USB on the Synology DS212 RAID NAS

[gwelmarten]

Hi
So, after trying a number of RAID products, I've nearly decided to buy the Synology DS212.
However, I have one question first.
It says it features super speed USB 3.0. Ideally, I want a NAS that I can access via USB as well - does this means that I can plug the NAS into my computer via USB and access it like that as an alternative to connecting it via ethernet and using it as network storage?
If not, does anybody know of a product that does allow this?
Sam

 

[maflynn]

I believe the USB port is for an external device, not to hook the NAS up to the computer. That is, you'll need to continue to use the NAS with ethernet not USB

This quote more or less confirms that as its designed for external drives

Coming with USB 3.0 support which offers transmission speeds of up to 5 Gbps, namely 10 times faster than USB 2.0, DS212 takes less time for data transfer for external hard drives and consumes less power. In addition, hot-swappable drives make it easier for maintenance and hard drive replacement.

 

[gwelmarten]

I believe the USB port is for an external device, not to hook the NAS up to the computer. That is, you'll need to continue to use the NAS with ethernet not USB

Ok, thanks. Do you know of any that do do this? There seems to be a very limited market in USB RAID boxes - Icy box (a brand with no website, and I can't find anything out about them) and Sharkoon (got a bad review from a friend, and little written about them online).

Also, I'm only looking at using this for network accessible storage. Does this mean there is any benefit in buying something with lots of extras, like the Synology box? I considered the D-link box with RAID, which is 1/3 of the price of the Synology box. I think Synology has a better name and is more reliable - any opinion on this? Clearly a good RAID card is important, as if the RAID card goes, you loose all the data.

Sam

 

[maflynn]

If you want a RAID box but not NAS, then check out OWC that have a few offerings like a RAID 0 external drive, and a RAID 0+1

 

[tersono]

The Synology NAS boxes are probably the best around - provided NAS is what you want. As the previous poster says, that USB port is for an additional USB drive rather than for direct connection to a computer (most often used for backup)

If you want direct-attached storage, though, then you'll be better off with something else such as a Drobo or maybe one of G-Tech's RAID boxes (they have a couple of two-drive models as well as higher-capacity 4-drive versions - the latter capable of RAID 5).

 

[gwelmarten]

The Synology NAS boxes are probably the best around - provided NAS is what you want. As the previous poster says, that USB port is for an additional USB drive rather than for direct connection to a computer (most often used for backup)

If you want direct-attached storage, though, then you'll be better off with something else such as a Drobo or maybe one of G-Tech's RAID boxes (they have a couple of two-drive models as well as higher-capacity 4-drive versions - the latter capable of RAID 5).

Hi
Thanks for the advice.
I've pretty much settled on a NAS now. Am I correct to say that, over Gigabit Ethernet with RAID 1 it should be the same speed as USB 2.0?
In comparison to Synology, do you have any idea what D-link are like?

Sam

 

[theSeb]

Ok, thanks. Do you know of any that do do this? There seems to be a very limited market in USB RAID boxes - Icy box (a brand with no website, and I can't find anything out about them) and Sharkoon (got a bad review from a friend, and little written about them online).

Also, I'm only looking at using this for network accessible storage. Does this mean there is any benefit in buying something with lots of extras, like the Synology box? I considered the D-link box with RAID, which is 1/3 of the price of the Synology box. I think Synology has a better name and is more reliable - any opinion on this? Clearly a good RAID card is important, as if the RAID card goes, you loose all the data.

Sam

It seems that you're not looking for a NAS (Network Attached Storage), but are actually looking for a DAS (Direct Attached Storage). There are many various options for you, depending on your budget. You cannot connect a NAS to a computer via any means other than a network connection, since a NAS is actually a computer in itself.

----------

Hi
Thanks for the advice.
I've pretty much settled on a NAS now. Am I correct to say that, over Gigabit Ethernet with RAID 1 it should be the same speed as USB 2.0?
In comparison to Synology, do you have any idea what D-link are like?

Sam

Over a gigabit Ethernet with 7200 RPM drives you will get far more than USB 2. You will get around 90 MB/s transfers. Synology's products are far superior to anything D-link can cobble up. Consider whether you really want a NAS or a DAS.

 

[gwelmarten]

It seems that you're not looking for a NAS (Network Attached Storage), but are actually looking for a DAS (Direct Attached Storage). There are many various options for you, depending on your budget. You cannot connect a NAS to a computer via any means other than a network connection, since a NAS is actually a computer in itself.

----------



Over a gigabit Ethernet with 7200 RPM drives you will get far more than USB 2. You will get around 90 MB/s transfers. Synology's products are far superior to anything D-link can cobble up. Consider whether you really want a NAS or a DAS.

So, I'm going off to Uni this year, and am leaving this at home.
I've ordered the Synology one, so thanks for the advice.
I'm hoping I can configure it to appear on my Mac as a hard drive, so I can access it like that rather than over something like FTP.

Sam

 

[theSeb]

So, I'm going off to Uni this year, and am leaving this at home.
I've ordered the Synology one, so thanks for the advice.
I'm hoping I can configure it to appear on my Mac as a hard drive, so I can access it like that rather than over something like FTP.

Sam

Synology does have a cloud access service, but it's only available via windows for now. There are other ways to achieve what you want, but they involve mucking about with your router settings.

 

[sandyjmacdonald]

So, I'm going off to Uni this year, and am leaving this at home.
I've ordered the Synology one, so thanks for the advice.
I'm hoping I can configure it to appear on my Mac as a hard drive, so I can access it like that rather than over something like FTP.

Sam

It has WebDAV (over HTTP and HTTPS) built in, so you can just enable it, open that port on your router, and then connect to it through the finder to mount it as a disk.

You'll love the Synology. It has so many amazing features. I have the 4 disk box with 8 TB (6 TB usable with the Synology Hybrid RAID) and have it set up with two volumes, one for Time Machine backups from my iMac and MacBook Air, and the other for all my media (movies, TV shows, music, photos). I can access all of this from anywhere, either from SSH or WebDAV on my MacBook or through the browser interface on any machine with a web connection. And it has lots more pro features like MySQL and PHP built in, mail servers, email alerts for system failures. Incredible.

 

[theSeb]

It has WebDAV (over HTTP and HTTPS) built in, so you can just enable it, open that port on your router, and then connect to it through the finder to mount it as a disk.

You'll love the Synology. It has so many amazing features. I have the 4 disk box with 8 TB (6 TB usable with the Synology Hybrid RAID) and have it set up with two volumes, one for Time Machine backups from my iMac and MacBook Air, and the other for all my media (movies, TV shows, music, photos). I can access all of this from anywhere, either from SSH or WebDAV on my MacBook or through the browser interface on any machine with a web connection. And it has lots more pro features like MySQL and PHP built in, mail servers, email alerts for system failures. Incredible.

I don't bother creating separate volumes for Time Machine. Instead I set up a user called TM and give them a quota on their home directory and restrict access to any other volumes, otherwise Time Machine will take up all of your space eventually.

 

[sandyjmacdonald]

I don't bother creating separate volumes for Time Machine. Instead I set up a user called TM and give them a quota on their home directory and restrict access to any other volumes, otherwise Time Machine will take up all of your space eventually.

Yeah, even though I have a separate volume for the Time Machine backups, I have separate users set up for each of my Macs with appropriately-sized quotas in place for exactly the reason you said.

 

[gwelmarten]

Speed test on NAS RAID.

Hey Guys
Sorry to change the track a little - I've got my Synology box setup with the router now, and just did a speed test with Black Magic speed test and got a write speed of 2.4MB/s. Seems a little slow - can someone else with a similar setup do the test and get back to me on what their speeds are?

Sam

 

[theSeb]

Hey Guys
Sorry to change the track a little - I've got my Synology box setup with the router now, and just did a speed test with Black Magic speed test and got a write speed of 2.4MB/s. Seems a little slow - can someone else with a similar setup do the test and get back to me on what their speeds are?

Sam

Tell me more about your set up.

How are you connecting to your router from your computer?
How is the Synology connected to your router?
Exactly what router are you using? Please include model number.


2.4 MB/s seems about spot on for a wireless G connection.