Do I need a NAS?
Posted by: Dozey on 13 October 2013
Just thinking - perhaps I don't need a NAS - could I not just backup the unitiserve onto a USB HD? What is the benefit of a NAS?
I use a NAS as a server so it can do the job of the UnitiServe if the US goes teats -up, as a networked device I'd imagine the automation for backup is better (may be faster too but you will need a more techy brain than mine to answer that properly) NAS as backup are cheap so I'm not sure of any advantages of USB, someone will now tell us I'm sure!
You can set the UnitiServe to backup automatically each night. Mine backs up to a Synology NAS, which cost me £260. I don't know if you can do that with a USB drive. Another thing to be aware of is that if you exceed the storage capacity of the serve, you will need a NAS for the overflow.
Just thinking - perhaps I don't need a NAS - could I not just backup the unitiserve onto a USB HD? What is the benefit of a NAS?
Dozey,
I asked the very same thing to tech support at Naim as my motivation was to keep things as simple as possible and thought tha nas just for backing up was an overkill. However. Phil pointed out that Naim do not recommend backing up to an external USB drive, don't really know why except perhaps that a Nas will build your database as it's UpNp configured where as tha USB driveis not (someone can confirm this)?
Anyway, the bottom line is, Naim only recommend backing up to a Nas and not to a USB drive
So I purchased a simple Lacie Nas, which works wonders. There is also a sticky somewhere listing some Nas's that Naim have tested, check it out.
Jason.
Jason, I was told the same thing. Doing a proper backup using the uServe's backup utility is not the same as merely copying the MQ directory to an external drive. The uServe's backup utility needs a networked drive and a network share created on that drive.
OK, thanks guys. Just the input I was needing.
I just bought a Western Digital 2TB NAS for about £98.00 from PC World and after adding it as a "store" told my HDX to use it as a back-up location and now back-ups are automatic.
So even if my HDX dies, I (hopefully) won't have to re-rip the700+ CD's I've ripped to date.
Incidentally, I couldn't see any way to configure a USB HDD as a back-up device.