and the NAS listed above, I would go for a 10G compatible one. If on the other hand, you would be fine with editing on your computer and then moving the data off to a NAS, any would do. There are many topics here already on the same or similar matter, from users that are already using their NAS devices in a similar way, so be sure to look around.

Also was wondering about suitable RAID set-ups for this kind of thing, if planning to buy hard drives as 8TB.
Especially if I can use my previous passports to do mirror back-ups.

RAID is not a backup, just to clear that out. So if you are looking for redundancy in order to survive one or two drive failures, then fine, but do not consider RAID as a backup. Regarding the configuration of the same, you need to take into account your drive size, your actual needs, and your growth (per year).

Using raid calculator might come in handy to see what to expect regarding the size of the volume while using any number of drives that you end up with (depending on the model as well). Keep in mind that raid calc will be good for getting the estimate with a fresh empty volume. Once you start to load up data on it and look to expand space with larger drives down the road, it will not present a clear exact number.

I'm sure there will be more comments on this post or engage on any current topic in similar posts on the forum.

 

[animBacker857]

Depending on these needs and the NAS listed above, I would go for a 10G compatible one. If on the other hand, you would be fine with editing on your computer and then moving the data off to a NAS, any would do. There are many topics here already on the same or similar matter, from users that are already using their NAS devices in a similar way, so be sure to look around.


RAID is not a backup, just to clear that out. So if you are looking for redundancy in order to survive one or two drive failures, then fine, but do not consider RAID as a backup. Regarding the configuration of the same, you need to take into account your drive size, your actual needs, and your growth (per year).

Using raid calculator might come in handy to see what to expect regarding the size of the volume while using any number of drives that you end up with (depending on the model as well). Keep in mind that raid calc will be good for getting the estimate with a fresh empty volume. Once you start to load up data on it and look to expand space with larger drives down the road, it will not present a clear exact number.

I'm sure there will be more comments on this post or engage on any current topic in similar posts on the forum.

Thank you, that's a great start. Will delve more into this forum now that I've gladly found it.

 

[animBacker857]

Just wanted to report that I got a DS1821+, have had it for several weeks so far and am SO happy with it!
I owe a lot to this forum for the help and advice, thank you everyone!

 

[SynoMan]

Nice to hear that. I hope the NAS will serve you long.