[OPLINTECH] NAS Backup Device

[Chad Neeper]

One thing to keep in mind when using a NAS for backup is:  If the NAS is
your sole backup...and it's in your building...and your building catches
fire...It's not going to be a very good backup. I still recommend removable
media for backups. I switched over to using a set of external USB hard
drives and then rotating them, keeping one drive off-site. The system works
pretty well. Perhaps this might be useful in your situation.

I'm curious to see what others have to say, but I've not had a particularly
strong need for NAS at the librarys/schools I work with. Direct storage has
been plenty sufficient. The only time I've been tempted to use NAS would be
as a storage area network used as a central repository dedicated to storing
virtual machines used by the Virtual Machine Host Server(s). In that
scenario, the VMHS wouldn't have its own internal storage and would map to
the NAS instead. Doing this would permit multiple VMHSs to have access to
the same set of virtual machines and would also facilitate very easy
upgrades of the VMHSs. That's a bit of overkill for most of my libraries
and schools, though, I think.

I did run FreeNAS for a couple of years as a simple file repository in my
own office network. I didn't particularly NEED to use a NAS, but wanted to
get more familiar with it. FreeNAS worked well. It's open source and you
can install it on hardware of your own design. It's a good way to get
familiar with a NAS without spending big bucks. There's probably others out
there too.

HTH,
Chad

______________________________
*Chad Neeper*
Senior Systems Engineer

*Level 9 Networks*
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

*Full LAN/WAN consulting services -- Specialized in libraries and schools*


On Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 10:49 AM, Mindy Holmes <holmesme at oplin.org> wrote:

> Is anyone using a NAS device for internal backups and have a specific
> model they would recommend over others?  Any other advice/tips on using NAS
> devices.
>
> Thanks,
> Mindy Holmes
> Mason Public Library
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