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I'd like to improve the file sharing/storage solution for my small business. At the moment I host everything on a my computer in a shared folder, which works but is slow (and I'm running out of space 😂)
There are about half a dozen users, realistically only 2 or 3 max will be accessing files simultaneously. All the files that are shared (some quite large as it's a printing business) need to end up on a Windows computer that acts as a print server. It has USB 3 but not Firewwire (although I think USB 3 is faster now anyway?). Presumably this is the best computer to act as a fileserver? (I do have a high-spec Mac Mini as well which is currently doing nothing, I was going to use that as a backup server but never got around to it, it is still an option though!!) All the other computers on the network except one are Macs, if that makes a difference.
So: What do I want (external hard drive, NAS drive, etc), how should I connect it (USB 3?) and to which computer on the network (i.e. could have a dedicated file server if that's advantageous) what's the best protocol (assume just SMB unless NAS is better and that uses something different?), and is it worth paying extra for "enterprise" stuff?
Don't need a huge amount of space tbh, 1Tb would be fine at a pinch, 2Tb would future-proof for the foreseeable, budget anything up to £1k I guess (but the less the better obvs!) tia
OneDrive?
How are the files used and is everything already networked (and if so 1Gb or 100Mb)?
Which LOB apps do you use? If you're using Microsoft use OneDrive if you're using Google then use Google Filestream/Drive.
If you go on-prem (if you have for example extremely slow connectivity tot he outside world) then ensure you have duplicates and backups.
From my experience I'd recommend:
- NAS drive. Probably a 'small business' level one, with 4 or 8 HDDs in it, set up in some RAID format to provide some degree of protection if one drive melts down. This is then mapped to a fixed IP address on your network (say, 192.168.0.199); and all users can then map it as a network drive on their computers. It will be available to everyone who requires it (regardless of which computers are currently running), and should be faster than cloud-based options. It will slow down if several people are using it at once, though.
- Something cloud-based. Dropbox just works; OneDrive is more generous with storage; Google Drive is also pretty roomy - and if you're willing to pay you can easily get up to 1TB of storage. But I'd suggest thinking about how you use this - uploading big files to it will generally take a while, and even downloading large files will be dependent on your internet speed.
- Possibly another form of backup, whether on a local computer, external HDD or something else.
One way of using it could be: NAS used day to day, holds all your files. Cloud used where necessary, syncs with current file structure on the NAS. External HDDs are a daily backup of your NAS file structure.
(but there are better data gurus on stw than me, who will probably explain proper data backup protocol!)
nicko74 has put pretty much what I was going to recommend.
QNAP and Synology would be the NAS vendors I would look at and you could probably get away with a two drive bay system with mirrored disks and data synced to a service such as Amazon Glacier which is designed for just that and is cheap to run.
Both these vendors have "private cloud" technology which basically means that data and services on your NAS can be accessed when outside the office.
Something like this would fit the bill.
Thanks for the responses!!
had not considered cloud storage, is that not going to be REALLY slow? (we have whatever the fastest non-fibre internet is from BT, even so, not super quick to upload/download big files). Although if it were stored locally & also mirrored to the cloud, that could be useful.OneDrive?
No idea what that is, so I guess none? 😂 Had a quick google and it's something to do with databases? With what we do, all the files will be artwork i.e. Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop files, etc, some quite large though.Which LOB apps do you use?
So a proper NAS rather than just an external drive? Is that going to be faster, or just potentially more reliable (with the redundancy)? Worth paying more for an "enterprise" one - will that be faster with multiple users accessing it simultaneously? Any real difference between QNAP and Synology or is it just a case of "pick one"– NAS drive. Probably a ‘small business’ level one, with 4 or 8 HDDs in it, set up in some RAID format to provide some degree of protection if one drive melts down. This is then mapped to a fixed IP address on your network (say, 192.168.0.199); and all users can then map it as a network drive on their computers. It will be available to everyone who requires it (regardless of which computers are currently running), and should be faster than cloud-based options. It will slow down if several people are using it at once, though.
that sounds good, ta, will look into thatQNAP and Synology would be the NAS vendors I would look at and you could probably get away with a two drive bay system with mirrored disks and data synced to a service such as Amazon Glacier which is designed for just that and is cheap to run.Both these vendors have “private cloud” technology which basically means that data and services on your NAS can be accessed when outside the office.
Another vote here for the NAS Drive. I have an old Synology disk station setup at work for storage/backups and accessing tools/applications from other machines on the network. Currently it's got four 1tb drives in there giving me around 3tb of storage with redundancy should one of the drives fail.
You would have the added benefit of still being able to get to your data if you loose your external internet connection, I know it's fairly rare but that could be a problem with OneDrive/Google/DropBox etc.
I can manage the drive through a webpage, and can set security to ensure that only specific people can access it, useful if you only have one network which external contractors/clients can access.
This is similar (I think the new version) to the one I have, they do 2 bay ones too similar to te one Cletus suggested.
with 4 of these in it:
We have a Linux server backed up to a NAS with Mac Mini serving the file shares so that the Macs don't throw a wobbly with SMB
This is similar (I think the new version) to the one I have, they do 2 bay ones too similar to te one Cletus suggested.
that looks good, ta, I will want SSDs though
would be interested if you could elaborate on this, as our systems are primarily Macs! (and I have a spare Mini kicking around which could be used for something!!)Mac Mini serving the file shares so that the Macs don’t throw a wobbly with SMB
just browsing NAS enclosures now, fairly bewildering choice! If I'm not using it to serve media files etc is there much point in paying the extra for a more powerful processor/more memory? Or will any 2 bay one be suitable? They seem to all have gigabit ethernet ports, is there anything else to look out for that will affect the speed of file transfers etc?
As you use Macs then I would look for good support for Mac features such as Time Machine.
Also consider what other features you may find useful including:
I do not think you can go too far wrong with either QNAP or Synology. I would go for larger hard drives than you suggest though as you could then backup all your PC's, Macs etc.
If the NAS is going to be in the same room as you then this model might fit the bill
https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/24389-qnap-hs-251-8tb-red/
that looks good, ta, I will want SSDs though
Seeing as it's on the network - which will be the bottleneck - I'd not be hung up about using SSDs.
You won't really see any benefit.
had not considered cloud storage, is that not going to be REALLY slow? (we have whatever the fastest non-fibre internet is from BT, even so, not super quick to upload/download big files). Although if it were stored locally & also mirrored to the cloud, that could be useful.
OneDrive works as a mirror. Local stored, syncs to the cloud. You can also specify which files/folders are stored locally or cloud only, but you see them all and it will download them if necessary. Handy for archive stuff you don't need local.
With Office 365 sub, you've got 1TB of storage and it's one of the most flexible in that it doesn't really care what you put in it and won't mess with your files.
With 365 for business you've got Exchange also for email, and various other things depending on the subscription (Teams, Sharepoint etc). If it's a small business, take a look at Microsoft Action Pack for a cheap way of getting loads of server software, OS, 365, MSDN and Azure (if you're into development). Again, 1TB storage and that's per "seat".
NAS - Synology gets my vote. It's more than just a network drive. It's a mini server. Loads of apps you can run on it, web server, email if you like etc. You can backup to it via Windows File History and similar things for Mac I believe. Synology also have their own stuff for backups and a private cloud type thing. Though it's not a cloud, it's just like cloud storage but on your NAS. You can also get the NAS to then sync to a proper cloud service.
Don't bother using old desktops etc as servers. They're noisy and waste a lot of power compared to a decent NAS. Plus from experience, left on 24/7 they suffer. HDDs in consumer desktops aren't designed for 24/7 use and I've had a couple of PSUs go bang in a puff of smoke running one as a server.
SSDs - use them for your OS in laptop/desktop/whatever. That's where they perform best. Makes a massive difference compared to a spinning disc. In a NAS, far less so. Though again 24/7 the discs wear out, but they're cheaper. Decent RAID set up with at least one redundant disc so you can swap one when it dies.
Lots of great suggestions here but I don’t believe I’ve seen anything about backups. If you’ve 1-2Tb of data stored what’s the impact of a total or partial loss?
Even if you have a raid nas you’re still at risk through multiple disk failures or an enclosure failure, not to mention fire, theft, flood or pestilence.
My NAS has a 1TB USB drive attached which does a weekly backup (though 4TB NAS but 3TB is storage, 1TB redundant, plus part is OS and then actual data I want to keep fits well within 1TB). On top of that OneDrive 1TB sync, but then that's a bit like RAID as it's only as good as the data in. That said, with 365 Business you get history (not sure about consumer).
Ditto PC backups which I use File History for. Those are backing up to the NAS with file history, and that NAS itself is backed up.
Fire / theft etc, then yeah I'm dependent on OneDrive.
Bucket loads of things these days are online data anyway and backed up by each of the relevant services. I find far less need for storage at home.
Stuff for my business, as it's software development, gets backed up in GitHub and similar services, plus I have repository on my NAS, local repository on my desktop, in the client office when I'm there and on my tablet. If the client's server's blow up and they've lost all backups, I've still got entire repository backup of the stuff I'm working on in various locations. That's the neat thing about git. No dependency on a central server.
Even documents about the house like Land Registry stuff, deeds etc, are all available online via Land Registry etc. Bank gave me the stuff years ago and said because it's all online they don't store them any more.
We use a 2 bay Synology set up as JBOD 2TB single partition in the office. It's backed up every other day to one of two desktop drives stored off-site.
The Synology software is reasonably easy for me to administer (I taught myself in the last 10 years). Buy 'proper' NAS drives not any old disk you have lying around. If funds allow enterprise drives are more robust again. We keep our email archive on it served in the office only (helps with reducing GDPR compliance work). Office 365 keeps this years client email only in the cloud.
If you’re happy with how it works now, why not bung in a second disk in your PC and move the file share to it. A 1TB SSD is pretty cheap these days and will be much simpler for you to manage, given your IT knowledge.
Echo the comments about backups. Even if you just manually copy to a few big usb drives in rotation. Pick a solution that you understand and stick to it.
I guess this is the cheapest option, I just figured it must also be the slowest, if e.g. I'm saving a large file to my HD but not necessarily the network share (which I am, often) then this is going to make the network share very slow for everybody else? So a dedicated NAS or file server is going to have much better performance overall?If you’re happy with how it works now, why not bung in a second disk in your PC and move the file share to it. A 1TB SSD is pretty cheap these days and will be much simpler for you to manage, given your IT knowledge.
Yeah everything is just backed up on external drives connected to individual computers (automatically via TM on Mac) at the moment. I might consolidate all those onto one monster drive and use the spare Mac mini as a TM server. Liking the idea of a cloud based backup as a failsafe, had thought about that before but not really known who to use.Echo the comments about backups. Even if you just manually copy to a few big usb drives in rotation. Pick a solution that you understand and stick to it.
A NAS is optimised to do just one thing... so it will be quicker than a PC with a file share.
You don't have to get too hung up about Synology, etc. I picked up a 4 bay Netgear NAS off eBay that I put 4 x 1Tb drives in to create a striped set. I offers all the network protcols you need (inc Time Machine) and you can pug a USB drive into it so it can back itself up automatically.