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NAS with RAID for streaming to Sonos Connect

Hi all,

My music library currently resides on a USB external HDD connected to my laptop.   If I reboot my laptop, or connect to a customer VPN (or my own company's VPN), the external HDD loses connectivity to SONOS of course.   Also my home office is farther away from the wifi router than optimal, and I need a better solution.

So I want to change to a dedicated NAS that will always be available to my SONOS Connect (which outputs via coax interface to my preamp >> booksheld speakers) and SONOS Play speakers.

With that in mind, an somebody recommend a simple home-use NAS with RAID?      We really don't watch movies,  and my music library is currently less than 1TB, but will grow in the future most likely, so a smaller, two-drive NAS should suffice, unless somebody has another suggestion.

I'm looking for something that I can buy in one shot with HDDs loaded, even if the base unit comes empty, I want to get everything from the same vendor in the same purchase if that makes sense.    I don't want to do excessive fiddling with it to get it to work.  It will sit on or under the bookshelves and attach (I hope) directly to the router.

Thanks in advance,

Eric Zwicky
Richmond VA
ezwicky
9 responses Add your response
ezwicky OP
26 posts
 
I just did some reading in the forum archives and see where RAID is not really meant for backup, so I withdraw that criterion.   

With that in mind I am thinking about something along the lines of WD My Cloud, and periodically back it up to an external HDD.      

I would be copying my music files to the NAS from the HDD that I use today anyway, so I've already got my backup device.

Just need to figure out which NAS to buy.   I'll continue to read posts on this forum (and elsewhere) on the topic, but would still appreciate any advice on specific device.

Eric
sfseay's avatar
sfseay
496 posts
 
I use a Synology NAS to serve my Sonos AMP.  It has two 10TB drives and has served me well for over two years.  I moved to an Antiopodes DX2 to serve music in my main system. 
flrun's avatar
flrun
92 posts
 
EZ,

RAID is not really meant for backup? RAID is the definition of backup... you would probably want Raid 1, you use two hard drives and they are duplicates so if you lose one you still have everything.

I prefer Synology, I have used many at work over many years. I would check Amazon I believe they sell them with hard drives already in. They also have many built in features that come with them.

You are right about one thing back up to your NAS and a external USB, that is what I do.

Yes it will attach directly to your router.

What ever your current storage usage is now double it for the NAS, at least. Drives have gotten so cheap now, can't have to much.

Will
Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,925 posts
 
flrun
... RAID is not really meant for backup? RAID is the definition of backup ...
RAID is for protection against HD failure, it's not intended for backups. For example, RAID won't help you if your system becomes infected with malware, or if you lose a file to human error.
ezwicky OP
26 posts
 
Thanks everybody.     I ordered this one a few minutes ago.    I'll attach my 4TB external USB HDD to it and make regular backups.

 Synology DiskStation 4TB DS118 1-Bay NAS Enclosure Kit with Seagate NAS Drives (1 x 4TB)

I appreciate the advice, I think this will be sufficient for my current and future needs.

Eric
flrun's avatar
flrun
92 posts
 
Kind of splitting hairs it is and it isn't. It is not a backup solution like backup software but in a way it is a backup in the sense that if you have Raid 1, 5, 10 then you have redundancy. You can lose 1, 2, 3 hard drives and still have all your data.  To me thats a backup.
It is protection against data loss.

I consider the Raid on my servers to be the first part of my backup process, after that it is the backup software and NAS, then offsite backups.

I should have said something like the beginning of or integral part of the backup process instead of, definition of backup.
flrun's avatar
flrun
92 posts
 
Eric,

Good deal. It is only 1 drive but the external connected to it will give you hard drive redundancy. The Synology software has a feature that will see the external HD and automatically backup to it.

Check out all the built in apps it has, you may find ones you can use.
ezwicky OP
26 posts
 
Thanks flrun24.    My setup (and file storage) are pretty basic.   My work laptop files get automatically backed up to my company's cloud (and every time I make a change to any document locally it syncs with the cloud), and my wife and I really don't have a whole lot else that matters to us except for photos, which will also be stored to the NAS and backed up to the external HDD.

Good to know I've ordered something that will be useful.   The main driver for thinking about this was the fact that when my laptop is off or I'm connnected to a VPN, the external HDD becomes disconnected from the SONOS Connect streamer.     Now I will have a dedicated storage, always-on, and sitting within a couple feet from the streamer.

Thanks again,

Eric


sfseay's avatar
sfseay
496 posts
 
If you accidentally delete a file, folder, have malware or a virus or have corrupted files on your NAS a RAID array will propagate this to all drives.

A RAID array isn't a viable backup device.
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