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New Project - Computer cleanup and develop advanced computing system


Tizeye

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With nothing better to do - addressing what have been procrastinating on. My computer system is a Windows PC as primary and a 15" MacBook Pro for travel/off site. Windows won't recognize Apple format where Apple will recognize both, so transferring between has always been an issue so the result is very disjointed. Travel with the laptop is usually without the external hard drive, relying on the SSD. Lightroom further complicates if you move using Window/Apple systems, it loses the path, revolts and has to be re-connected, preferring that it do the moving. Also, Apple's cut/paste isn't as fluid as Windows and the standard (drag files) is copy/paste resulting in dupes in two places needing to reconfirm that both actually exist before sending one location to trash. You can imagine how disjointed the laptop SSD is as I would prefer to have only programs on it and documents, photos, music on an external hard drive (or drive d:// in the PC where c:// is an SSD.

Project 1. Cleanup on hard drive 1 (laptops SSD) and attention to others as well!

Project 2. Backup. Has always been a joke, virtually non-existent other than very limited cloud stuff. Now taking a very serious look at a NAS, but get the cleanup done first. Impressed with what have seen on my YouTube research and the issues it would resolve Windows/Apple accessibility issues and other things in addition to the back-up (RAID array). Anybody had experience with NAS? Leaning towards Synology as their software side appears more supportive.

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34 minutes ago, JerrySTL said:

I would do that second after the backup. Just in case you accidently 'cleanup' something that you need later.

Why not just get a Windows laptop or a Mac PC?

Yeah - a back-up, a clean-up, and then a "fresh" backup seems fair.  I find HD space cheap, so I have lots of external 2 to 4 TB drives with full FILE back-ups scattered about.  When I went into the office, it was easy to off-site the drives between the two locations. Now,  I am a bit exposed as all the drives are in the house.  Maybe have to toss one into the firesafe, and maybe one in the garage???

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22 hours ago, Tizeye said:

). Anybody had experience with NAS? Leaning towards Synology as their software side appears more supportive.

Depends on how hands on you want to go. Plenty of home-labbers use Synology incorporated into their systems. But if you have a spare desktop or are planning on replacing your existing one then you can convert it to a NAS/Home server for all your needs. Else you can get an inexpensive desktop, add the hdds, install your own management software and have much more control, better upgradability, and a huge assortment of applications that can be run easier from your own system.

As an example:
https://orlando.craigslist.org/sys/d/orlando-desktop-computer-pc-cpu/7405191185.html 

Dell 3040 compact tower. Running 6th gen i3, enough ram, and has 3 Sata connectors plenty for a storage array. on CL for $180. Buy a few enterprise grade disks, I prefer Seagate Barracudas for price to performance. 4Tb is plenty in a raid storage, Raid 5 is perfect for 3 drives for performances and reliabilty. 

Then load OMV, Open Media Vault, this will allow you to configure the drives, raid, and network readability right from get go. It is super lightweight in system requirements, I have one spun up in a RaspberryPi mini board with a single Gb of ram as an example. If you want cloud like access then you install NextCloud in a container (about a 30 min install) that will allow you to access your server files systems from anywhere you have internet. For features you can install DigiKam, an open source photo organizer, I use it for my families photo archive.

I had a synology NAS and it was fine for standard computer backup capabilities but I wanted more control, more accessibility, and a higher performance system for price than the price of Synology equipment. As an example, the Synology NAS the DS420, is their 4 disk NAS system. It is diskless (gotta buy the disks still) for $500, has a very low powered Celeron processor, only 2gb of RAM, and runs only a single gigabit port for networking. 

I bought a Elitedesk 800 G3, micro form factor, from FB Marketplace for $180, upped the ram to 32gb (another $100), mediasonic 4bay raid disk enclosure ($150). Add in 4, 4TB disks ($300) and I'm invested for $730. I have it running OMV 6 with portainer and amm running the following:

  • SMB shared drives for the entire house
  • Lidarr, Sonarr, Radarr (music, tv, and movie management *pirating)
  • Plex media server (hosts 3 simultaneous 4K streams easily)
  • Airsonic music server (using Traefik as a DNS router it also is accessible from anywhere via the web not just my home)
  • Piwigo (Picture management)
  • Knime server (Data Science and analytics tool for contracts)
  • Multiple database systems, Postgres and MongoDBs, for contracts
  • PiHole (DNS routing for almost no ads on any of my internet traffic)
  • BlueIris (camera software management) I have 6 cameras streaming to the system and accessible via web portal

This entire system runs on about the same budget as a Synology with disks. I can be completely hands off on the software as you would any installed system or I can control it all at the source code level easily. 

This is of course an option. If all you need is a NAS, local only, accessibility for backups and "off-site" storage. A Synology is perfectly fine too. But if you want expandability, control, and no bottlenecks; the other option is the clear winner.

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8 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Yeah - a back-up, a clean-up, and then a "fresh" backup seems fair.  I find HD space cheap, so I have lots of external 2 to 4 TB drives with full FILE back-ups scattered about.  When I went into the office, it was easy to off-site the drives between the two locations. Now,  I am a bit exposed as all the drives are in the house.  Maybe have to toss one into the firesafe, and maybe one in the garage???

I keep on external hard drive at my daughter's house and she keeps a backup at my house. We swap them out every couple of months or so.

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1 hour ago, JerrySTL said:

I keep on external hard drive at my daughter's house and she keeps a backup at my house. We swap them out every couple of months or so.

I do similar...but it is a long drive to son's house in CT, and daughter isn't even drivable with this thing called the Atlantic Ocean. I rent a storage unit locally. In addition to a hard drive with overall back-up, there is another with client jobs. Figured out if I keep a single folder by year with client jobs as subfolders, keeping 2 years on the active hard drive, on January 1 when creating the new year folder, only have to transfer the 2019 folder to the archived hard drive, retaining 2020 and 2021 plus current 2022. That is once a year. That is the easy part, remembering to periodically update the general backup in a timely manner with a trip to storage is the hard part. Plus it is individually with multi computer to back up. Although multi generation drive - one trip retrieve/replace - is better than two trip - retrieve, backup, return - is a good idea.

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5 minutes ago, Tizeye said:

That is the easy part, remembering to periodically update the general backup in a timely manner with a trip to storage is the hard part. Plus it is individually with multi computer to back up. Although multi generation drive - one trip retrieve/replace - is better than two trip - retrieve, backup, return - is a good idea.

Use a small PC, SBC (single board computer) and disk and use software to remote backup critical documents. I use a RaspberryPi 3b with an external SSD in a closet in my parents place, has a battery backup and is mounted in a sealed container,  runs off a cell phone charger and I have scheduled backups to it. Runs the vanilla version of Buster (Linux distro for RPi's) and uses RSync to sync folders automatically. . Everything critical gets backed up offsite weekly, no travel needed except the first time you set it up. You can ssh into it remotely to do any management you may need. A RasberryPi kit will run you under $100 and then your external HDD of choice. Power is so low and  data transfers small enough that the off-site place incurs virtually no cost (I once calculated it for my parents, it was about $1.40 per year in costs). Easy peezy.

Or if you are already willing to invest into Synology as your main storage system, pay the extra $20 a year to get backups to cloud provider of your choice; although Amazon has discontinued using their cloud storage as an option with Synology Sync.

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2 hours ago, goldendesign said:

Depends on how hands on you want to go. Plenty of home-labbers use Synology incorporated into their systems. But if you have a spare desktop or are planning on replacing your existing one then you can convert it to a NAS/Home server for all your needs. Else you can get an inexpensive desktop, add the hdds, install your own management software and have much more control, better upgradability, and a huge assortment of applications that can be run easier from your own system.

As an example:
https://orlando.craigslist.org/sys/d/orlando-desktop-computer-pc-cpu/7405191185.html 

Dell 3040 compact tower. Running 6th gen i3, enough ram, and has 3 Sata connectors plenty for a storage array. on CL for $180. Buy a few enterprise grade disks, I prefer Seagate Barracudas for price to performance. 4Tb is plenty in a raid storage, Raid 5 is perfect for 3 drives for performances and reliabilty. 

Then load OMV, Open Media Vault, this will allow you to configure the drives, raid, and network readability right from get go. It is super lightweight in system requirements, I have one spun up in a RaspberryPi mini board with a single Gb of ram as an example. If you want cloud like access then you install NextCloud in a container (about a 30 min install) that will allow you to access your server files systems from anywhere you have internet. For features you can install DigiKam, an open source photo organizer, I use it for my families photo archive.

I had a synology NAS and it was fine for standard computer backup capabilities but I wanted more control, more accessibility, and a higher performance system for price than the price of Synology equipment. As an example, the Synology NAS the DS420, is their 4 disk NAS system. It is diskless (gotta buy the disks still) for $500, has a very low powered Celeron processor, only 2gb of RAM, and runs only a single gigabit port for networking. 

I bought a Elitedesk 800 G3, micro form factor, from FB Marketplace for $180, upped the ram to 32gb (another $100), mediasonic 4bay raid disk enclosure ($150). Add in 4, 4TB disks ($300) and I'm invested for $730. I have it running OMV 6 with portainer and amm running the following:

  • SMB shared drives for the entire house
  • Lidarr, Sonarr, Radarr (music, tv, and movie management *pirating)
  • Plex media server (hosts 3 simultaneous 4K streams easily)
  • Airsonic music server (using Traefik as a DNS router it also is accessible from anywhere via the web not just my home)
  • Piwigo (Picture management)
  • Knime server (Data Science and analytics tool for contracts)
  • Multiple database systems, Postgres and MongoDBs, for contracts
  • PiHole (DNS routing for almost no ads on any of my internet traffic)
  • BlueIris (camera software management) I have 6 cameras streaming to the system and accessible via web portal

This entire system runs on about the same budget as a Synology with disks. I can be completely hands off on the software as you would any installed system or I can control it all at the source code level easily. 

This is of course an option. If all you need is a NAS, local only, accessibility for backups and "off-site" storage. A Synology is perfectly fine too. But if you want expandability, control, and no bottlenecks; the other option is the clear winner.

Like you, I do have Blue Iris running on a separate Core i7 computer I built. It is a semi-dedicated machine, since on the same desk will occasionally launch a web browser for a "second monitor" and have installed photo and video software to process or enhance snapshots and video clips. That computer would not be touched and definitely would not transition to Synology's competing system, partly because only 2 licenses come with a NAS and would have to purchase more.  But then again, I do have to deal with Blur Iris upgrade/support issues demanding more money from existing customers.

I did view several YouTube build your own and it is intriguing. Will have to check those apps noted above. Probably the biggest one for me is FTP transfer for product delivery to my clients as I currently use straight email attachment or Dropbox with the instructions to delete with saving to hard drive so I stay within Dropbox's free limit. I don't consider either approach that professional, and others like my website store have their percentage cut.  My ISP doesn't allow straight FTP delivery, so a dedicated password protected folder on my home NAS makes a lot of sense...and is far more professional.

Not certain what I have in my junk box - I think some several generations old AMD stuff. My current primary PC is a screamer Core i7 machine, but at upgrade it typically trickles over to to my wife's PC, and not certain what hers is...other than my old one in a different case. My next PC may be a Mac as I am using Final Cut Pro more and more and would be nice on a big 27" screen. (OK, I could attach a 27" monitor to the 15" MacBook Pro 2013). Depends on what Apple does with the next upgrade of the iMac if rumors are true. But will probably replace the MBPro with the recently released 14" rather than 16" model. Impresses with the M1 Pro chip over Intel.

Oh, incidentally, while I like Seagate, I would not use Barracuda class in a NAS/RAID array. Just like I used WD Purple in the dedicated security camera system rather than green, blue or black models, I would use those designed for the continual running and data pulls of a NAS - Seagate Lonewolf or WD Red+ for a dedicated NAS. Also, the Barracuda is a SMR design that can create havoc in a RAID redesign. You want a CMR designed hard drive. WD cheap out and made the original and now discontiued Red with the SMR design resulting in problems and bad press. The replaced base model is now a CMR design and has the RED PLUS logo. Seagate Lonewolfs have always been CMR. 

Hoping for some good Black Friday sales. Will probably go 8GB x2 since RAID on 2 drives cuts useable in half (8GB not 16GB) with a greater percentage useable as drives at least that same size are added.

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6 minutes ago, Tizeye said:

I did view several YouTube build your own and it is intriguing. Will have to check those apps noted above. Probably the biggest one for me is FTP transfer for product delivery to my clients as I currently use straight email attachment or Dropbox with the instructions to delete with saving to hard drive so I stay within Dropbox's free limit. I don't consider either approach that professional, and others like my website store have their percentage cut.  My ISP doesn't allow straight FTP delivery, so a dedicated password protected folder on my home NAS makes a lot of sense...and is far more professional.

My first NAS was and still is a RasberryPi, I'm using the RPi4 w/4gb ram. That is a quad-core ARM 1.2ghz processor able to handle music streaming, backups, dns backup, downloading torrents, and much much more. The beauty of most of these "apps" is with OMV you run them in Docker so very little load on the system and everything is containerized. Meaning if one goes down the whole system stays solvent. Making updating, modifying and usages very easy to segment. The same can be said for the FTP (please use sFTP protocols in the future) is much easier to implement since whatever tool/app you use to expose to your clients on the internet everything else is hidden behind separate ports. OMV makes it very easy to do and anything you have that's left around with at least 3rd gen Intel or Ryzen 3 generation will be more than powerful enough.

If you do go your own route feel free to ping me. I am in no way an expert but I have turned this into a little hobby and love it. Also view Youtube from TechnoDadLife, DBTech, or NetworkChuck for more information on going your own. They are IMHO the kings of the simple homelab systems. DBTech is brilliant in his explanations and tweaking of the code of so many dockers I've deployed, TechnoDad is the unofficial expert all thing OMV "guides"  on their own forums and Network Chuck is just fun to watch and learn from.

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3 hours ago, Tizeye said:

Like you, I do have Blue Iris running on a separate Core i7 computer I built. It is a semi-dedicated machine,

I just re-read this. Check the system resources, if your about 30% or under (Blue Iris can be a resource hog) you have more than enough oomph for everything else. If it has a few open Sata ports you can install OMV as the OS and run this docker script to lad Blue Iris as a docker. Change the mapped volume to that of your OMV mapped drives and you're set. Then you won't need any expense other than the disks for your new NAS system.

 

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