What is the best file server set up for Office using iMacs

[ahashi]

hey guys,


Basically here at our office, a small digital agency we have about 4 to 5 users using iMacs and Macbooks and we need a single storage space to work from and share files on. We used WD My Book NAS and it was disasterous for us. Day in and day out we are dealing with slow speeds and couple of files have gotten corrupted and from what we've read online it looks like there has been an issue with apple users using WD My Book NAS.

So any tips from anyone who has similar working environment, and has a functioning system set up?


Thank you well in advance!

 

[VI™]

hey guys,


Basically here at our office, a small digital agency we have about 4 to 5 users using iMacs and Macbooks and we need a single storage space to work from and share files on. We used WD My Book NAS and it was disasterous for us. Day in and day out we are dealing with slow speeds and couple of files have gotten corrupted and from what we've read online it looks like there has been an issue with apple users using WD My Book NAS.

So any tips from anyone who has similar working environment, and has a functioning system set up?


Thank you well in advance!

First I'd ask who is setting this up and admin'ing it. Some solutions may be better and offer better performance, but they'd take a greater degree of knowledge to implement and possibly keep running rather than a non-customized turn key system that doesn't take much at all.

Also, are there any programs you're utilizing over the network or do you just need a file sharing device? Do you need any degree of security or encryption? Does it matter if all users can access the same files or does each user need their own share?

A WHS box or Drobo would be easy to set up but may not offer speeds that a custom system would.

 

[phrehdd]

You might need a more robust NAS unit.

Things to consider

File locking (so only one person at a time can touch a file and thus avoid improper version-ing and corrupted files).

Shares - who can access which directories or files

Appropriate network set up to get top speed including aggregation of hardware

Check out smallnetbuilder site for some reviews on NAS units as well as some articles about use of networks and NAS.

Typical makers include QNAP, Synology, Thecus, and a couple of other top notch players. You will also discover that some hard drives work better than others and best to, once a maker/model is chosen, to see which drives they recommend. Just remember, NAS is not intended to be a back up so consider including some back up strategy plan for your "must keep" files.

 

[ahashi]

First I'd ask who is setting this up and admin'ing it. Some solutions may be better and offer better performance, but they'd take a greater degree of knowledge to implement and possibly keep running rather than a non-customized turn key system that doesn't take much at all.

Also, are there any programs you're utilizing over the network or do you just need a file sharing device? Do you need any degree of security or encryption? Does it matter if all users can access the same files or does each user need their own share?

A WHS box or Drobo would be easy to set up but may not offer speeds that a custom system would.

We do have IT guys with us, who primarly work with windows and linux but can don't mind working with us with setting up and installing anything we need.

The key factors which we are considering and need are:

Reliability
Speed (WE work on large media files, and our PSD and AI files get very big sometimes)
and it would be ideal if multiple users can read a file at once (but not crucial)

Custom system is not a problem. At this moment we are considering any option which can give us the best solution.

 

[r0k]

We do have IT guys with us, who primarly work with windows and linux but can don't mind working with us with setting up and installing anything we need.

The key factors which we are considering and need are:

Reliability
Speed (WE work on large media files, and our PSD and AI files get very big sometimes)
and it would be ideal if multiple users can read a file at once (but not crucial)

Custom system is not a problem. At this moment we are considering any option which can give us the best solution.

A Synology box is a good solution as Synology's DSM software is basically Linux. I use Synology at home but I don't deal with file locking. Another option is to use a "spare" Mac mini with OSX server. The mini running OSX server is really the best option in an office environment. The next best solution is a quality NAS box such as Synology.

hope this helps...