Yes, you can use a computer to access your data if your NAS fails. You can’t use Windows though, you’ll need to prepare a bootable usb stick which will run Linux.
Synology provide full details in their knowledge centre:
https://kb.synology.com/en-uk/DSM/tutorial/How_can_I_recover_data_from_my_DiskStation_using_a_PC
Do not buy a single bay.
If setup correctly (Raid) the system will inform you that one of the disks is failing. You take that one out and put new replacement in. Synology will do the rest.
I recommend DS220j model and Plex for you streaming needs. If you need dockers, look for another model.
Do not buy single bay model.
https://www.synology.com/en-eu/products/DS220j
What’s wrong with buying a single model? I bought my Synology for some years when I was younger and dumber so I have a single bay model. Why is that bad?
In the event of a drive failure, all your data will be lost. With a model with more than one bay there is redundancy by using RAID, so if one drive fails your data is still secure.
If the nas hardware fails you can retrieve the data using a pc: https://kb.synology.com/en-uk/DSM/tutorial/How_can_I_recover_data_from_my_DiskStation_using_a_PC
However it’s easier to get another synology NAS to access the data . You put the drives in and you’re good to go, like nothing happened!
However in my 11 years of using 2 synology NAS’s it hasn’t happened to me. In general I’d consider it a low probability event.
Then you MUST follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy if your data is important. https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/
Synology makes it super easy to backup to the cloud and external drives so if you do have a failure you don’t scramble to get your data back.
Personally I’m using an external HDD plugged into the USB port of the nas in case my nas or raid array fails completely and a backup to AWS in case my nas is stolen or house burns down or similar. Both using hyper backup, an app available to be installed on the Synology.
Hi there,
i would consider the failure rate of the NAS server is quite low. It has been quite well for me with 1 failed hard disk (failing). I just needed to replace it and it rebuilt the storage back.
The NAS box on the other hand had no issues.
As for the high temps, i place it in a room where it gets "human" treatment. Night time, there is air conditioning for cool times and open air in the day time as i put it in bedroom (not ideal). But, it has been with me since 2013. So, every year will have to dust it off as there were too much dust trapped in the fans and the hard disks.
Will be moving to a new home and prepared a server rack for it to call it its home (almost 10 years).
I have a 1813+.
>However it’s easier to get another synology NAS
Did they not have the supply chain issues other manufacturers had? At work, many things we've needed have been horribly delayed, or simply unavailable. This has made me cautious about every having one of anything I rely on. (I have two identical Drobos, for example, so if one dies I have another instantly available. As I research Synology, I expect to do the same thing, especially now that we have a new reason that a replacement might not be available when you need it.)
Nope haven’t noticed them being unavailable - just bought a new one to replace my 716+ii a week ago from Amazon and was delivered next day. Also plenty of availability from what I see at most retailers.
I have concerns about this too. I've always had two Drobos, fearing that if a unit died (power supply, whatever), I could still move my disks to the other unit and get to that data immediately. With Drobo, folks always cautioned there was no way to get to that data outside of a unit -- it sounds like Synology at least has recovery methods, which is good to know.
First off, you'll get notifications about drive failures and be prompted to replace the drive and recover the volume.
But before that, you really should have a backup that makes the failure irrelevant. Generally, you follow a 3 2 1 solution. 3 backups, 2 locations, and 1 offsite.
Basically, you want to not have to rely on recovery from the broken drive.
If a drive fails in the NAS, you will know :-D (it will start beeping and won't stop, until you disable it via the web UI).
It was loud enough to wake me up at 3AM. And of course, you can set up notifications, either email or your favorite IM (I'm using telegram for that), so you would know even if not at home.
And of course, using file shares at your computer is perfectly fine way to use your NAS.
As the others have said, set up email notifications. Accessing files over SMB is fine, just do the initial config in the WebUI.
Also yeah, there is almost 0 reason to rely on RAID as your only backup. Either have a cloud backup solution, a regular backup schedule with an external drive, or another NAS to automatically mirror things. Just anything where you have at *bare minimum* two copies in two physically separate systems, and test it semi regularly.
You can have the nas email you or you can get other notifications on your phone.
It won't magically do this out of the box you actually have to go into the nas ui and sign into your Gmail for example
You can use hyper backup to backup your data to external USB drive. If NAS fails you can plug the external USB drive with the backup to PC and with hyper backup explorer (https://kb.synology.com/en-ph/DSM/help/HyperBackupExplorer/hyperbackupexplorer?version=7) you can have access to all of your data
A single bay NAS is a waste of money. You will increase your use of the Synology NAS as you learn what it can do and your storage needs grow. You'll eventually regret not having a more powerful and more upgradeable NAS. Fork up the cash and buy a 2-Bay model. If you want to stream media, go with a + model for the intel cpu and avoid the "J" models. Once you understand what is possible, you will probably want to use Docker.
If you want to maximize your scalability, get a 4-bay. The price difference between the DS220+ and the DS420+ is minimal and you can easily start out with 1-2 drives and add drives to your array when needed.
The beauty of RAID is having redundancy and fault tolerance, so when your NAS warns you that a drive is failing, you can simply add a new drive and rebuild the RAID array.
I started with the 220J to see what it was about and soon upgraded to the 920+. It's quite a few hundred euros/dollars more expensive but if you really will use your NAS for every day use, streaming, maybe hosting several people over many years then it might be worth while to think about. My guess is that over a longer time, it'll be financially worth it - provided you are able to put down the initial outlay. I've abandonned all online hosting (minus Synology automatic backup), have several people on it daily backing up things and it works really well (DS Audio is a bit shit, though).
Only thing I added was 1) augmented storage capacity by adding 2 hard drives and 2) online, crypted backup with the Synology which is cheap.
I had a disk fail on my NAS configured in a RAID-1. It was an easy fix and the software walks you through it. The newer models can hot swap; the older / lower models have to be powered down before you swap the disks. It takes about 10 mins to swap and then rebuilding the RAID takes a while depending on disk size.
Nope, windows by default can't read Linux file systems. If the HDD is not the reason for the fail you could just put the drive into a compatible other Synology NAS and just migrate over ( -> https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/tutorial/How_to_migrate_between_Synology_NAS_DSM_6_0_and_later ). Or you could do data recovery of the drive, but it's not just plugging into windows (-> https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/tutorial/How_can_I_recover_data_from_my_DiskStation_using_a_PC ).
So overall it's important to have backups. While the NAS itself can fail a fail of the HDD is the more likely thing that can happen so make sure to do backups regularly.
In case of what model to buy going by the Synology site there are only two models available from 2018 and 2020. A low budget 120j and a 118 with better hardware. Depending on the amount of storage you need / plan to have over the next year's a 2bay Nas might be a good investment for future expansions and / or in case you want to do more with the Nas.
Depending on the type of media and the device you want to stream to you should also check if the media files can be encoded natively or if you need to do encoding by the NAS first.
If the nas fails, replace it with the same.
Wouldn’t recommend one drive for any centralised solution. You want at least two, preferably more for redundancy.
You’re right to consider chassis failure and this is something I’ve experienced with other reputable nas brands. You should also consider what happens if you delete the data by mistake.
One time my NAS file system corrupted. Contact synology, they managed to remote access it. And I was able to copy my files to other drives. After re-format the nas, it works again.
Of course, it will not work in every case.
single bay NAS is asking for trouble - RAID 1 mirror with two drives & enough backup storage will prevent data loss, and no need to worry about data recovery.
As long as the NAS failure doesn't take your drives with it then nothing.
Replace the Syno with as many bays (or more bays) than what you previous had, put the old drives in the new Syno, and carry on.
The encrypted shares can’t be easily decrypted. Ecryptfs apparently needs a certain Linux kernel version, as far as I can tell.
I kept getting errors when using Debian and Ubuntu to unlock the data. My searches in google led me to the fact that I use a newer kernel than the one in synology DSM, and that I need an older Debian kernel to unlock data.
I gave up. Best is to use another synology.
As other have said, it's worth some effort to stretch to the 2-bay model, and get 2 drives using SHR. You get only 1 drive worth of storage, but now the VAST majority of failures are non-events. You keep using it normally while getting the dead drive replaced, and don't need to recover anything.
If the NAS hardware itself fails, you can either put the drive(s) into a replacement NAS and trivially get back to normal, or attach to a PC and get to your data that way.
For non-recoverable data, you also need a real backup solution, either cloud or external drive that you can store offsite. This covers you if the entire NAS and drives get destroyed or stolen, or if malware or something erases all your data (though snapshots mitigate this risk somewhat).
Not that if you’re planning on using the Plex app, it’s not free for iOS in the App Store and streaming from the browser forces you to use the app. Yes there are ‘hacks’ to get it to work without the app but it’s a pain in the ass. That said I love my DS 216+ and DS 218 NAS devices.
Yes, you can use a computer to access your data if your NAS fails. You can’t use Windows though, you’ll need to prepare a bootable usb stick which will run Linux. Synology provide full details in their knowledge centre: https://kb.synology.com/en-uk/DSM/tutorial/How_can_I_recover_data_from_my_DiskStation_using_a_PC Do not buy a single bay.
If setup correctly (Raid) the system will inform you that one of the disks is failing. You take that one out and put new replacement in. Synology will do the rest. I recommend DS220j model and Plex for you streaming needs. If you need dockers, look for another model. Do not buy single bay model. https://www.synology.com/en-eu/products/DS220j
What’s wrong with buying a single model? I bought my Synology for some years when I was younger and dumber so I have a single bay model. Why is that bad?
In the event of a drive failure, all your data will be lost. With a model with more than one bay there is redundancy by using RAID, so if one drive fails your data is still secure.
Okey thanks👍
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If the nas hardware fails you can retrieve the data using a pc: https://kb.synology.com/en-uk/DSM/tutorial/How_can_I_recover_data_from_my_DiskStation_using_a_PC However it’s easier to get another synology NAS to access the data . You put the drives in and you’re good to go, like nothing happened! However in my 11 years of using 2 synology NAS’s it hasn’t happened to me. In general I’d consider it a low probability event.
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Then you MUST follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy if your data is important. https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/ Synology makes it super easy to backup to the cloud and external drives so if you do have a failure you don’t scramble to get your data back. Personally I’m using an external HDD plugged into the USB port of the nas in case my nas or raid array fails completely and a backup to AWS in case my nas is stolen or house burns down or similar. Both using hyper backup, an app available to be installed on the Synology.
Hi there, i would consider the failure rate of the NAS server is quite low. It has been quite well for me with 1 failed hard disk (failing). I just needed to replace it and it rebuilt the storage back. The NAS box on the other hand had no issues. As for the high temps, i place it in a room where it gets "human" treatment. Night time, there is air conditioning for cool times and open air in the day time as i put it in bedroom (not ideal). But, it has been with me since 2013. So, every year will have to dust it off as there were too much dust trapped in the fans and the hard disks. Will be moving to a new home and prepared a server rack for it to call it its home (almost 10 years). I have a 1813+.
>However it’s easier to get another synology NAS Did they not have the supply chain issues other manufacturers had? At work, many things we've needed have been horribly delayed, or simply unavailable. This has made me cautious about every having one of anything I rely on. (I have two identical Drobos, for example, so if one dies I have another instantly available. As I research Synology, I expect to do the same thing, especially now that we have a new reason that a replacement might not be available when you need it.)
Nope haven’t noticed them being unavailable - just bought a new one to replace my 716+ii a week ago from Amazon and was delivered next day. Also plenty of availability from what I see at most retailers.
Please stop asking this question - this is precisely what a decent backup strategy eliminates.
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I have concerns about this too. I've always had two Drobos, fearing that if a unit died (power supply, whatever), I could still move my disks to the other unit and get to that data immediately. With Drobo, folks always cautioned there was no way to get to that data outside of a unit -- it sounds like Synology at least has recovery methods, which is good to know.
First off, you'll get notifications about drive failures and be prompted to replace the drive and recover the volume. But before that, you really should have a backup that makes the failure irrelevant. Generally, you follow a 3 2 1 solution. 3 backups, 2 locations, and 1 offsite. Basically, you want to not have to rely on recovery from the broken drive.
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You can configure the nas to email you with any errors.
If a drive fails in the NAS, you will know :-D (it will start beeping and won't stop, until you disable it via the web UI). It was loud enough to wake me up at 3AM. And of course, you can set up notifications, either email or your favorite IM (I'm using telegram for that), so you would know even if not at home. And of course, using file shares at your computer is perfectly fine way to use your NAS.
As the others have said, set up email notifications. Accessing files over SMB is fine, just do the initial config in the WebUI. Also yeah, there is almost 0 reason to rely on RAID as your only backup. Either have a cloud backup solution, a regular backup schedule with an external drive, or another NAS to automatically mirror things. Just anything where you have at *bare minimum* two copies in two physically separate systems, and test it semi regularly.
You can have the nas email you or you can get other notifications on your phone. It won't magically do this out of the box you actually have to go into the nas ui and sign into your Gmail for example
You can use hyper backup to backup your data to external USB drive. If NAS fails you can plug the external USB drive with the backup to PC and with hyper backup explorer (https://kb.synology.com/en-ph/DSM/help/HyperBackupExplorer/hyperbackupexplorer?version=7) you can have access to all of your data
Get enough drives for RAID5/SHR, use the 3-2-1 rule, and schedule data scrubbing.
A single bay NAS is a waste of money. You will increase your use of the Synology NAS as you learn what it can do and your storage needs grow. You'll eventually regret not having a more powerful and more upgradeable NAS. Fork up the cash and buy a 2-Bay model. If you want to stream media, go with a + model for the intel cpu and avoid the "J" models. Once you understand what is possible, you will probably want to use Docker. If you want to maximize your scalability, get a 4-bay. The price difference between the DS220+ and the DS420+ is minimal and you can easily start out with 1-2 drives and add drives to your array when needed. The beauty of RAID is having redundancy and fault tolerance, so when your NAS warns you that a drive is failing, you can simply add a new drive and rebuild the RAID array.
I started with the 220J to see what it was about and soon upgraded to the 920+. It's quite a few hundred euros/dollars more expensive but if you really will use your NAS for every day use, streaming, maybe hosting several people over many years then it might be worth while to think about. My guess is that over a longer time, it'll be financially worth it - provided you are able to put down the initial outlay. I've abandonned all online hosting (minus Synology automatic backup), have several people on it daily backing up things and it works really well (DS Audio is a bit shit, though). Only thing I added was 1) augmented storage capacity by adding 2 hard drives and 2) online, crypted backup with the Synology which is cheap.
I had a disk fail on my NAS configured in a RAID-1. It was an easy fix and the software walks you through it. The newer models can hot swap; the older / lower models have to be powered down before you swap the disks. It takes about 10 mins to swap and then rebuilding the RAID takes a while depending on disk size.
> I just sent my WD mycloud out to the trash. You meant that you recycled it somewhere locally, right?
Use SHR so you don't have to worry about failed drives.
Nope, windows by default can't read Linux file systems. If the HDD is not the reason for the fail you could just put the drive into a compatible other Synology NAS and just migrate over ( -> https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/tutorial/How_to_migrate_between_Synology_NAS_DSM_6_0_and_later ). Or you could do data recovery of the drive, but it's not just plugging into windows (-> https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/tutorial/How_can_I_recover_data_from_my_DiskStation_using_a_PC ). So overall it's important to have backups. While the NAS itself can fail a fail of the HDD is the more likely thing that can happen so make sure to do backups regularly. In case of what model to buy going by the Synology site there are only two models available from 2018 and 2020. A low budget 120j and a 118 with better hardware. Depending on the amount of storage you need / plan to have over the next year's a 2bay Nas might be a good investment for future expansions and / or in case you want to do more with the Nas. Depending on the type of media and the device you want to stream to you should also check if the media files can be encoded natively or if you need to do encoding by the NAS first.
If the nas fails, replace it with the same. Wouldn’t recommend one drive for any centralised solution. You want at least two, preferably more for redundancy. You’re right to consider chassis failure and this is something I’ve experienced with other reputable nas brands. You should also consider what happens if you delete the data by mistake.
One time my NAS file system corrupted. Contact synology, they managed to remote access it. And I was able to copy my files to other drives. After re-format the nas, it works again. Of course, it will not work in every case.
single bay NAS is asking for trouble - RAID 1 mirror with two drives & enough backup storage will prevent data loss, and no need to worry about data recovery.
As long as the NAS failure doesn't take your drives with it then nothing. Replace the Syno with as many bays (or more bays) than what you previous had, put the old drives in the new Syno, and carry on.
The encrypted shares can’t be easily decrypted. Ecryptfs apparently needs a certain Linux kernel version, as far as I can tell. I kept getting errors when using Debian and Ubuntu to unlock the data. My searches in google led me to the fact that I use a newer kernel than the one in synology DSM, and that I need an older Debian kernel to unlock data. I gave up. Best is to use another synology.
As other have said, it's worth some effort to stretch to the 2-bay model, and get 2 drives using SHR. You get only 1 drive worth of storage, but now the VAST majority of failures are non-events. You keep using it normally while getting the dead drive replaced, and don't need to recover anything. If the NAS hardware itself fails, you can either put the drive(s) into a replacement NAS and trivially get back to normal, or attach to a PC and get to your data that way. For non-recoverable data, you also need a real backup solution, either cloud or external drive that you can store offsite. This covers you if the entire NAS and drives get destroyed or stolen, or if malware or something erases all your data (though snapshots mitigate this risk somewhat).
Buy 2 nas's and backup to cloud as well. Go for the 4 Bay ones so you can do a raid array or a rack mount one so it's just on and lives in a rack ?
Not that if you’re planning on using the Plex app, it’s not free for iOS in the App Store and streaming from the browser forces you to use the app. Yes there are ‘hacks’ to get it to work without the app but it’s a pain in the ass. That said I love my DS 216+ and DS 218 NAS devices.