Data Storage Adventures with a UGreen NASync – PART 6: My next steps, Backup Strategies and some resources

Data Storage Adventures with a UGreen NASync
Part 6: My next steps, Backup Strategies and some resources

• Part 1: Some Background and “Why Now?”
• Part 2: Which NAS to go for? Some thoughts and design work
• Part 3: Building, Configuring and Deploying the UGreeen NASync DXP 4800
• Part 4: Data Transfer Tips and Tricks
• Part 5: Making this storage monster grow
• Part 6: Backups still matter, along with some more background reading

Now I’ve got this wonderful storage solution, I should be good now…. shouldn’t I?

Nope. Not at all.

I’ve addressed a lot of the things I want to do, but there are plenty of other upgrade steps to go. But this is as good a point as any to pause the process and look back.

For the UGreen NAS

With the NAS expanded out to 29 TB of usable storage, I’m comfortable with pure data storage for now. If I get a new camera that demands more capacity, there is more than enough for a couple of years.

But another 16 TB disk can be added later to pad out the array to 64 TB of raw storage (or 44 TB of formatted and protected storage).

I’m not in a rush to deploy that 4th disk until I’m ready, but if I choose to, it will be towards the back end of the year. I listed the reasons in the previous expansion post.

In terms of SSDs for cache and such, I’ll be revisiting this in a few months. I suspect if I start to flex the read/write muscles a lot more on the NAS, I’ll need that cache active and working.

Finally, the network switch. I’m considering some unmanaged options for the LAN (believe it or not, I don’t want a Layer 3 switch in the flat and run my own network services off it). I’ll probably get an eight-port switch from AliExpress or Amazon when time allows, and do a drop-in replacement for my current eight-port switch.

But at this point, I need to stop toying around with the NAS and use it. It’s time to go shoot content, go out, enjoy the world a little, and back up those memories safely.

Backup

Whilst both the UGreen NAS and Drobo units have RAID (or some variant of it), it seems I have to remind you (and myself) that RAID IS NOT A BACKUP METHOD. It protects against data loss, provided that disks don’t die during the data reconstruction phase.

As such, whilst the Drobo is still working, I’ll be using it as a backup target on the network.

Whilst its past its prime as a daily storage target (and managing the damn thing is near impossible unless i start getting creative), it still has a bunch of spinning disks inside which will work until they give out. I might find a cheap NAS to replace it with… or who knows, its disks might be the basis of a Home Lab server.

Once funds settle down, I will be looking for an external 16 TB drive to use as a backup drive (connected to the UGreen NAS), allowing me to decommission the Drobo.

Either way, I’ve got a two-part backup solution (with critical information in the cloud).

Data Consolidation

There are a number of tasks on my to-do list, and one of the big things is to clean out my collection of external hard disks that I’ve amassed. So there is a lot of consolidation work to remove duplicates and decommission those drives appropriately.

There’s about 12 TB of storage here. Roughly.

And since I don’t have an industrial degauser or shredder, it will be a drill or sledgehammer. A lot of these disks are smaller drives, so there’s not much point in keeping them or reselling them.

The larger drives could make passable backup targets, but it depends on the power-on time they’ve had… and if I can find the power supplies for them.

I suspect I’ll be doing a lot of drive-shucking and putting the bare drives in a SATA to USB Bridge device to be backed up and then disposed of once they’re all clean.

There is one project that’s in the background, but it’s very much a gamble with my failed Seagate BlackArmor NAS. That requires a £100 gamble on a second-hand unit and a quiet weekend. If the gamble works, I might have missing photos from 2014 to 2016 back.

If it fails, I have more stuff to drill through.

I suspect I’m going to have a busy summer with that.

Further Reading

I’ve gone through a lot in the past five entries.  For those of you who are thinking about a project like this for your home, your small business, and so on, here are some videos and links that can help you.

Websites

There were some major sites I referred to during my research, and providing you dig, they can help you too.

• NASCompares – https://nascompares.com/ – One of the leading authorities and reviewers for Network Attached Storage, with Robbie leading the charge.
• STH – https://www.servethehome.com/ – Want to do a little more? Try STH. Their reviews and Patrick’s enthusiasm is top notch.
• Level1Techs  – https://level1techs.com/ – Want to go beyond and scale to the enterprise? Wendle can show you the way.

YouTube Channels

Thankfully, YouTube is a wonderful place to go and do research these days. Some channels that can help you:

• NAS Compares – Robbie’s and Ed’s coverage of NAS hardware is deep. A highly recommended
• STH – Want to scale larger? Or even smaller? Patrick helps.
• Hardware Haven – If you fancy getting your DIY fingers wet and enjoy repurposing older hardware, this is good fun.
• Linus Tech Tips – We can’t leave Linus out, who showcases a DIY build. If you want to look at a flash NAS, this could be fun.
• Jeff Geerling – Want to build a NAS with a Raspberry Pi? Jeff can show you the path to one.

Wikipedia Stuff

Public knowledge is important to share (part of the reason why I write this blog). I’ve collected some of the terms for a useful Wikipedia jumping-off list. Just don’t blame me if you lose hours in research time.

• Network Attached Storage
• RAID and RAID levels
• Server Messaging Block (SMB)
• File systems: ext4 or btrfs

One last thing… (It’s all about the money)

Funding for this storage solution has come out of a few different places – namely, some savings and a few pots hidden here and there.

However (and as always), Economy Class and Beyond has given you direct links to products, meaning we are not offering or benefiting from affiliate links (be they Amazon or any other type) and purchases that you make if you’ve found this useful.

Although if you want to fund a few pennies into my Ko-Fi, I’d be more than grateful.

No sponsorship was sought, nor did UGreen, Amazon UK, Scan Computers, Seagate, or any company contribute any fiscal or components to this project. No company had pre-

Any equipment purchases came out of my pocket, with only public discounts sought and used. As to the cost of this project at this point:

… And yes, it’s still cheaper than cloud storage after a year and a bit.