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.
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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?
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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?
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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.
I just got through helping a friend set up a NAS. Even today I recommend people stick with Synology because you get so much with it. Security updates and software upgrades are easy, you get good software packages for free, and the Synology platform is just easier to manage unless you want to be a real power user. Honestly, I would replace your current Synology device with an updated one. The DS423+ I set my friend up with had a reasonable processor that could even do hardware transcoding for Plex. Not a lot, mind you, but plenty for his 1080p and DVD library.
I use my Synology NAS for computer backups, photo storage and display, and occasionally I use Synology Drive (Synology’s NextCloud clone – or possibly a fork of NextCloud) to host files for people to access from my network. I wouldn’t say that any self-hosted solution would be extremely easy to use, but Synology Drive was really excellent for moderately techy people.
Offsite backups are hard. I just use Synology’s HyperBackup to create an archive of the files I can’t afford to lose and physically carry those drives to an offsite location. I’ve had to restore from it from time to time, and it has been a nice experience. I especially like that I can restore only specific files and that it handles versioning. It gets hard when you need an immense amount of space for your backup. But these days you can get drives that are positively huge.
Security updates and features until they decide to change their terms of service and remove some useful piece of software just because they want. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvEVEP75DYk Louis Rossmann - Synology stops hosting old reinstall files, claims “licensing” issues
If you build a NAS instead of using Synology stuff it will be as easy as setup SSH between the machines and rsync.
To be fair, you can do this with Synology as well. Rsync is built-in and even integrated into DSM. The advantage to using Hyperbackup is that you get block-level incremental backups.
Rsync does incremental.
TIL! Are there good GUI front-ends for Rsync for when you want to browse the file versions?
Another option, easier than rsync is simply use Syncthing to sync the main machine with the backup machine. No tunnels required and it has built in file versioning with a GUI.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=XvEVEP75DYk
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
FYI, he posted an apology video not long after that saying he jumped the gun, and that Synology had to remove the software not because they wanted to, but because some parts of their software were licensed and expired. Video link
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/YWICHNEHHeU?si=d3WNWs8yM8V-qDIw
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
I’m aware of that but what practical difference does it make? You buy one of those things and suddenly you got functionality because they weren’t able to properly negotiate lifetime licensing for their devices that are sold, not rented, not leased…
Well if you’re aware of it, why continue misinforming people with a video he retracted? You’re still using the device as is. They aren’t retroactively deleting functionality off of your device after support ends. The license issue just means that they cannot legally distribute legacy software from their website anymore. AFAIK, Synology emailed their customers informing them ahead of time to download the image before they had to take it down, I think they did what they could have done already.
The original licensing problem in question was about the AAC codec, which as you probably know, is practically in every device we use and are in use daily. So until another open codec becomes the norm, or until all the patents expire in 2031, there probably will still be cases like this popping up from time to time.
Because they shouldn’t sell hardware “for life” with an underlaying license that is only temporary. That doesn’t make sense. They’ve to make better agreements or pick other solutions.
Okay.
First off, afaik, they never advertised “lifetime” warranty nor software support on their website.
Secondly, as I told you in the previous comment already, you can still use the product as is! This is no different from phone manufacturers dropping software support after 2 or 5+ years. Not to mention this probably only affects hardware that are older than 2009. That’s over 10 years of software support already. Granted they could have reuploaded a version without the AAC codec, but still.
Third, looking at Via’s AAC FAQ, license fees are due on “per unit” sale, and the term of the license is five years, with additional five years renewal. There never was a lifetime license for it. The same goes for every single hardware/software sold that has AAC encoder/decoder built in. So if your actual issue is with that, take it up on Via and the patent holders, and start using foss audio codecs like OGG Vorbis or FLAC.
Yes, that’s a scam. One thing is when you rent, lease or have hardware provided on a subscription basis, another entire different thing is when you buy hardware. Synology is just propagating this kind of BS by including AAC.
Up until now I’ve dealt with a few devices that included AAC and none of them suddenly became obsolete by the lack of license after 5 years.
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.
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.
Thank you for your insights.
My primary issue with Synology NASes or prebuild NASes in common is the lack of upgradeability. I am quite happy with the one I’ve got but it is underpowered and underspeced for what I sometimes want to do. Hence I converted my old gaming rig into a server for those purposes.
I’ve tried the Synology Apps but I don’t like to link myself into one ecosystem for what should be simple tasks. So I am looking for alternatives.
I somehow have to find a middle ground in usability for me and my companions.