network attached storage

Roger just got a new Synology NAS and wants to know if he can put his old Synology hard drives into it. Leo says it may not be able to due to the age of the older NAS. There is a good app that comes with your Synology called Hyper Backup that will automatically sync two Synology's so that you have the same data on both. So instead of getting rid of it, use it as a backup to the backup, or at least migrate from one to another.

David is heavy into Photography and has set up his own website. Now he's handling all the storage for his photos. Can he create a NAS to back everything up that he can access it? Leo says that David has done the right thing by storing his photos on SmugMug. Leo says to check out DPBestflow.org for tips on the best practices for backing up your data. Leo relies on a 321 backup strategy: three copies, two different formats, one off-site.

Jeff recently cut the cord and set up Ooma for his phone service with WiFi calling since he has lousy cell reception. But the problem his voice is cutting out. Leo says that the router is the likely culprit. This is because it affects two different devices. But it's possible that Jeff's internet company is being anti-competitive, favoring their own internet phone service over any others. One possible solution is to not use their modem and router. He can buy his own modem and router and then save a monthly rental fee at the same time. Leo recommends DOCSIS 3.1. Leo likes the NetGear CM1000.

JC has a ton of pictures on his computer and they aren't organized. It's a real mess on his hard drive. How can he organize them in the Cloud so that they are not only backed up but easier to access? Leo says that Google Photos is ideal, but they only backup unlimited hires JPEGs, not the uncompressed RAW versions that JC wants. But it's a good backup to the backup.

Steve Martin also uses a Windows computer and an iPad, and often they don't talk well together. He's also been getting a lot of his emails being routed into SPAM. He's had to physically move them back to the Inbox, and he's worried that he'll miss an important email from business or friends. Leo says that the SPAM filters have gotten so good, that they're now starting to get false positives as ISPs get really aggressive with the spam filters.

Adriana has a Synology NAS and she's had it for five years. She's ready for a new model with a little more "oomph" to it. Leo says she can go up to 32 drives in Synology NAS models. The naming configuration is based on the number of bays, expansion, and the year. So a Synology 2720 is a two-bay device, expandable to seven, made in 2020. She can also configure two drives for redundancy. Leo recommends a Synology 1520. Or the 418. That will house 5 drives.

Charles has a pair of Synology NAS storage devices and one was hit by ransomware. Leo suggests completely format it and rebuild and reinstall everything from the other backup. But Charles wants to know how it happened. Leo says that once he logs into the NAS, it's on the network, and can be bitten. Leo says that if his Synology is visible to the public internet, then he'll need to really limit it to things he really needs.  The more services he turns on, the more exposed he is. Leo turns on SSH to keep it protected. Also, turn on IP blocking after a certain number of login attempts.

Kyle has a home theater PC loaded with media and backups on ten different hard drives that he swaps out. Leo calls that a JBOD (just a bunch of discs). But Kyle is having an issue with the drives getting errors while erasing and starting a new backup. Leo says that the flaw could also be in the backups themselves. It also changed to MBR (master boot record) and cut the drive storage in half. He also can't reformat it with GUID using Windows 10. Is there a special utility he can use? Leo says there is an MBR to GUID command in Windows.

Michael says the time has come to let go of his Apple Airport and update to a new router. Leo says new mesh technologies do a better job and Apple hasn't kept the Airport design up to date. But Michael uses Time Machine to back up his Mac. Do any of the mesh systems offer USB support? Leo suggests going with Network Attached Storage or NAS and backup that way. That will work with any router. Leo prefers Synology, and you'll also need to buy the hard drives to put into them. A good two drive model would work great, and it supports Time Machine. It also backs up to the cloud.

Scott is having issues with his Synology NAS. He can't access it remotely. Leo says it sounds like a settings issue and he recommends going into the router settings and see if the router can see it. Then reserve the DNS number that's listed for that Synology. If it doesn't, there could be a problem with your router or with a power surge that fried your board. But that's unlikely.