AdrianW wrote:pwilson wrote:
Home users only need Storage Pools, if they purchase QNAP NAS devices that use them.
Your
TS-451 uses Storage Pools, so you have no choice. (They are an improvement, so you actually should "
want" them).
This is not an answer. Just because a user has a device that has the option of storage pools doesn't mean you
need them.
This is technically correct, however, all the other SMB models use "
Storage Pools". If you switch to "
Storage Pools" your NAS will be setup like the rest of us, and we can help support you. The TS-x51/x53 models are unique right now in that they use LVM but not "Storage Pools". It is your hardware, so at least for the present you
do have a choice. I suspect that this "choice" will disappear over time, as QNAP brings all the SMB models into line with the same configuration.
Those of us that setup SMB models under
QTS 3.x.x had to do a similar switch over in order to be able to fully take advantage of
QTS 4.x.x. I bit the bullet right away, as I wanted to do it early so I'd require less Backup media to get the job done, and so I got this chore out of the way.
AdrianW wrote:I'm just setting up my new TS-853 - and when I click "Create Volume" it gives me the option of "Static Volume" with the description "This mode gives the best performance without advanced features such as thin provisioning and snapshot".
You don't get the
Storage Pools capability on your NAS until you upgrade to
QTS 4.1.2 Build 20141231 (or higher). I already provided the Tutorial for switching over.
AdrianW wrote:I can't see why I'd want thin provisioning and snapshot in preference to best performance.
Thick provisioning provides better performance. If you only intend to create a single Storage Pool, you probably want "
Thick" provisioning, as you will be putting all the storage into a single Storage Pool in all probability. (Thin provisioning is helpful when you want to "over-provision", if you are going to make a single Pool, you won't want to over-provision).
I suggest that you
should want
Storage Pools, (even if only creating a single one), but you probably do
not want "Thin provisioning".
If I owned an 8-Bay NAS I would probably set it up as 2 *
RAID5 (4 drives each), or
RAID6 (8 drives). Both provide the same storage size. Dual
RAID5 will permit upgrading only 4 drives at a time, so it will make upgrades easier/cheaper as your storage needs increase. A single
RAID6 provides double redundancy, but future upgrades require replacing all 8 drives at once, it is however easier to manage as it is a single Pool
It is however your hardware, so you can set it up anyway you want.
