BEST RAID BACKUP FOR MAC FULL

Go ahead and read and watch my full review for the in-depth details. It also landed at the very bottom for network features, so you win some and you lose some. The Drobo justifiably won my best-in-show award for RAID performance, which was flawless in my testing. But if you want brain-dead easy RAID that keeps your drives safe and available on your LAN, and you don't really care about much else, the 5N2 is a win. Let's clarify where this device fits: If you want a server with lots of apps and features, the Drobo is absolutely not for you. Even though it's been around for a while, the Drobo 5N2 has to go into our list of the best NAS devices, chiefly because its RAID functionality is just so good. It's kind of odd that Drobo hasn't updated its one NAS storage array since 2017, but that goes to Drobo's main focus as a direct-attached storage solution. If you're using a Mac, connect to the QNAP using SMB instead of AFP and you'll have better reliability.Įasiest to manage RAID, but barely any server features My one critique of the QNAP interface is that during my testing of a previous model, I had some difficulty with Mac-based files stored on the QNAP.

BEST RAID BACKUP FOR MAC BLUETOOTH

The only thing missing to make this into a quite capable media center computer is Bluetooth for keyboard and mouse input, but you can use dongles like the Logitech Unifying Receivers to connect your keyboard and mouse to one of the four USB ports.

BEST RAID BACKUP FOR MAC INSTALL

Not only can you install the usual NAS suspects, but you can run a Chrome browser or even install a full Ubuntu on top of the NAS capabilities. The selection of applications QNAP offers is nothing short of ridonculous. But this unit adds Intel 600 graphics and an HDMI port, allowing you to play all your media directly from the NAS to your TV's HDMI input. Yes, QNAP made its name producing NAS boxes. Instead, think of it as a media center computer with RAID and NAS capabilities. Internal graphics: Intel HD Graphics 600ĭon't think of this box as just a NAS.Powerful NAS ideal for your home entertainment system I run both a four- and an eight-bay unit, along with an ioSafe five-bay unit (more on that below), and I've been very satisfied with all of them. We're spotlighting a four-bay unit here, but you can get units with more bays. Here, at Camp David, I'm actually running all three of my main servers using DSM, and in the very few times I've had a disk failure, I've been able to recover and resume with very little effort or stress.Īfter spending half a year testing NAS boxes from seven different brands, the Synology offerings have been my unquestioned 'go-to' recommendation. The company offers its own higher-performance RAID capability, as well. It's that each option and element of the software, whether part of the original install or one of the many optional apps, is understandable, clear, and well-considered. It's not just the fit-and-finish of the UI, which is clear and crisp.

BEST RAID BACKUP FOR MAC SOFTWARE

While the Synology hardware is on-par with many other NAS offerings, it's when that hardware is combined with the DSM software that Synology's offerings become best-in-class.Īlso: We test the Synology DiskStation DS1817+ RAID I'm showing you five machines that I am sure will serve you well over the years.īy far, the standout feature of any Synology NAS is the company's exceptional DiskStation Manager (DSM) software. It's fast, it's easy to get to, you can segment shares for family members or workgroups, and many NASes offer a wide range of additional applications that turn your box into a local, private, on-premises general-purpose business server (or, in the case of the QNAP below, a full media center computer).

I strongly recommend cloud storage as one leg in a 3-2-1 backup strategy, but for home and small office use, a NAS can be invaluable. You don't have to pay for it month after month after month.ĭon't get me wrong. Sure, if you're equipping a NAS, you're paying for drives, but once you pay out the expense for the NAS and drives, you're done. Second, cloud servers can get kind of expensive. If you're doing anything with video (or other large files), you're unlikely to find cloud storage practical except, maybe, for backup.

BEST RAID BACKUP FOR MAC DOWNLOAD

Cloud-based servers are good ( here I talk about how one saved my bacon), but for full-time work-at-home folks, cloud based servers don't always cut the mustard.Ĭloud-based servers are terrible for video editing, as it takes forever to upload and download video to the cloud ( even if you have a fast pipe). But if you work for a small business or you're working from home, your file server is likely to be in the cloud, probably something offered by Dropbox, AWS, Google, or Microsoft. If you work for a large company, you undoubtedly have access to a corporate file server.

Best raid backup for mac