QNAP HS-251 NAS Drive dropping out of network

Have you set a static IP address for the NAS?

Just use one wire, you only need one and may be confusing it.  

Mike-B posted:

I would not think about static IP addresses (sorry Andrew)  leave it all on DHCP, its plug & play that way.  IP addresses can be a bad place to be if you don't get it right.   

Agreed with the one wire comment above, but have found the QNAPs can 'go invisible' unless you set a static IP. Browser interface on QNAPs makes it simple to set an IP address, and in several years of using them – I now have four various QNAPs running on my network – am yet to encounter a problem.

But agree with the point about using a separate network switch if poss, if you're using a Naim network player with wired networking: connecting player and NAS to a simple four-port switch, with a cable going from your router to the switch to provide Internet connectivity, is a very simple way to ensure the stablity of the network.

Also worth considering a separate router if you're using one of the 'hubs' provided by the ISPs as a router at the moment: I switched over to an Apple AirPort Extreme – the old 'flat' model – several years back, switching my Virgin SuperHub to operate purely as a modem, and it enhanced network stability, as well as Wi-Fi consistency for my various other devices.

Thanks for all your advice, but I'm not so "computer savvy".

I've downloaded an app called QFinder Pro and it's not even "seeing" the drive on my network.

Also, File Explorer (I use Windows 10) is not "seeing" the drive.

The NAS drive is powered up and now connected with one ethernet cable directly to my router. There are two LED's lit up right by the ethernet socket.

I'm currently wishing I'd bought the UnitiServe as at least my dealer would have sorted this out for me.

The reason the QNAP NAS drives have 2 ethernet ports is so that they can be on 2 different networks. Assuming you only have one single LAN (local area network) then you should connect to the router using one single ethernet cable either direct or via a switch.

I have 2 QNAP NAS drives and my router (a BT Homehub5) has no problem finding them and QFinder Pro can find them and open up their webpages in my browser. You haven't said what router you have but, now that you've switched to a single cable you may need to reboot your router so that it can find your NAS drive.

Once this happens, your NAS drive should appear in File Explorer under "Network Locations".

Later on you may want to consider mapping your NAS drive's Multimedia folder as a network drive with its own drive letter to make it easier to locate in File Explorer.

I've switched off my PC, router and NAS drive then rebooted everything.

I'm now able to access the NAS drive's control panel via my web browser.

Is there an existing thread on this forum which shows the best settings to use?

The HS251 looks to be a fairly new slimline model but if you type in "HS251" in the forum's search tool (the magnifying glass) there are a few threads in which it is mentioned which might help you.

Probably the first decision you will need to make is how to format your hard disks. Users will have different views as to whether or not to use RAID (you will need to have 2 hard disks and using it reduces your storage capacity) but probably everyone will agree that you will need to have a separate method to backup the files on your NAS drive.

Incidentally, what Hard Drives have you fitted to the HS251?

SJBABBEY,

Thanks for your help.

I was going to format the hard drives using a RAID 1 configuration, which I believe is the default.

I've got a Western Digital MyBook external HDD for in-house backing up and I've got a Western Digital My Passport portable HDD on the way, which once everything has been backed-up onto it, I'll keep in my car.

The Hard Drives in the HS-251 are 2No. 3TB Western Digital Red.

BTW, the HS-251 was connected to my network for about 30 minutes and then dropped out again. It does have a constant IP address.

My default browser is Firefox, if that's any issue?

I could simply be that you have a sleep setting turned on. As there is no music on the nas yet, it's got nothing to do. 

My advice is that you wake it up (not sure how) and then map the drive. Set up your music folder (there is probably a default already) and start ripping the albums to the folder, using DB Poweramp. Mapping the drive will mean it's always visible in windows explorer. 

HungryHalibut,

Thanks for your help.

I think I know what's wrong: I still need to format the HDD's, but going through Control Panel - Storage Manager - Storage - Storage Space - New Volume and it's not "seeing" any HDD's, even though there were 2No. 3TB Western Digital Red drives pre-installed.

Once I get the software "seeing" the HDD's, what's the best method of formatting. There are several options and it's as clear as mud to me!

How do I resolve this?

The WD Red are a good choice and work well in QNAP NAS drives. If you haven't yet formatted them, I would certainly think carefully about whether to bother with RAID. It does not really provide a foolproof backup but simply enables you to recover your data more quickly in the event of a single HD failure. If the QNAP itself fails, RAID will not help and it does reduce the storage capacity of your NAS. The alternative format would be JABOD (Just A Bunch Of Discs).

Whichever format you choose, it looks like you understand the importance of backing up your music files (at least one backup and preferably two).

As HH mentioned, the NAS drive may simply have gone to sleep. Can you see it in Qfinder Pro? This will also show its Network Name and IP Address which you should make a note of.

To map the NAS as a network drive you should open File Explorer and click on "This PC" in the list down the LHS. Along the top you will see the option to map network drive. Select this and a dialog box will open. The first dialog box will show a Drive letter, probably Z:, and the second box will ask for a folder. Here you should enter "\\" followed by the NAS drive's Network Name and then click on the "Browse" button to select the default folder you want to map (on QNAP servers there should be a folder called "Multimedia" which is what I should choose).

Finally select the option to reconnect to the mapped drive when Windows starts up.

Good luck.

Steve

Lanesra,

In Control Panel, select System Status and open the Hardware Information Panel. There you should see your HDDs listed with their current temperature.

The QNAP website indicates that the HS251 normally ships without hard drives but I see that the Rainforest site sells these NAS drives with WD Red HDDs preinstalled.

Start here

https://start.qnap.com/useng/index.php

and use the QNAP's built-in routines to set it up, give it a name, allocate an IP address, format the drives and all that stuff. Should be fine after that.

SJBABBEY,

I bought my HS-251 with the HDD's pre-installed from a well known very large online retailer.

I've decided to go with RAID 1 config. (the HS-251's default) as 3TB is far more than I'll need to rip my CD collection.

It's very slowly, synchronising the RAID Group, and it's "died" once during the process?

What's the best method of dividing the storage space? Do I work with Volumes or Storage Pools?

In which case I'd go through the complete reinitialisation process, and start from scratch: turn the NAS off, then...

1. Remove your HDD(s) by sliding out the caddies.
2. Boot up the NAS without HDD(s) installed. You will hear a short beep,  and after about 1~2 minutes, a long beep.
3. The system will use the embedded image to boot up.
4. Then run the Finder on your PC, it will help you to find the NAS on the network.
5. Use the default ID (admin) and password (admin) to login if it asks.
6. Hot-plug the HDD(s) into the NAS.
7. Go through the installation process including formating hard disk and installing the firmware.

Andrew,

That did the trick, although it took two attempts.

I'm now listening to music on the NAS drive through my PC. Just need to wait for my N272/NAP250 to be delivered.

Thanks for your help.

Correction:

Despite my HS-251 NAS Drive now having music on it, it still keeps "going to sleep". My PC seems unable to wake it up.

There must be a power setting in it that I need to alter, but I need to get into the NAS Drive first.

It's not going to be any good if the NAS Drive keeps "falling asleep" when in the rack, as it will be tricky to access the power button.

Please can someone help me resolve this?

Lanesra,

In Control Panel you will see a "Power" section. You need to make sure that the Wake on LAN (WOL) setting is Enabled. This setting ensures that the NAS wakes up when any network devices attempt to contact it e.g. to play music files or video files etc. I have EuP (Energy using Products) disabled [this is basically a setting to limit the standby power used by the NAS) and the "Resume" option for Power Recovery (i.e. after a power outtage). There is also a Power Schedule tab which I don't have this enabled but it is here you can set up a power scheme e.g. for the NAS to shutdown overnight.

Lastly, the "Hardware" Section General tab has an option to enable the hard disks to go into standby mode after a period of activity. I have this enabled and the inactivity period set to 30 minutes.

I hope this helps.

Steve

Lanesra / Arsenal

Drop me a line (email is in my profile) - I will send you screenshots with my QNAP settings. You went for a model I recommended, so we can try to replicate the settings. 

In the meantime, please run a firmware version to the latest available.

Adam

sjbabbey posted:

Lanesra,

In Control Panel you will see a "Power" section. You need to make sure that the Wake on LAN (WOL) setting is Enabled. This setting ensures that the NAS wakes up when any network devices attempt to contact it e.g. to play music files or video files etc. I have EuP (Energy using Products) disabled [this is basically a setting to limit the standby power used by the NAS) and the "Resume" option for Power Recovery (i.e. after a power outtage). There is also a Power Schedule tab which I don't have this enabled but it is here you can set up a power scheme e.g. for the NAS to shutdown overnight.

Lastly, the "Hardware" Section General tab has an option to enable the hard disks to go into standby mode after a period of activity. I have this enabled and the inactivity period set to 30 minutes.

I hope this helps.

Steve

I strongly advise you don't let the NAS sleep if you are using it also as a UPnP media server.. The way UPnP works you will have most like issues or reliability with it disappearing off the UPnP multicast group. To save power have the HDD spin down after extended period of no use.. But leave  the NAS enabled. If you can't do this use a seperate media server which is what I recommend anyway.

Simon

Adam Zielinski posted:

Lanesra / Arsenal

Drop me a line (email is in my profile) - I will send you screenshots with my QNAP settings. You went for a model I recommended, so we can try to replicate the settings. 

In the meantime, please run a firmware version to the latest available.

Adam

Adam,

Thanks. That's great. I've sent you an e-mail.

Lanesra

SJBABBEY/ Simon,

In order to get my NAS Drive to wake up, will I need to do the boot-up without the HDD's installed? So it formats them again?

It's not the end of the world if I do at the moment, as I've only copied about 8 CD's to the HHD.

One comment - in case it is relevant: due to security settings on my (corporate) laptop I have to temporarily disable the firewall to "detect" my NAS on the network. To avoid this I have assigned a static IP and mapped the drive, this works even with the firewall "on".