Synology/QNAP NAS or upgrade my server?

Hardware Build a PC
61

In that case, that is hands down the best option.

62

APUs do still have some problems on any distro that is not super up to date. Also APUs don’t use the error correction of ECC memory. Not everyone thinks the same about it but for those who want it, like me, … just sayin’

63

It sounds pretty dangerous this way given the disparity of the drives sizes. Losing the 6tb could mean the array is lost. The maximum it could divide it into is 1tb blocks still using all of each drive. Granted most of the time disks dont fail entirely all at once but I sure wouldnt want that risk.

64

I will only compensate to a degree, it isn’t a wizard. It won’t drop below 1 drive redundancy. Mixing a 6TB with a bunch of 2TB drives will still waste a ton of space, just less than RAID5.

65

I would transfer the data onto external drives and my other PC’s drives. I don’t have 11tb of data. Just 11tb total space

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66

So if im thinking about this right, SHR in a raid 6 setup will “waste” only 3 tb then. Leaving 8tb of storage and 4tb for parity.

67

And lvm2 can be setup in many raid-like configurations. By setting up different volume groups you can raid them together. Raid 1/0/5/6/10/50/60 etc. Raid volume groups/logical groups.

https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/6/html/logical_volume_manager_administration/raid_volumes

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68

So you could create 4 2TB vg’s across all 4 drives and put that in RAID5 (does LVM do RAID5?) and then make 2 3TB vg’s on the 6TB and 5TB drives, and mirror those, leaving 1 orphaned TB… it’s pretty strange, but I guess possible ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

69

They actually have a RAID calculator.

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

Assuming he has 1x6TB, 1x4TB, and 2x2TB drives because they don’t have 5TB in the calculator for some reason, SHR would give him 8TB usable with 2TB wasted, compared to RAID5 with 6TB usable and 6TB wasted.

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70

Red hat link above. But overall, yes. You could even make 4 logical volume groups and mirror them in raid 10 style all on the same drive.

71

So I got it right. I havent tried different size disks as thats too taboo for my blood. Interesting concept though.

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72

Yeah, it’s pretty sweet, lets you use your old disks. I’m very happy with my Synology NAS.

73

I forgot how much of a beast LVM2 is.

74

Honestly given your current setup DSM is probably best for your use case and you can either buy a DS or go the custom hardware route with it.

75

I am considering getting a DS and using the Seasonic in a HTPC that would connect to the SFTP/Emby server as well as play BluRay discs. All through Kodi.

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76

If you just want to run Kodi I wouldn’t use a HTPC at all, I would get a FireTV or ShieldTV as they also run all the various streaming apps.

You should use a PC for server purposes. I wouldn’t run that stuff on a Synology NAS as they charge a small fortune for a decent CPU. I would get that cheapo NUC or Chromebox and run it there.

77

Kodi on a fireTV blows.

I take it you missed the part where it also plays BluRay discs? It is replacing my folks multiple machines that do DVD, Netlfix, etc. One machine that does it all. I also dont like that Roku doesnt allow FTP/SFTP/WebDAV connections. By doing the Kodi PC HTPC setup, it will also allow me to also use the Emby HTTPS port (something Roku blocks).

78

Kodi runs great on FireTV. I used it for years before graduating to ShieldTV.

I assumed you meant blu-ray rips, not physical disks like a caveman!

79

not all of us have the tens of TB to store BD-Rips. Plus, when you go to walmart these days, most movies are on BluRay.

80

Frankly, I just get digital versions. Yes the quality isn’t perfect but it’s so much more convenient. I still have hundreds of DVDs boxed in my closet wasting space. No mas.

But anyway I derail, of course if your family wants to watch physical disks you either need a computer or a blu-ray player.