Desktop Data Storage--NAS or large capacity SSD

[Steve B 76]

One of my 8TB hard drives is making some disturbing noises, so I'm looking for some new data storage suggestions. The two options I'm considering are a small NAS or I see Western Digital now has an 8TB desktop SSD drive. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

 

[KurtH]

Hi Steve. A small NAS will provide multiple redundancy options and allow for much more empty space for future-proofing your storage requirements. I started with 4G years ago, thinking I would never need all that space. I eventually had to upgrade the drives in the NAS but it was easy to do. Start larger than you "think" you'll need, initial investment is high but pays off in the long run.

SSD drives are good for working space as they're fast so accessing pictures will be snappy. But I would recommend some type of NAS solution with max redundancy for longer term storage. I currently use an older Synology 1019+ NAS with 5 drives. It's set up to handle up to 3 drive failures and still retain my data. I also do quarterly off-prem out-of-state backups in case of a local catastrophe that destroys or otherwise renders the entire NAS inaccessible. You'll also want to consider at least 1 off-prem backup solution.

Your solution will need to be tailored to your specific requirements.

 

[Anjin San]

Steve…while a NAS will work it costs more than the equivalent direct storage. Using a RAID gives you the redundancy of the NAS at a lower price. If you have other devices that need to access the contents setting up sharing in either macOS or Windows is pretty simple…and to the other devices accessing the share point via wifi or Ethernet…the direct attached RAID and NAS are identical. There was a whole long discussion about this earlier…and basically both work but the NAS is more expensive and is essentially an appliance while direct attached RAiD shared by the host computer does the same job more cheaply…although it does require that the host computer always be turned on but none of m6 computers are ever off anyway. The NAS provides some additional capabilities as well as file storage…but all of those are easily added to the direct tracked storage as well. In essence…all a NAS is…is another computer on your network with some direct attached storage and a nice appliance like front end to manage it. The storage can be configured in many different options…as can the direct attached to your computer. Of course…a direct attached SSD will be considerably faster for editin* photos on the host computer than a NAS will be unless you upgrade to the even more expensive NAS with 10 gigabit Ethernet and then you’ll need 10 GB Ethernet in your computer as well.

 

[NWGuy]

Using a synology 5 bay NAS with a large regular spinning disc drive selectively backing up the NAS that is then backed up in the cloud. The Synology NAS is nice as it is fast secure backup and as well as a working space but has features allowing me to share selected files with family and friends. If interested in it, check out Hudson Henry's 2 videos on setting this up, has worked well for me.

 

[John Navitsky]

I have multiple copies of both of these drives and they are all meeting expectations. It should be noted that while I have many of the SATA version noted here, more recently I've pushed to avoid SATA and basically I now try really hard to only purchase M.2 NVME drives.

https://a.co/d/i1u8nwI

https://a.co/d/8vuj80j

I also have a TrueNAS ZFS based DIY NAS, but that's exclusively for tertiary backups.

Generally speaking, I don't use RAID/NAS for primary/secondary use cases.

My pattern at this point is:

primary use is single NVME drive ---> backup is SSD, probably an existing SATA SSD ---> backup of backup is NAS/cloud

 

[TurtleCat]

I’m in the minority here. I have all my images on a single SSD that I copy over to another drive periodically as Backup. If I lose it all someday it won’t matter too much. I’m not a pro and I doubt any heirs will do anything but delete my pics, lol. So I would recommend getting a strategy that works with your long term desire and expectations for your images.

 

[wotan1]

The difference between NAS or network attached storage and DAS or direct attached storage is speed of access. Network drives are governed by the speed of the network and it usually maxes out at 10 gb for the faster systems. By contrast, Thunderbolt connections can do 40 gb. On the other hand NAS drives can be accessed from multiple locations on the network but the DAS has to have a direct physical connection by cable to the computer using it.

Not that I know this stuff myself, this is what people who know this stuff tell me.

I use an 8 gb SSD drive for my active processing and a RAID DAS for backup.

 

[Anjin San]

The difference between NAS or network attached storage and DAS or direct attached storage is speed of access. Network drives are governed by the speed of the network and it usually maxes out at 10 gb for the faster systems. By contrast, Thunderbolt connections can do 40 gb. On the other hand NAS drives can be accessed from multiple locations on the network but the DAS has to have a direct physical connection by cable to the computer using it.

Not that I know this stuff myself, this is what people who know this stuff tell me.

I use an 8 gb SSD drive for my active processing and a RAID DAS for backup.

Exactly…and upgrading the network to 10 gig is not cheap…switches, router, and even the cables need to support it and then all of the devices need to be on Ethernet and not wifi and support 10 gig and that’s not many laptops, tablets, or phones.