Opinions...Wi-Fi hard drive in lieu of server?


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Old 01-01-15, 11:39 AM
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Opinions...Wi-Fi hard drive in lieu of server?

My server, which is about 10 years old and is on 24/7 is beginning to show signs of age. I will occasionally get a fault that says the hard drive is failing. I’ll reboot and everything is fine. This has been going on for two years and might go on for another 10 years or have complete failure tomorrow. It’s a crap shoot at this point.

It was suggested that rather than replace the hard drive on an old computer and re-install the server program and have to re-enter all the info including the server anti-virus software, that I get a Wi-Fi wireless hard drive in the 3 to 5 TB range and attach that directly to my router and in essence create my own cloud storage.

I currently do not run any programs off the server except the server program and anti-virus, and only use the server as information storage.

My request for opinions is for suggested make and model of Wi-Fi (NAS system) I might look at? (Seagate, WD-Passport, etc…) Also some basic questions such as:
1) Can I use it just like a server as I’m currently using my present set up?

2) Provided I have Internet access and provide power to the unit 24/7, should that give me 24/7access to the drive from any location?

3) Can those drives handle 24/7 power up conditions?

4) In the event of Internet outage, can I plug the drive directly to a computer via USB or whatever to gain access to data?

5) Can I continue to run my wireless printer through the router as I’m currently doing (I don’t see why not)?

6) Provided I use PDF files for my data I should be able to use any OS (be it Linux, Apple or Microsoft) to access the info.

7) If I go this route I can then eliminate the server computer, the UPS, my internal router, and D-Link switch and use my Time-Warner router that gives me my Internet service. Correct?


BTW… Happy New Year.
 

Last edited by Norm201; 01-01-15 at 12:17 PM.
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Old 01-01-15, 01:41 PM
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I always preferred Seagate over WD. However, Seagate is part of Maxtor now.

Search Results for seagate nas at TigerDirect.com

There is a list of NAS devices with a wide range of prices. Most of them will give you all the services that you mentioned. Keep in mind that wifi doesn't determine remote access ability. Wifi is an in house convenience provided by the router not the NAS device that you may buy. The NAS should be connected to the router by an ethernet cable. You can run the device 24/7 & have remote access 24/7 provided that there is no interruption, in internet or electrical service. Time Warner will give you a modem. I don't know if they give you a router. You may still need your current router & possibly the switch. That depends on how many devices you have & their physical location, in the house. Remote access goes to the network first. The devices that you want accessible depends on how you configure port forwarding. You can pay for a static IP address or you can use one of the dynamic services such as dyndns, go to my PC or anyone of the others. I hope that answered all of your questions.
 
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Old 01-01-15, 04:50 PM
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Yes Pulpo it does answer my questions. An my son happened to be here at the time your reply came through. He verified exactly what you said. He also is contemplating doing the same thing. I don't know if my Time-Warner modem has router built in but I'll check that later. What I plan on doing is letting my current network set up continue to run until it crashes totally then go to the NAS system. In the meantime I'll just make sure my I keep my back up s on DVD's up dated.
 
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Old 01-01-15, 05:53 PM
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Your current network may seem to be on it's last legs but it still could be another year before it crashes completely. At least you have your plan, in place.
 
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Old 01-01-15, 06:40 PM
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Yes, exactly. I figure I'll spend at least $150 to repair and replace the server. For about that same cost I can get a 1 to 3 TB NAS drive. Now it's just a matter of deciding to go with WD and MY Cloud or the Seagate and their cloud conduit service. Over the years I've heard good and bad about both manufactures. And they both have had their problems. I'm leaning towards the WD and MY Cloud only because that's what is being currently advertised. But like we said this old server of mine just might last awhile.
 
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Old 01-01-15, 08:55 PM
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I can't say I know much about servers but have done something like what you have done on a small scale by sharing my files with my other computers via my network. I did look into this by doing a Bing search and I found an NAS hard drive by Western Digital. Apparently no hard drives are included as they call it diskless but it still has 512MB of electronic storage included and if you want disk drives Western Digital has a Red drive which I am assuming is an SSD. It is available from Newegg for $159.99 here is the link WD My Cloud EX2 Diskless Personal Cloud Storage - NAS (WDBVKW0000NCH-NESN) - Newegg.com
 
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Old 01-02-15, 03:21 AM
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Another good option. However, I don't want to actually store info in a third party cloud. If I read the information correctly, My Cloud will act as a conduit for me to reach my info at the hard drive without actually storing at their site.
 
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Old 01-02-15, 06:17 AM
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It was many years ago but I had 2 WD drives crash on me. That's why I said that I prefer Seagate. In that time WD could have gotten better, IDK. Seagate is now part of Maxtor. That's another thing to consider.

If you going to use Cloud services, passwords to be a close to 15 characters as possible. That includes online banking.
 
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Old 01-02-15, 07:11 AM
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If you going to use Cloud services, passwords to be a close to 15 characters as possible. That includes online banking.
And with a mix of uppercase and symbols
 

Last edited by Tolyn Ironhand; 01-02-15 at 07:42 AM. Reason: fixed quote
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Old 01-02-15, 02:29 PM
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From what I understood Norm201 you can use their cloud service as an option and you actually have 512MB of storage on the device itself probably in the form of some kind of chips more akin to an SSD. My experience with Western Digital has been mostly positive. Years ago I had one hdd die on me and it was still under warranty so they replaced it right away. But I had nothing but trouble with Maxtor and Sea Gate. Could be they are better now and I really can't endorse those red hdd's that WD has but their Caviar Blue have always worked well for me and that is all I use in sata hdd's.

I suggest you look for reviews of the Red WD hdd and see what people are saying about them on Amazon.com and any other place that sells them. I usually think the reviews on Amazon.com are more honest but other place are too. Good luck!
 
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Old 01-26-15, 06:28 AM
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best resource on what you looking for can be found at storagereview.com
Go to their leader board section where they rank "Best of" in every storage category.

HOWEVER, if you can't afford to be disconnected / down, then your best bet will be to use one of the commercial cloud/ storage services.
the reason is that despite all the efforts your home system (including your internet provider and all the equipment like the router, cable/FIOS modem, your hardware) are not really designed to be mission critical with redundancy.

Say you are on vacation and your system crashes.... a "simple" reboot would be required and if you are not there physically - there is no way to reboot your system and you will be disconnected from your files for the few weeks....
To build truly fool proof system wouldn't make sense considering you can get 20Gig storage for few bucks a month.

Just my perspective.....
 
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Old 07-15-16, 05:02 AM
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resurrecting this old thread

Quick background...Last year asked opinions on going to a personal cloud (NAS) drive or fix my 10 year plus server.

Took the jump and bought a WD MYCloud 4TB drive. Installation was very easy and everything went smooth. I'll continue to run my server along with the NAS in tandem until I'm comfortable with the WD MyCloud. Then I'll scrap that old server and all the peripherals.

Quick question. Does anybody know if the WD MY Cloud back-up service does an incremental updates or just a full copy? I'm currently using Syncback as a data back-up program.
 
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Old 07-15-16, 06:17 AM
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I'll continue to run my server along with the NAS in tandem until I'm comfortable with the WD MyCloud.
I would never eliminate the NAS, mainly because I'm not a fan of WD nor of the cloud. I agree with Pulpo. Seagate is better than WD.
 
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Old 07-15-16, 04:45 PM
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Over the years I've used many brands of hard drives. I've noticed each brand has had its ups and downs along with some models being real turkeys. Truth be told I think since seagate was taken over by Maxtor the quality is better.

I choose the WD unit because it seemed to be the more popular and it had all then features I was looking for. Never looked in detail at the Seagate brand. Besides my son has the same unit for about a year and a half now. He is the computer expert in the family and set up the current server over ten years ago. That thing is still going, but I have my doubts. It's located in the basement and even though the basement is dehumidified in the summer and "warm" in the winter, a basement is not an ideal place for electronics.
 
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Old 07-15-16, 06:32 PM
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I personally think you could debate for years about what brand of hard drive is the best and not get everyone to agree with you. Not long ago I guess about a year ago now I bought some hard drives used for some older laptops and they were all different brands. I haven't sold the laptops yet I had various setbacks that kept me from doing so. I have kept them updated as much as possible though and every one of the hard drives is still working. I also have had my desktop in my basement for many years and it still works great.

My basement doesn't get damp though and the temperature of the basement isn't too cold in the winter or hot in the summer so I think it depends on the basement environment.
 
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Old 07-15-16, 07:01 PM
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Even if Norm had the HD that I like, I still don't recommend removing the NAS. One HD plus the cloud doesn't cut it no matter what.
 
 

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