New tech stuff for me

[PZ]

I have a WD MyCloud backup drive, but wanted something more robust, so I went with a Synology DS920+ 4-drive NAS. It is capable of most RAID levels, but decided on RAID 5. I've been delighted with the operation of the drive especially because it is capable of working as a PLEX server,  which I installed on the NAS. I love how PLEX is capable of organizing all of my media. It automatically loads pics I take with my phone up to a photo album on the NAS, accepts wireless transfer from my Canon 6D, and manages all my music and videos. It even acts as a DVR to record on-the-air broadcasts.

This is what I've been doing for the past week or so because with pics alone, I've had to process 69,997 images. I'm now going to add a streaming media service for $20 per month and can then get rid of my $150/month DirecTv subscription bu "cutting the cord" so to speak.

This is the list of my videos. The PLEX server automatically added the posters descriptions, etc..
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These are recordings I made from on-the-air television - I did not need to add any descriptions or graphics; it was all done automatically by the Plex server running on my NAS.
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This is the channel line-up for my local stations. I can click anything now or in the future to record. The server even allows you to skip commercials and intros.
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[Dweller_Benthos]

That's pretty cool. I've been thinking off and on about some kind of NAS but really don't have a lot of stuff, mostly my photos which just having an external drive takes care of mostly.

Oh, and take three more pictures already to even it out to 70,000 lol!   

[PZ]

 

[BinnZ]

 

That is indeed a nice purchase PZ. I have been looking into NAS devices as well. Especially the ability to access its content (or storage) from anywhere in the world, just by connecting to your NAS through your router, is a big advantage to me. No need for cloud storage that way, you basically have your own, private and secure cloud.

Although I would want a thing like that, I would also probably have too little to store on it. But who knows, in the near future. I Find the idea of having my personal cloud very attractive

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah it's a good idea to have a local copy of your stuff. I've heard of a few cloud services going out of business and all your stuff just gets deleted. Currently the large external hard drive I'm using (and it's two backups, one kept off site, lol) does what I need it to do. Having it online would be neat but not critical.

[PZ]

I knw what you guys mean and I too have used large external drives. However, my media collection with movies, TV series, music, and of course my large photo collection going back to 1997 is well over 1.5 tb, and accessing especially the large files was getting really slow. This new NAS has 2 gigabyte network adapters, and it now the speed is like I was doing the action on my local PC it is so fast. I did need to save my pennies for quite a while though, because it is somewhat of an investment.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Nice. I mean, the difference between a plain external hard drive and a NAS is the network interface really. So being able to plug it into the network and access it anywhere is the main attraction. Does come in handy, for sure.

[PZ]

I recently set up automated PC backups and NAS media backups onto a 5tb Seagate backup drive plugged into the USB expansion port on the NAS. There is also an eSATA port if I need it. The automation has been working for about a week or so, and I have not had to intervene at all - everything has backed up perfectly, and VERY fast. To ensure the safety of the NAS and all of the router and switch hardware I added a sine wave backup power supply into which everything is plugged (10 power sockets, half of which are on battery backup for safe shutdown, and the other half on surge protection alone). The NAS connects to the power supply so when power is lost the NAS will safely turn itself off within a prescribed time period, then reboot when the power is restored. The NAS sends me emails whenever something of concern pops up.

It sure does feel good to have a true reasonably safe backup solution, and it sure is nice to access all data from every device I have.

The NAS $p@rts two built-in M.2 SSD slots and the SSD Cache technology allow me to significantly boost system I/O and application performance, although because of my small network so far it is not needed. Scalable storage design allows expansion of storage capacity with additional drive expansion bays. However I have put my entire DVD collection all my music and all photos and have not exceeded 2 tb, and still have 9 tb of storage left. Even the Plex server is backed up so it would be easy to restore everything.

One problem has surfaced. While my phone uploads any new photos or videos to the Plex server easily, my wife cannot upload her photos because evidently Plex does not like Apple. It refuses to accept any iPhone/iPad media.   

Bottom line is that it is now a true cloud storage solution for me, and I do not need to be victim to Google, MS or any of the other commercial cheaters of the public 

[Art Blade]

that is quite an achievement, PZ. Good job

As to your wife's apple not being able to use all of the above, I imagine it won't be long until you hear this: "Hun, if you really love me, you'll build something just like that for me that works with my apple."

Get ready, son

[PZ]

 

Thanks AB 

Working things out with technology is my hobby of sorts. 

[Art Blade]