I have a family cloud server that I would like to add 24x7 permanent external storage to. It is based on a Raspberry Pi3, so this storage will have to be USB, since that's the only interface to a HDD available on the Pi. The Pi is running a Linux OS. This setup works great, plenty of speed for this "family cloud" task using the Pi (running Rasbian, Nginx, PHP7, MariaDB, NextCloud, Redis, SSH server, VNC server). I'm currently using it with the flash memory card that holds the OS being the cloud storage. I've tried it with a very old external Seagate drive as storage too, and it works, but I want a newer drive (that's what I'm searching for now!)

The possible options I've come up with are:

1. External desktop drive with it's own power supply, e.g., "WD My Book"
2. External portable drive powered by the US connection (probably with an added powered USB hub), e.g., "WD Passport"
3. Internal HDD in a drive enclosure with it's own power supply, e.g., "WD Red HDD + enclosure"
4. Drive specifically for the PI with its Y-cable power connection, e.g., "WD Pi Drive"

The Pi Drive would seem the best choice at first, since it's tuned for use with the Raspberry Pi (low power usage). But the max size is 1Tb and I am worried about heat issues in the small matching Pi case you can get for it.

I'm not sure I trust the readily available external drives for 24x7 use, due to potential heat issues. Also, I've always assumed the manufacturers put the cheapest bare drives they could find inside these things.

A good quality internal HDD plus a good quality enclosure (with cooling) sounds the best, but is also the most expensive. If I go this route, I would think a WD Red drive would be the best. As far as enclosures, I'd need suggestions for well-built one with a reliable USB controller and decent cooling. Doesn't have to be fan-based, if it keeps the drive cool with only air slots, that's fine. I do not expect heavy or sustained HDD usage, so there probably won't be a lot of heat generated anyway. But I do want it available 24x7.

The cheapest route would be to buy a WD Passport. The Pi *should* be able to power it, but it not, buy a powered USB hub. I believe the Passport goes to sleep after a while if unused, and that's fine, as long as it wakes up with activity and does not unmount itself. I would probably get one of the older "Elements" versions of the Passport, since the new ones use hardware encryption that you can't turn off, so if the drive enclosure fails, you've lost all access to the HDD inside, even if you remove the drive and install it in your computer (a very stupid design decision on WD's part if you ask me).

Any thoughts, ideas, or recommendations?

I have been mulling similar. Currently my pi (gateway/router) has two "button" USB configured as RAID1. Works fine, but if/when I go home cloud as well, it would be SSD methinks. I certainly don't need terrabyte-plus, and it would be aggressively managed in need.
Not the cheapest, but would probably meet my needs.

Might consider spending more for a soho nas?? Replace the PI with a dedicated Arm based nas product. I think they tend to use about 5-15 watts and have sleep features.

I have a Seagate usb drive that seems to go to sleep a lot. Not that I care much but it can't be easily used 24/7 just a backup.

Thanks. I did consider that, but quickly ruled it out.

The Pi is more powerful than the processor in the typical NAS. And you can install whatever software you want on it, not necessarily so with a NAS. For example, "NextCloud" is probably way more powerful and feature-rich than any cloud software you can find on a pre-built NAS. Many of the NAS systems like to require you to go through the manufacturers website to access your NAS at home as a cloud. I don't want that third party cramming themselves into the chain when they are totally unneeded (and very much unwanted, in my case). I imagine the typical NAS uses an ethernet connection (which would be best usually). But the Pi has built-in ethernet, WiFi and Bluetooth. And it has four USB jacks also (unfortunately, these are only USB2.0, but that's still fast enough for my purposes). Ongoing maintenance is another point where the Pi blows away a NAS. For example, say there is another huge SSL vulnerability identified. You can patch that quickly on a Pi, but for a NAS you'd have to wait for the manufacturer to push out a software upgrade. Assuming they're still in business and doing updates when the vulnerability is discovered.

The only good things I can think about for a pre-built NAS is that they are simple, ready to go out of the box (mostly). Also, the interface to the hard disk is probably faster than on a Pi. But you lose out in computing power, flexibility, potential for future re-purposing for a different use, etc. You don't have complete control of your NAS either. The only thing you can do to it is what the manufacturer allowed you to via whatever interface they give you for configuration. You're not 'root' on your NAS, with ultimate control of the OS and what it's running. Plus, a NAS costs a LOT more money than a do-it-yourself Pi solution. The big downside for a Pi-based solution is that you have to be a computer geek to implement it. Compiling stuff, command line configuration, tuning databases and PHP ... the general public - forget about it! But the typical experienced user on these forums would have no problem. It's time consuming and complex to set it up from scratch, but then you know in-depth how it all works and fits together.

Just about covers it for me as well. As it happens I have an old GoFlex Home backup unit unloved in the office. Piece of junk, and hasn't been turned on in ages. At one time I had plans to root it and install Arch on it so I would have a decent system to talk to.
Might just work as an offload disk - cheers jefro, I might have to resurrect that idea after all ....

I've been using a couple seagate 2tb 3.5" drives in Rosewill usb3 docking stations, running 24x7 for months, without problems. The drives sit vertically in the dock, with no case around them, plenty of ventilation.

This wouldn't be ideal in a high-traffic work area though, with no case around the drive you could cause damage if you're moving other metal items near the drive and accidentally hit it.

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I've been thinking about this myself, the whole NAS thing. I'm getting to the point where I think the best thing is to build a white box with some low power CPU with good cooling, drop some trusted OS on the thing and run rsync or duplicity on it.

It needs cooling, a good NIC, some SATA ports.

I'm almost tempted to rip up my old desktop for the job. Maybe over the weekend. I'm tired of being without a good backup system.

Too much (fan) noise, and too much power - hence why I went with the pi. I have a room full of old kit, but the pi is the go for me.
I'll do the goflex over Easter.

For others who may be interested in building their own NAS, the OpenMediaVault forums have lots of useful advice and information:

http://forum.openmediavault.org/inde...-My-NAS-Build/

Debian-based OMV:

http://www.openmediavault.org/

Gotta hate that.
Scraping the data off took ages - oh well. Rooted the thing and installed Arch, but the disk was (still) as noisy as all hell. Figured I'd need to setup spin-down, but checked with smart first.
Ugly - millions (yep, millions) of read errors - I can even see the seek error rate go up with consecutive calls to smart.

Bin that idea.

External HDD with its own power supply.

(The Pi3 doesn't have enough power to supply a hard drive consistently, from what I've read on the forums.)

Hi,

Main reason as to why I use Scosche 4-port 5 VDC @ 2A USB plugin chargers to support my Rpi and peripherals. No problems and cheap to use.

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

Normally I go with the cheapest and the highest capacity drive, then find a way to attach it. So $50 for a docking station and $100 for several terabytes of storage. Times two or three. Throw in a powered usb hub and you should be good. Although at that point you could have just gone with non-pi pre-built option. And a pi for less $$$.

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I think I'm mostly decided on what I'll do now (not 100% yet, but in the 90%'s).

I'm going to get a Western Digital Red 3.5" drive, probably 4Tb for $139. Why that drive? Because it is designed for 24x7 use in a NAS. It's 5400rpm, so it should generate less heat. I believe it may have some vibration damping too, but I'm not sure about that. 3 year warranty. Over the decades I've had many different WD and Seagate drives. WD has had a slightly better reliability for me. But I'm not saying that Seagate has treated me wrong.

I'll put the drive into an external enclosure, that is separately powered (obviously!) I'm researching which enclosure now. Trying to decide if I need one with active cooling (a fan), or just vent holes. Many have momentary pushbutton power switches, but I don't want that because in the event of a power failure, the drive will not come back up automatically, which would nuke it for a server application. It seems like many of the enclosures available were not designed with any though of heat mitigation. And they all think you want an LED power/activity light bright enough to illuminate your entire neighborhood. If you read the user reviews, they all suck, will kill your hard drive, and burn down your house while doing it. So it's a tough decision.

I have gone back and forth and forth and back on which enclosure would be best. And I'm right back at the beginning now, with no idea of which one I should buy. I think I'm settled on the hard drive though. The Red's cost more, but I think they would be better for my application.

Isn't there header board for pi's to add in sata? Think I saw it on Amazon.