When to Replace NAS Due to age

[brubacca]

Hello all. Just looking for a little IT help here. At what point would it make sense to replace a NAS due to age for home use? I realize that these devices can last for many years.


I have a ReadyNas DUO version one. It is going on 10 years old. I do back it up nightly, So I do have a backup. I have also already had to replace a drive based on errors (I have it Raid 1). I prefer to retire things than to let them fail and scramble to restore from Backup.

When would it be prudent to retire the Duo?

[garbulky]

I think so.

[Deleted]

If you replace the drives on a regular maintenance schedule the NAS itself will last a long time. The drives or power supply normally fail before the NAS infrastructure does. The drive on average has an estimated life expectancy of 5 years. You might get less or more depending. If it ain't broke don't fix it is usually my stance. But if you want something more current with the latest technology for the drives and higher capacity storage limits then an upgrade would be warranted.

[klinemj]

I'd be moving on soon if I were you. Start planning the retirement party!

Mark

[brubacca]

I do have another NAS already. It’s a RN102 which is several years newer and just used as a backup server. Of coarse, it’s also no longer sold by Netgear.

I do check the Smart+ diagnostics on the Duo and as stated had to replace one of the drives. Also it’s setup to e-mail me with any problems.

The data on there doesn’t need have to be live all the time like a business. BUT it is all our digital pictures so I need it to not disappear.

[Boomzilla]

My rule of thumb is that I replace the oldest drive in the RAID every three years (my RAID has 4 drives in RAID-10 configuration). Since I can lose any one (maybe two) of the drives without data loss, the replacement schedule is sufficient.

And I'm not sure about that previous statement that "average drives last five years." I think it may be less.

[brubacca]

My drives last well more than 5 years, in a home setting, not continuous use)

I have literally only had two drives fail in my computing life (my first PC was a 286). One rotating seagate drive and on Corsair SSD (like a week after the warranty expired).

KNOCK ON WOOD.

Knock on wood

KNOCK ON WOOD.

[drtrey3]

Backup the library. Often. Regularly.

Trey

[brubacca]

I do backup.

My setup is as follows:
ReadyNAS Duo - (2) 2TB Drives- Raid 1
ReadyNAS RN102 - (1) 4TB Drive

The RN102 backs up the Duo every night. This is an automated task on the RN102.

[audiobill]

Not to tempt fate, but my Apple Time Capsule (which also has an external drive connected) has been going strong since 2008.

If it fails, oh well I rely on Tidal's servers primarily anyway!

[millst]

How about buying another 4TB drive to upgrade the RN102 to RAID1? Then, just run the Duo until it dies. The processor, chipset, PSU, etc. might last years longer. Whenever it dies, downtime will be minimal since you have a NAS ready to swap.

Those are low-power systems so I doubt there is much to be gained by upgrading. Unless there are features you want.

-tm

[brubacca]

Just to update this. I just ordered a Asustor as3102t v2 2 bay NAS. It’s a new brand for me. Nice combination of hardware and really flexible software. I’ll probably never need it, but it has dual Ethernet ports and link aggregation. My switch also supports this. All my research says I’ll never need it, but I’ll probably set it up anyway.

Only $220 and should be great to host our photos and MinimServer will run on it for my audio. I would have liked to go further up the line, but price was a major factor.

I’ll advise how the install goes when I do it this week.