NAS replacing file server

The RAID array on our primary file server (HP ML350 G4P from way back) had a hiccup a few days ago (the kind that kills two drives), and thankfully our backup server was synchronized and we were able to switch over to it. We used to have nearly everything running on that server, and after a previous RAID failure we moved services to other services to provide some redundancy. Our CEO has given us the go ahead to replace both file servers with whatever we need, so I've been researching some options and I really think a NAS would work for us.

I'm currently looking at the higher end Thecus units, have any of you had experience with those, particularly with the High Availability? We've licensed NeverFail for replication on our file servers, and it appears that the Thecus HA operates the same way (one NIC for network traffic, another for Heartbeat connection between the two units). It looks fairly impressive (this Youtube video in particular), though reading some of their documentation I kind of get the feeling that someone ran it through Google Translate and called it good. I see QNAP has something similar with their "real time remote replication", but I've read some bad stuff about their support on the Spiceworks community boards. Any other suggestions? I know there's always FreeNAS, but have any of you had any experience with the pre-built FreeNAS appliances?

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Comments

sratakhin

I heard that Thecus units have some problems with firmware, but that may have been some time ago.
We have a Netgear ReadyNAS3200 box with RAID-6. Even if two drives fail, you still don't lose any data. It can also be used like a SAN.

jdancer

I prefer to roll-my-own NAS server.

One part HP Proliant Microserver, one part Linux, one part NFS, one part SAMBA, one part iSCSI.

I use Linux mdadm for RAID setup and management. Zero problems.

it_consultant

Look at Drobo too. You can either share off an iSCSI LUN or do all the file sharing directly from the NAS. My experience with the latter hasn't always been positive with cheaper NAS'. We do a similar thing off of our Hitachi NAS head - that thing cost us like $35,000, somehow I think that is overkill for your application.

networkjutsu

Check out Synology too.

nosoup4u

I'm rocking a Proliant microserver as well which has got a few VM's and my file server, never had a problem

undomiel

My recommendation would go to QNAP. Easy to setup and easy to rsync between them. I prefer them to Drobo and Synology, and I especially can't stand the Synology interface.

networkjutsu

I love the UI on my Synology. Better than Openfiler and FreeNAS in my opinion. I can't comment on Drobo or QNAP though.

SteveLord

I've seen better reviews of Synology products lately. I remember a few years ago when first saw Drobo and thought it was awesome. But I've seen way too many mixed reviews on their products' reliability and performance since.

I went poking around as I contemplated replacing a 4 year old UnRAID server using even holder hardware and a large case.

arwes

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've looked at several options, and it's down to Thecus and QNAP.