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+--- Thread: Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? (/showthread.php?tid=16654)
Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - twinehtc - 2012-04-26 17:11
I ask this as my past experience of data centres has been that the storage array networks ran 24x7 and supplier advice was never to power down except for scheduled maintenance. A NAS uses similar technology though I appreciate it is a domestic product.
I listen to music probably 5 hours a day, so should I power the NAS down for the other 19?
Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - Lunch - 2012-04-26 17:26
I keep mine on all the time. I think built with that in mind. I hope so, anyway. I'm not going to switch it off. Maybe the odd restart. If you're not meant to keep it running then I'll be disappointed with the NAS. I thought this was one of the purposes from moving to a NAS as opposed to keeping tuff on your computer: it's shared. And always available.
RE: Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - Aurumer - 2012-04-26 17:35
There are two things two be considered.
NAS shut down and disc hibernation.
There is absolutely no need to shut the NAS down. I do this only if I know that I will not use the NAS for a longer periode of time.
Disc hibernation depends on the discs you are using. If you use enterprise or server discs I would deactivate hibernation and let them spin all the time. If you use standard desktop disc I would use them as in a desktop. Set hibernation to 2 to 4 hours to avoid too short periods of activity and let them sleep if not in use and spin up in the morning or whenever you need your NAS.
RE: Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - Rufus McDufus - 2012-04-26 17:58
I keep mine running all the time. It's in a server room. Well I say server room, but it's actually an Ikea cupboard in one of the bedrooms with a UPS, the Qnap, a few other things and some fans cut into the side. Works well and keeps the light pollution/noise to a minimum!
RE: Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - Briain - 2012-04-26 18:14
(2012-04-26 17:35)Aurumer Wrote: There are two things two be considered.
NAS shut down and disc hibernation.
There is absolutely no need to shut the NAS down. I do this only if I know that I will not use the NAS for a longer periode of time.
Disc hibernation depends on the discs you are using. If you use enterprise or server discs I would deactivate hibernation and let them spin all the time. If you use standard desktop disc I would use them as in a desktop. Set hibernation to 2 to 4 hours to avoid too short periods of activity and let them sleep if not in use and spin up in the morning or whenever you need your NAS.
I agree with the above strategy; one hour disk spin-down would likely be ideal for your usage. The TS-219 will consume only about 7W when in hibernated mode (disks spin down) and thus it's an ideal unit to use in that way. The only thing about Qnaps is that they wake up every evening at 3AM to perform some housekeeping activities, but you can change that to once a week (that's how mine is set).
Bri
PS If you wish to control things a little more 'manually' (to better suit your usage pattern) you might be interested in what I'm doing with my NAS. I've set hibernation to 20 minutes and installed a QPKG which re-assigns the copy button on the front of the Qnap. When pressed, this triggers a script which toggles it between hibernating after 20 minutes and being on all the time. This is quite useful as any Windows PC on the network wakes the NAS up, so I run it by pressing the copy button in the morning (to spin the disks up and keep them spinning) then press it again before I retire (so it spins them down after 20 minutes). This means they're not being spun up and down multiple times per day, but that I get the power efficiencies of hibernation in the evening; it's a great feature for someone like me.
Basic steps to achieve this are:
Create a new share called OTR
Install the copy button remap QPKG (and enable it)
Download the 'togglesnooze.sh' script and stick it in the new OTR share
That's it.
Bri
PS More information in my post here (with links to Mike's cool copy button reassignment QPKG). Note that there is an updated version of the togglesnooze.sh script in the post below that one.
RE: Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - twinehtc - 2012-04-26 19:23
Thanks for all the above. This really is one of the best forums I have ever encountered.
RE: Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - Pollensa1946 - 2012-04-27 11:18
I switch my QNAP 409 on when I need it and off when I don't. What's the big deal?
RE: Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - Briain - 2012-04-27 12:02
(2012-04-27 11:18)Pollensa1946 Wrote: I switch my QNAP 409 on when I need it and off when I don't. What's the big deal?
There is no big deal, but does take 5 minutes to boot up, and if you have a lot of music, it can take another 4 to 8 minutes (depending on the quantity of music and model - i.e. the CPU speed - of the Qnap) for Twonky to index the media (and even longer if you also have thousands of photos served by Twonky).
The argument for disk hibernation is that something like a TS-219P takes only 7W when hibernated (so about half the power of many wireless routers) and when you do want to play a tune, it is available immediately. If you have to wait 10 minutes, by the time it's ready to play you'll have gone off the idea of playing it!
Also, if you use it as a data server, it means you need to switch it on when you want access to your data. In my case, I store no data on my PC, laptop or iPad and instead store it all on my NAS. That means if I loose (or drop) the laptop, I don't loose any of my data (which is a very comfortable place to be). On the NAS, the RAID system that I use protects against the eventual failure of any single disk (which will happen; they all fail eventually) and it also means I only have one thing to back up (i.e. the NAS) so when used like that, I need it to be available immediately as opposed to waiting for it to boot up when I need a document.
If you have a NAS anyway, you're as well to consider using it as your data store (and backing it up) for all the above reasons. I've lost count of the times I've been handed a friends laptop (or PC) where the drive has partially (or completely) failed and thus they have lost all their precious photos and data. Fortunately for them, I've done it free, but the professionals charge £100's to do it (where they can; it's often not even possible to recover the data).
Bri
RE: Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - Pollensa1946 - 2012-04-27 14:37
I accept all of that and do all of it, but 10 mins of my time once a day is no big deal so I have difficulty with people agonising over whether to switch off or run continuously.
RE: Should a QNAP NAS be kept running? - linnrd - 2012-04-28 00:40
(2012-04-27 14:37)Pollensa1946 Wrote: I accept all of that and do all of it, but 10 mins of my time once a day is no big deal so I have difficulty with people agonising over whether to switch off or run continuously.Perhaps a counterpoint is as follows:
If you are merely using it to store media for streaming without even backing up that media, then by all means carry on; it is after all only 10 min of your time once a day, no more than 61 hours/year or about 2.5 days. Waitaminute...that's actually added up a bit, hasn't it?
A NAS is more than a storage for music. It serves as a backup for data on one's desktop/mobile computers as well. On the other hand do not backup your media on the NAS, and do not backup the data on your desktop/mobile computers, then it adds up to a tad more time (assuming that you can recover any of it at all) when there is a failure. Of course, recapturing photos of a kids first steps or first birthday party are kinda difficult too. And if one is considering using the NAS as a backup system, then it has to be automated in order to eliminate the weakest link in the system -- the human factor.
So...perhaps an answer to the rephrased question is required. Why would you turn of the NAS if you are using it as it was designed to do? There no agonizing at all. We now move into the arena of disc hibernation, which Bri has spoken of better than I ever will.