What is the best hardware solution to Play and Safeguard your PRECIOUS audio files?

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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A lot of people use Synology? Is that really better than a bunch of plain old hard drives?
 

DonH50

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The best solution is a RAID implentation so if one drive dies you don't lose everything. That means two or more drives and RAID 1 or higher. Does not matter if you use Synology, WD, a RAID HBA or on your motherboard, whatever (although Synology seems to be the favorite). Just buying a JBOD box does not mean it is set up as RAID 1 (5, 10, whatever) out of the box. For these you should also buy enterprise-level drives and not desktop drives; the latter die too quickly in a NAS environment.
 

Bruce B

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The best solution is a RAID implentation so if one drive dies you don't lose everything. That means two or more drives and RAID 1 or higher. Does not matter if you use Synology, WD, a RAID HBA or on your motherboard, whatever (although Synology seems to be the favorite). Just buying a JBOD box does not mean it is set up as RAID 1 (5, 10, whatever) out of the box. For these you should also buy enterprise-level drives and not desktop drives; the latter die too quickly in a NAS environment.

+1, even Synology has its own proprietary RAID system that you can use as well as any other RAID system to choose from. Enterprise drives are a must, though a little more expensive. Sometimes you can get them on sale at NewEgg. I would go as far (which I did) to have a redundant storage system. What happens if the Synology box fails? After 5yr., mine is getting a little noisy. I had to buy another Synology box and am in the process of transferring files now.
 

FrantzM

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Apr 20, 2010
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Hi

I also use Synology. GReat perfromance and so far incredible reliability, stable software good options, etc ... That said

HDD/Storage is cheap. You get 3 TB for <$200. but RIAD is not a panacea. You should make sure to replicate . There are instances your could fry (lose) everything even with RAID. The Solution is to back-up your music on a different (RAID) NAS periodically or if you are computer-savvy, automatically... This is in an audiophile context an inexpensive proposition. 2 TB will easily hndle >4,000 CD in FLAC or APE so ... For a little more than 1,000 you can have 2 NAS and 4 enterprise-level HDD ... Well worth it when you factor in what we spend for things like ... cables:p
 

Kal Rubinson

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Hi

I also use Synology. GReat perfromance and so far incredible reliability, stable software good options, etc ... That said

HDD/Storage is cheap. You get 3 TB for <$200. but RIAD is not a panacea. You should make sure to replicate . There are instances your could fry (lose) everything even with RAID. The Solution is to back-up your music on a different (RAID) NAS periodically or if you are computer-savvy, automatically... This is in an audiophile context an inexpensive proposition. 2 TB will easily hndle >4,000 CD in FLAC or APE so ... For a little more than 1,000 you can have 2 NAS and 4 enterprise-level HDD ... Well worth it when you factor in what we spend for things like ... cables:p
Excellent advice but, if one is collecting more than stereo CD rips, the needs rise. I bought 2 QNAP NAS, each with 3x4TB drives and I am filling them up without making a huge dent in my collection. My house and apartment will have to accommodate banks of drives.
 

edorr

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May 10, 2010
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I don't trust RAID. Realistically, the biggest risk of getting wiped out is a lightning hit. This could take out both drives in raid in one blow. My media is on local storage hardrives, and my main backup are off line USB drives. Just copy new risp to the USB drive every now and then. No need for real time raid sync'ing. Completely disconnected drive is only safe option (only risk is fire). I have (synology) NAS for movies, a 3rd backup of CDs and to move files around between drives and servers. New server I just ordered has 12TB on board storage.
 

audio.bill

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I use external USB 3.0 drives. I have a couple directly connected to my PC, and a couple more unattached that I periodically make backups to using SyncBack Free. It's a good idea to also keep a backup drive in a different location in case of theft or fire in your residence, so I keep an additional backup drive locked in a safe deposit box at a local bank. Maybe it's overkill but better safe than sorry!
 

DonH50

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I don't trust RAID. Realistically, the biggest risk of getting wiped out is a lightning hit. This could take out both drives in raid in one blow. My media is on local storage hardrives, and my main backup are off line USB drives. Just copy new risp to the USB drive every now and then. No need for real time raid sync'ing. Completely disconnected drive is only safe option (only risk is fire). I have (synology) NAS for movies, a 3rd backup of CDs and to move files around between drives and servers. New server I just ordered has 12TB on board storage.

My house has whole-house lightning and surge protection but a direct hit is going to get everything. However, I do not think a lightning hit is the biggest risk by a long shot, but agree there are many ways a RAID system can fail. I disagree that RAID has no value. I have multiple backups and have had several drives fail at once, or within days or each other. No lightning strikes. A drive failure can cause data loss and corrupted files that are impossible to recover. Big servers have multiply redundant systems and backups are performed regularly (every 10 - 30 minutes at my place of business) to local sites and to off-site storage. A wildfire nearby caused all sorts of hassles for us but at least our data was safe.
 

astrotoy

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I have everything stored on two different RAID systems (so there is both a RAID back up and another RAID back up, and a third plain external hard drive(s) backup. A fourth plain external hard drive back up(s) stored in a big bank safety deposit box. My rips have taken 5 years (10,000 + hours) to do, so the back ups are cheap insurance.

Larry
 

FrantzM

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Apr 20, 2010
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My house has whole-house lightning and surge protection but a direct hit is going to get everything. However, I do not think a lightning hit is the biggest risk by a long shot, but agree there are many ways a RAID system can fail. I disagree that RAID has no value. I have multiple backups and have had several drives fail at once, or within days or each other. No lightning strikes. A drive failure can cause data loss and corrupted files that are impossible to recover. Big servers have multiply redundant systems and backups are performed regularly (every 10 - 30 minutes at my place of business) to local sites and to off-site storage. A wildfire nearby caused all sorts of hassles for us but at least our data was safe.

I have everything stored on two different RAID systems (so there is both a RAID back up and another RAID back up, and a third plain external hard drive(s) backup. A fourth plain external hard drive back up(s) stored in a big bank safety deposit box. My rips have taken 5 years (10,000 + hours) to do, so the back ups are cheap insurance.

Larry

Agree with Don. RAID can and do fail.

I am with you Astrotoy! .. I hve my music on 3 NAS all RAID . One at home in PAP another in another house in the US and a third in my office in the US . They are automatically synced using Deltacopy. Let's call it a Windows version of rsync. It is free. I am not yet thinking about a local commercial bank vault but this is an interesting and inexpensive option
 

DonH50

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I know people with home safes ("real" safes, not the little ones you can buy anywhere) and they have a NAS inside the safe. In a fire special sealant closes off the access hole so even if the lines outside burn you data is safe. At least until the safe fails...
 

caesar

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Gentlemen,

Thank you for the replies. Usability-wise, can a NAS solution, such as Synology, be practically used with a laptop / DAC option, or is it primarily for the network "streamer" option, with an ethernet cable plugged into the back of the network "streamer" device that sits in one place all the time?
 

FrantzM

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Gentlemen,

Thank you for the replies. Usability-wise, can a NAS solution, such as Synology, be practically used with a laptop / DAC option, or is it primarily for the network "streamer" option, with an ethernet cable plugged into the back of the network "streamer" device that sits in one place all the time?

The NAS solution can be used either with a laptop/DAC or a streamer solution. Actually it is possible to use the NAS with different people using it simultaneously with their PCs, tablets or smartphones. It is a Hard Drive that is on the network and as such can used by whomever you grant access rights to the NAS on the network
 

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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The NAS solution can be used either with a laptop/DAC or a streamer solution. Actually it is possible to use the NAS with different people using it simultaneously with their PCs, tablets or smartphones. It is a Hard Drive that is on the network and as such can used by whomever you grant access rights to the NAS on the network

Thank you very much, Frantz.
 

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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Synology owners,

- Is there a Synology model you recommend that can house 12 or 16 TB of data, and where you can start with 6 or 8 TB and add drives as your digital content grows? Also, if you have 6-8 TB of content, do you need to double your drive capacity for the RAID implementation?
- What connections do you use with your audio gear? USB output to a DAC? Ethernet RJ45 to a streamer?
 

Brucemck2

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You can use the raid calculator on the Synology site to find out how much disk space you need. Make sure all the drives are the same size and choose SHR2 as the storage scheme:

https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/RAID_calculator

The site will show you which models match your needs. The easiest thing to do is to put in where you think you will end up, and then only purchase drives as you go. SHR2 will, essentially, use two drives as backup and the rest of your drives are available for storage. So, if you have five hard drives two are backup and three are storage. If you have six hard drives four are storage and two are backup. It's a pretty safe, scalable, scheme.

There are also "extension units" that allow you to add a lot more drives to a base model. It's pretty seamless to add on on after you've already got your base unit up and running.

I've got a 1512+ with an extension unit. My audio server accesses the Synology as a network hard drive (so, it's connected to my audio server over my hardwired Ethernet network.)
 
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Phelonious Ponk

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I'm not adding files to my collection on a daily basis, so I back up music files to a dedicated HD when necessary and keep it stored in a firebox until it's necessary again. I don't know if that's the best solution, but it's a pretty secure one.

Tim
 

Brian Walsh

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I've taken a different approach, using a free OS with the ZFS filesystem which provides up to 3 parity drives in the RAID, plus backup drives and mirrored boot drives, and I opted for ECC registered memory. Software RAID is used as a precaution against failure of the disk controller. Very Solaris-like but with services stripped down with security and reliability as the primary focus. Browser based management is done from another computer on the network.
 

Light Dependant Resistor

Well-Known Member
May 10, 2014
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Hi
The type of file being stored I use is FLAC because its very high quality and has lower data size than proprietary equivalents
Ogg is another nice option to use too if SQ is slightly less needed. I presently use Yamaha CDRHD1500 recorders and store
Type 1 DBX audio, as it gives a very analog presentation.

i think the answer for longevity is to commit to backing up storage devices every 5-7 years.

Another good idea is to look at Linux and format drives with ext4 which is a far more robust file journalling system
also playout interfaces and Linux operating systems such as Mint, Ubuntu or specialist audio server operating systems
such as many available in Linux
 

rrr

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May 17, 2010
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RAID arrays are not intended for backup; in a RAID system a corruption problem on one drive will be populated to the redundant part of the system so you will lose data. The purpose of a RAID system is to provide uninterrupted availability such as in a credit approval application where continuous availability is a requirement, not to provide backup. RAID drives are useful because if a disc fails the user can replace the failed disc with a new disc and it will be automatically be rebuilt overnight .

A home audio/video application can certainly be raid based but you will want to have a separate backup as well. An example of a suitable a/v server would be a ReadyNas chassis (made by Netgear) with space for up to 12 hard drives. If 6 terabyte drives were used, the user could install six discs configured into two volumes, four discs into a RAID volume, the other two discs could be separately used for periodic backup of the RAID volume. Four 6 TB drives would provide a useful capacity of 18 TB on the RAID drive, if needed the backup volume could have a disc added to bring it to 18 TB. Additional discs can be added to either volume as needed. ReadyNas software includes a useful application that can be set to back up the Raid array to the backup volume at any given day and time.

When purchasing a server I believe that it is better to buy a naked chassis so that it can be populated with hard drives of your choice and the best choice is going to be a server grade hard drive with a long guarantee period that is intended for heavy duty server use. The most recent servers that I have used are Seagate 6 TB Enterprise drives, which I have been very happy with. Drives of this type provide a lower cost per TB, a longer warranty period and a faster operating time than the type of drives normally included in pre-populated server systems.

I am using a ReadyNas 4200 RAID 5 which is automatically backed up to another 4200 located in a physically remote location. The server has lots of audio/video files as well as photos and business information. This is the fourth ReadyNas server system that I have used and I have never had a problem with any of them in 6 or 7 years of service, 24 hours per day.
 

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