Info What do you use your NAS for?

[rolandrat]

My main one the RS1219+ (8 x 6TB N300 Toshiba drives) is the store for all my audio visual media and other files, CMS host, Active Backup for Business (AB4B) store and Surveillance Station (SS) failover server, it also hosts VM's from my HP Z620 2x Xeon E2660 Esxi host via 10Gbe Unifi US-16-XG switch everything is replicated to two volumes on my DS1513+ & DX513 (mix of older 3TB - 8TB drives) in my detached garage, this was my first Synology NAS.

The DS1019+ (5 x WD Purple 6TB) is main SS recording server, it has a small 512Gb section as a second volume with twin Cache nvme m2 attached (used to run a VM but not any more), I have 16 camera licenses not including free ones.

A DS1813+ (8 x 4TB drives) is a SS recording server, this and the DS1019+ currently record 18 cameras 24/7 for 75 days in and outside my home, volumes at about 75% capacity so room for a couple of more weeks if I wanted.

A DS118 (500GB drive) acts as a SS host only.

 

[philingle]

I started out with a DS214se for photo storage, as I was aware of enough people who had lost all their photos backedup onto a single external disk.
More recently I decided to move away from cloud services and host all my own data so I have a DS918+ at home which is my main machine, the DS214se is now my offsite backup using Hyperbackup.
I am using the 918 for...
Files and use Drive to sync them with my PC and access them on my phone
Photos, and use DS photo, not tried Moments
Music, with DS Audio on my phone
Films, with the DS app on my TV
email, using MailPlus server, I also use CalDav and CardDav to sync my calender and contacts with my phone, I am interested in the new app that Synology have brough out for contacts, but will give it a while to get a bit more polished before I dive in. I am also trying to set up a second mail server on my offsite NAS that can catch mail when the primary is offline - in progress.
Surveillence station as well for my security camera.
Note station - love it
Download station, with the firefox plugin

 

[Coop777]

Centralized File Storage
Multimedia Server
VMWare ISCSI Storage
Docker Appliance (Ad Blocker)
DS Audio

 

[Andy G]

Do you use your NAS for storage? For mail?

What do you expect from your NAS?

Share with us.

Want to setup a NAS for storage and rapid data retrieval and backup locally then have cloud backup. Would be AWESOME to have VPN remote access as well.

Going to store genomic sequencing data on it for a small lab (looking at tons of seqs, not just seqs generated by us). Don't want to be limited on storage space but don't need 4k video. Looking at a DS1819+. Could be overkill?? I'm new to NASs. Definitely want a scalable unit. Having prices for these things on the Synology website would be helpful!
-Andy

 

[jeyare]

Want to setup a NAS for storage and rapid data retrieval and backup locally then have cloud backup. Would be AWESOME to have VPN remote access as well.

Going to store genomic sequencing data on it for a small lab (looking at tons of seqs, not just seqs generated by us). Don't want to be limited on storage space but don't need 4k video. Looking at a DS1819+. Could be overkill?? I'm new to NASs. Definitely want a scalable unit. Having prices for these things on the Synology website would be helpful!
-Andy

Wellcome here. Pls open new thread for such request

 

[Andy G]

Wellcome here. Pls open new thread for such request

Cool, will do. Thanks

 

[AdrianEarnshaw]

I am a long time lurker on this forum and decided to join what seems like a wonderful, helpful community. By way of introduction, I thought I would provide a little insight on what I use my NAS for. My NAS of choice is a 1819+ with 32gb of ram and just under 30TB of storage. (4x8TB WDRed & 4x4TB WDRed)

As a musician, the projects I create result in multi-gigabyte files and I primarily use my NAS to back these up. I also like to keep my data out of the hands of the big corporates and self-host the following:-

AdGuard
Bitwarden
Firefly iii
bookstack
freshrss
heimdall
ubooquity
Shiori
Shaarli
wekan
watchtower

I should add that I also use the built in Office app for modest wordprocessing and also mailplus. I don't host my mail server but rather use it as a client to pull my mail directly from my webhost.

If there any applications listed above that you would like to know how I set up, please let me know and I would be more than happy to share.

 

[Rusty]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[AdrianEarnshaw]

I am a long time lurker on this forum and decided to join what seems like a wonderful, helpful community. By way of introduction, I thought I would provide a little insight on what I use my NAS for. My NAS of choice is a 1819+ with 32gb of ram and just under 30TB of storage. (4x8TB WDRed & 4x4TB WDRed)

As a musician, the projects I create result in multi-gigabyte files and I primarily use my NAS to back these up. I also like to keep my data out of the hands of the big corporates and self-host the following:-

AdGuard
Bitwarden
Firefly iii
bookstack
freshrss
heimdall
ubooquity
Shiori
Shaarli
wekan
watchtower

I should add that I also use the built in Office app for modest wordprocessing and also mailplus. I don't host my mail server but rather use it as a client to pull my mail directly from my webhost.

If there any applications listed above that you would like to know how I set up, please let me know and I would be more than happy to share.

Forgot to add that I also host searx on my NAS, which I really enjoy using.

 

[Danabw]

I feel like a total slacker compared to most of you Synolgy beasts!

Primary uses:

1. File store/use/share: Every file we create is stored on/accessed from our DS218+
2. Backup: Backups to second NAS (DS212), backups to connected USB drive, and backups to cloud (Google Drive for pics)
3. Audio/Video: Streaming music and videos

Why I got a NAS in the first place: To provide a managed cental location for all of our files so I never again have to:

1. Search through five or six computers at home to find some critical file that family member has misplaced/left behind on an older laptop, or someoone else's laptop
2. Explain to family member that the files they desperately need/love are gone forever because they weren't backed up when their laptop HDD died, or was stolen or lost
3. Track down data squirrelled away in seemingly random locations on old computers to copy it a new computer when someone gets an upgrade, and get whined to later if I miss something
4. Worry if a laptop is lost or stolen that our data on it would be out there at risk
5. Provide myself and family access to files remotely via VPN/NAS if required

 

[spir0o]

I have a DS218+ with 2x4TB (raid 1) WD RED and 6GB RAM.

I use it mainly for photos, music and documents backup but, with the time, I integrated more and more tools to be autonome. These are :
- Bitwarden
- Plex / tautulli
- Wekan
- Rainloop
- Firefly
- cloudsync for dropbox and webdav
- Note station
- VPN server for remote access

Every week I discover new ways to make my NAS more useful and I'm glad I took a "+" lineup

 

[Rusty]

Every week I discover new ways to make my NAS more useful and I'm glad I took a "+" lineup

Most people say the same thing

 

[Danabw]

So one thing I've always wondered about when I think about relying more on my NAS is the risk of service interruption. Incidents ranging from minor/easy to manage to major:

• Home power off to do electrical work (mostly me replacing/updating stuff)
• Home power off due to outage (currently very rare, but due to fire season and increasing temps in SoCal brown-outs could become more frequent)
• I mess up my NAS setup accidentally while changing/adding something and have to fix
• ISP drops service due to HW failure/fires, etc.
• NAS goes down due to random HW failure
• NAS goes down due to virus/malware, etc.
• NAS stolen
• NAS lost in fire (in SoCal this is a bigger and bigger issue each year)

So I worry ensuring the stability/reliability of my family's NAS services in the above contexts. I know that some of above are rare/unlikely, but I like to design for the worst, and hope for the best. And I do get that using a NAS service has important personal privacy/security benefits, and managing your own services allows you to build in redundancies, etc.

Curious if/how this type of concern factored into others' heavy (or not) reliance on NAS-based services.

 

[Rusty]

Curious if/how this type of concern factored into others' heavy (or not) reliance on NAS-based services.

Multiple NAS on various locations with HB and Snapshot/Replication methods in place as well as cloud backups as the ultimate solution to get to my needed data.

 

[spir0o]

All my documents are backed up on cloud and I have two external copies of photo folder and databases on external HDDs.

The rest is not that important to me but you're right, always prepare for the worst..

 

[WST16]

Multiple NAS on various locations with HB and Snapshot/Replication methods in place as well as cloud backups as the ultimate solution to get to my needed data.

You’re at an enterprise-level kind of solution now. Not every one can do/afford this
But of course if doable, this is best.

 

[philingle]

Curious if/how this type of concern factored into others' heavy (or not) reliance on NAS-based services.

I don't have an 'enterprise-level' solution. I just have a second NAS at an offsite location with broadband (parents house). It is a basic £150 two disk NAS, mirrored with big disks. I back up my primary NAS onto this one every night.

I also have a UPS on my main NAS which is connected by USB so the NAS will shut itself down if the battery gets low. I am sure it was less than £100 and it works fine. All it needs is enough battery to keep the NAS going for about 10 minutes.

I have had those two systems in place for over a year now, and they are giving me 99.99% peace of mind.

 

[Rusty]

You’re at an enterprise-level kind of solution now. Not every one can do/afford this
But of course if doable, this is best.

Well with multiple smaller devices it's doable as well, without to break the bank I mean. Also C2 from Syno is a great addition as a cloud destination. With the upcoming Hybrid Storage in DSM7 I think C2 will become a nice added option for many Syno users.

 

[WST16]

I’m trying to stay away from backing up to cloud services. That’s why I got the 120J to have a backup in another location. Sadly, the virus relocated me and cancelled all my flights before I relocate the 120J

 

[Danabw]

@WST16 Yeah, @Rusty sounds like he is ready for the pandemic AND the zombie apocalypse. ;-)

My difficulty is that both mine and most of my family's houses are nearby, putting us all in the same fire zone in SoCal, with real risk of complete loss happening, and no way to be sure we'd be home to grab-NAS-and-go.

Similar to @philingle, I am thinking about moving my DS212 backup NAS to a brother who is 45 minutes away in a less fire-risky area, thinking about relocating a NAS at his his house. Trouble is, he and his wife are very (very!) non-tech, and I am concerned about adding something to their house that they would not understand, and would find difficult to help me troubleshoot remotely if backups to it start failing, etc. Decisions, decisions...

I do have a UPS on my NAS so I can get a safe shut-down when we lose power, so it's good to have that in place already.

End of the day, I would trade every other piece of data I have to ensure I don't lose my family videos/photos, hence relying on Google Drive/Cloud Sync for that content only. I can survive losing other stuff, but the loss of pics/videos of my son's births, birthdays, sporting events, playing around silliness, etc., isn't something I want to deal with.