Hello there,

I am in search of inspiration for solving several issues I am having.

That’s my situation:

  • ageing Synology NAS (4x4tb drives) with multiple docker containers running on it.
  • old gaming rig (i7-6700, Fedora Server) which I use sparingly for game server hosting

What I want to achieve:

  • Upgrade/replacement of my NAS
  • Offsite backup
  • ~20tb of usable storage (~2-3tb of actual important stuff)

Primary use cases:

  • SMB share
  • Docker hosting (Pihole, unbound, Jellyfin, *arr etc.)

Newly added requirements:

  • Cloud storage for mobile devices of close family members on and off site

Complications:

  • Electricity cost is a scam where I live (~0.40$ per Kwh)

I have an ageing NAS whose capacity is getting to its limits storage and horsepower wise. And since I have to do work on my setup anyways, I was wondering whether you might give me some inputs on what I could/should use to achieve my goals.

  1. My NAS is getting to its teenage years and I am getting worried about its eol. Buying some old server HW is out of the question because of power usage and availability. What are my best options? Build something myself with current hardware? Buy a new NAS? What is a good way to migrate data to a new system? From a power consumption standpoint are SSD’s better than HDD’s?

  2. I have an off site which i visit regularly where I could either place backup drives or put a system in a rack. What would be a good option for an offsite backup solution?

  3. I have gotten my aunt (77) a tablet during covid so she could video call us. In recent months a smartphone has entered the ring because daily life is getting impacted when you don’t have one. Now she is all into taking pictures and videos and the storage on her phone is not enough. What are my options? I’ve experimented with Nextcloud but I am uncertain whether it is the right solution, especially from a usability perspective. (I want to avoid third party services for storage)

I will very much appreciate your input since I’m not working in the field and am getting to the edge of my own knowledge at this point.

Thank you in advance for your input.

  • Molecular0079@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    11 months ago

    I get the ease of use aspect, but having just come out of a lengthy recovery process with a broken QNAP TS-453 Pro, I can safely say I am done with turn-key NAS solutions. Having to be beholden to a specific company for hardware upgrades and replacements, all while paying an exorbitant markup for subpar hardware, no longer gives me peace of mind about the security of my data. I just personally think the ability to do what you want with both the hardware and the software storing your data is key to long-term data storage. You just never know when these companies will go out of business, start engaging in shitty business practices, or, like in the case of QNAP, swap to a custom LVM layout that makes it impossible to open up in standard Linux distros, complicating data recovery.

    Security updates and software upgrades are easy, you get good software packages for free

    That may very well be true, but I doubt it’d come close to the amount of software you can get with basically any standard Linux distro. There’s also TrueNAS and Unraid if you’re looking for something that’s more NAS like.