NAS Recommendations

I think we all know by now what this section is for.
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#76 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by jack »

simon wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 3:27 pm
jack wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 3:17 pm I'll stay out of this to avoid confusion... other than to reiterate that mounting EXT disks on Windows is easy with free 3rd party tools and it's a damn sight faster to have a local disk to copy from rather than FTP...
I don't doubt you for a second Nick, but I can't see the NAS and don't know how to. So I've nowhere to go with this.
What I meant was to physically remove one of the SAN shadow disks and connect it directly to the Windows box by a SATA cable, then mount it and access it via Explorer as a physically local EXT drive rather than as part of a SAN.

However, the FTP thing, even if a tonne slower, is simple & reliable and keeping it simple is often a good approach!
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#77 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by simon »

Blimey, it's no wonder there aren't as many NAS drive providers as there used to be - 3 IT professionals helping me and it's still as clear as mud (not a criticism of you chaps BTW).

Okay, I don't have a SATA cable but could get one. Would I be able to plug it in to this laptop though? We do have a really old and slow Windows desktop though that I might be able to plug it in to, that might be worth considering? If I switch it on now it should be ready for Wednesday...
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#78 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by jack »

Not the laptop - use the desktop.

This is really t'other Nick's & Ed's thread, so I'll go away now as I have a VAT return & end-of-month invoicing to do...
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#79 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by simon »

Well it's Michael L's thread really that I've well and truly sabotaged.

All contributions are seriously appreciated though. I have to say, for a product to be bought around 6 years ago and be so end of life I can't even connect to it from Windows, the way Zyxel make you set it up, is shockingly bad. To still be using a protocol around 2015 (IIRC) that was superseded by Microsoft in 2007 is frankly outrageous. Funnily enough I will never buy anything from Zyxel again.
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#80 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by Cressy Snr »

You should see my WD Mycloud Duo 4TB Home NAS.
Utterly fecking useless. You’re tied into their WD ‘Discovery’ app for file storage, copying and transfer. Its speed is akin to treacle oozing under a door.
£300 it cost me in Jan 2018. Took 24 hours to back up my Mac Mini over gigabit ethernet. Trying to play from the Plex server included with it resulted in such slowness of access that at one point it was taking 30s from pressing play to anything coming out of the speakers. It’s a now bloody expensive door stop.
Completely discouraged me from doing anything involving network storage ever again, which is why I just use Apple Music over my AppleTV 4. Not state of the art at all, but my ears are now (post Bells Palsy) so low in resolution I can’t tell any difference between streaming via it and the CD player.
My Mac Mini made a far better media centre, but of course you are then tied into iTunes, which puts out 24/48 unless you sit over the sound preference pane changing the resolution manually. Mixing different resolutions in the same playlist is completely impractical. There are apps such as Audirvana that overcome this problem but getting iTunes to play ball with it made me want to throw the computer through the window. All this palaver is probably solved now, but I can’t be arsed anymore.
Last edited by Cressy Snr on Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:11 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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ed
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#81 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by ed »

the encryption box:
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#82 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by Nick »

I thought you had a USB caddy to put the drive in. And or, have you got ftp working?
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#83 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by simon »

I certainly feel your pain Steve :-(

Thanks Ed, I'm finally in :-D

I've done a quick trial to check download speed and just downloading to the small SSD on the laptop would take 2 to 3 days. Downloading to a USB drive would no doubt take quite a few days.

I did wonder about the caddy but figured it wasn't possible as Jack didn't suggest it. I'm reluctant to fish the disc out again as I seem to have lost it, but might give it a go.

Thanks for everyone's help. This stuff might seem obvious but it really isn't if you don't know what it is.
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#84 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by simon »

This is what I should have been doing instead of messing with this wretched NAS. You know where you are with some sheets of mdf and a router. And a table saw. And a mitre saw. And a track saw, a random orbit sander, 3 battery drill/drivers and a nail gun.
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#85 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by pre65 »

It's a box. :)
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#86 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by simon »

More a coffin the way today has gone :lol:
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#87 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by simon »

I've just tried the disc in the caddy but it's not recognised. I'm reluctant to try the other because if it's somehow been damaged by inserting it in the caddy I don't want to knacker the other one too.

I know the caddy works as I've tried a disc I had in an old Windows machine. I've tried another disc I had in my first Linux NAS but that's not recognised either. I presumed a caddy is a caddy, but perhaps some aren't compatible with Linux? Can't image why.

All three discs have slightly different connectors, the old Windows disc was an easy fit.

The old NAS disc didn't really feel like it engaged at all (and the LED on the caddy didn't come on)

The Zyxel NAS was very stiff indeed and seemed to go in a long way and needed a bit of encouragement to come out. The light did come on though but wasn't recognised by Linux Reader.

So I might try the desktop option but it looks like it might have to be the slow FTP route.
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#88 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by ed »

simon wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:30 pm
Thanks Ed, I'm finally in :-D

I've done a quick trial to check download speed and just downloading to the small SSD on the laptop would take 2 to 3 days. Downloading to a USB drive would no doubt take quite a few days.
If this is true and you'd started copying when you posted, it would be all over now.
I have to confess I think this thread is beginning to look like Andrew's vortexbox thread, where Nick observed:

https://www.audio-talk.co.uk/phpBB3/vie ... 52#p192952

I've just done a test and depending how much data is on your NAS it could take acouple of days if your network is anything like mine. I estimate 1TB would take in the region of 46 hours...this is transferring NAS to desktop direct.....the NAS is ethernet into the router and the desktop is wifi at a considerable distance
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personally I'd just get on with it and to hell with the complications.
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#89 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by Nick »

Yep, there is not any particular inefficiency in ftp over say smb or any other network transfer. Maybe with lots of small files, but not enough to worry about IMHO. If you could get the drive physically connected it may be faster, but it depends if its USB 2 or 3. I think the size of disks now has lead us into forgetting just how much data is involved.
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#90 Re: NAS Recommendations

Post by andrew Ivimey »

As a temporary solution I'm using a 250 gig usb stick in a Squeezebox Touch. 200 gig of flacs - lorra music !
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