Recommendations for a NAS?

OK so I am setting up a small business with a NAS so they can store scanned documents, which is basically all they will be using it for, but it will be A LOT of documents. They have 5 computers running windows 7. They want the NAS to be reliable and as future proof as possible, and to be able to backup the files in case a hdd fails. Pretty much they want to be sure none of their documents will ever fail. What are some good NAS in the market right now? They didn't really specify a budget so much as the features I noted above.

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Comments

msteinhilber

I've found the typical small business NAS that's ready to go out the box to be a bit overpriced for what you get, at least in my opinion. For only 5 workstations I doubt they're going to spring for anything I would consider enterprise grade. I've setup some SMB's with QNAP and Synology products and they've been pretty happy with them. Both can be had for $400 on up depending on the number of disks you wish to have (diskless systems so factor in the cost of your HDD's on top of that too). The ones I have rolled out have been 4-6 disk units for around $800-1200. I have a smaller two disk QNAP at home that I inherited from a site, it's not too bad but I don't think I'd use it in a SMB setting. I've also setup a number of SMB's with whitebox systems running FreeNAS as well. I usually am more inclined to go with FreeNAS over QNAP or Synology because I've found the software to be a bit more reliable and I/O to be faster. You can probably end up with hardware that's more reliable in the long haul that way too. You could setup a second FreeNAS box to replicate to if they desired and it was within budget. I have one site that is using FreeNAS for local file storage and they had spare units in their 1/4 rack where they colo their web and email servers, we stuck a FreeNAS unit in there with a Juniper SRX100B and built a tunnel from their colo facility to their office and replicate offsite for a fairly cheap DR solution for them. You can really scale it however you like, most of the SMB off the shelf products will have USB ports if they want to backup to an external HDD and save a few bucks. Ultimately depends on how much data. I'm guessing if it's just 5 clients it probably won't be an obnoxious amount of space unless they're doing a ton of scanning to PDF in color for example.

White Wizard

Have you looked at Lacie NAS products?

QHalo

I wouldn't buy anything but a Synology or a QNAP.

the_Grinch

We brought the Netgear ReadyNAS and it was awesome. Offered the option to back-up to the cloud plus you could setup the raid configuration along with backup to a USB drive. Well worth the money we spent on it.

Asif Dasl

White Wizard wrote: »

Have you looked at Lacie NAS products?

Never trust a company who gets Porsche to design their products (exterior anyway!). Just saying...

Edit - I've also had a bad experience of data loss with Lacie as well!

colby_ar

I concur with the Synology sentiment for a small business NAS. I've installed several from their enterprise and small business lines over the years and they have been nothing but reliable. I currently use a DS1513+ configured as RAID6 for backups of our office workstations and server data. We also use the Glacier Backup addon package to back everything up to Amazon Glacier. We have about 4TB of backup data and it costs us less than $40 a month.

bigdogz

On the high end I have seen HP and EMC work without issues.

On the low end I have had good luck with Synology, ioSafe, and Buffalo's Tera Station.

"Reliable and as future proof as possible"... This is where you have to do your homework. This contains company current needs and where they are trending. As msteinhilber mentioned to introduce redundancy/replication onsite/offsite will assist in disaster cases.

Good Luck

Cisc0kidd

Another vote for Synology.

TheProf

I use a Synology, can't complain, works great.

discount81

I've used QNAP and Synology, both are good if your budget is under $1000.
Can't speak for ReadyNAS or other brands.

If your budget is over $1000 I'd suggest building your own FreeNAS box, you will get a far better setup.

I have a FreeNAS machine I built with 10 x WD RED 3TB drives in RAIDZ 2 (raid 6) for doing backups on and keeping a software repository, It has been very solid.

gorebrush

I built my own server.

leefdaddy

Synology!

JeanM

I am personally torn between FreeNAS and unRAID solution from lime-tech

QHalo

Just remember who this is for. This isn't for your home lab or for you to learn how to it all works. This is for a small business. Unless you've deployed a DIY solution for a business and you're comfortable supporting it, I'd avoid it. Keep it simple.

pizzaboy

+1 for Synology.
Had a few Iomega istors - should stay very far away.

White Wizard

Asif Dasl wrote: »

Never trust a company who gets Porsche to design their products (exterior anyway!). Just saying...

Edit - I've also had a bad experience of data loss with Lacie as well!

Wow, thats good to know. Synology it is.

jibbajabba

You could use a Microserver and turn it into a Synology - giving you more oompf

Synology NAS clone build. | Orbits IT

SteveLord

UnRaid was pretty simple for us and hasn't required any additional work or tweaking in the last 4 years.

BookFella

+1 for Synology

tpatt100

I wouldn't feel comfortable setting up any business with a third party solution unless it had a proper warranty with customer support behind it.

QHalo

Bingo!^

OrbitsIT

jibbajabba wrote: »

You could use a Microserver and turn it into a Synology - giving you more oompf

Synology NAS clone build. | Orbits IT

Thanks for linking to our Blog Post. In answer to the user who questioned the legality. The XPenology DSM builds are open source and I believe perfectly legal. What I wouldn't recommend is using one of these for clients as there are still a few bugs with it. They are great for testing the Synology features though and since setting our 3 HP Microserver clones up we have recommended proper Synology kit to lots of clients who are loving them.