NAS Setup

Long story short, I'm transitioning a small company away from a full-featured server. (The old server is showing its age, and the domain authentication introduced too many complications for this client.)

Instead, we're using two NAS devices for two different sites, which will synchronize nightly.

Each one is composed of:

• 1x Synology DS410j NAS unit
• 4x Seagate Barracuda 1TB drives (firmware CC38)

I ordered them from Amazon. I used to be a NewEgg fan, but these days Amazon tends to have slightly lower prices, and NewEgg has goofed up enough orders to frustrate me.

So a quick summary of the set-up process...

1. Install the drives in the Synology unit
2. Download the latest software from Synology (for your OS)
3. Install the Synology Assistant, which should find your device on the network
4. Upload the DSM "firmware" to the device, configure as needed
5. Log into the device via your browser (port 5000 on mine)
6. Configure it further, and set up (initialize) the drives
7. Start pushing data to it

The "firmware" upload took about ten minutes, and the drive initialization is taking... something on 7 hours so far. While waiting for the drives initialization, I decided to investigate the device a bit.

As far as I can tell, the "firmware" is actually a 110mb tarball of the embedded Linux installation that drives this device, which gets extracted to the installed drives.

Port scan results (after some configuration) with notable items emphasized:

PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION

22/tcp open ssh OpenSSH 5.2 (protocol 2.0)

80/tcp open http Apache httpd 2.2.13 ((Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.13 OpenSSL/0.9.8k PHP/5.2.12)

111/tcp open rpcbind

139/tcp open netbios-ssn Samba smbd 3.X (workgroup: WORKGROUP)

445/tcp open netbios-ssn Samba smbd 3.X (workgroup: WORKGROUP)

2049/tcp open rpcbind

5000/tcp open http Apache httpd 2.2.13 ((Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.13 OpenSSL/0.9.8k)

5432/tcp open postgresql PostgreSQL DB

MAC Address: 00:11:32:02:B8:XX (Synology Incorporated)

Via SSH, some other (technical) observations:

• uname: Linux Synology 2.6.24 #1141 Sat Mar 13 00:51:39 CST 2010 armv5tejl unknown
• RAID and volume management: Linux mdadm and lvm
• Web servers: Apache and Lighttpd
• Databases: PostgreSQL and MySQL
• Media services: mt-daap, vlc

Root password seems to be the same as the admin user's, so you can SSH in as root as soon as the service is enabled.

It looks like the system allocates about 3gb on each drive for its "firmware" and user settings, mirrored across each drive (2x RAID 1 arrays). The device blocks on volume creation (initialization) while mdadm is syncing them, and lots of configuration options require the volume to exist. This results in a total setup time of about 8 hours.

The primary volume that it automatically allocates consumes the entire remaining drive space, which is likely OK for most users. In my situation it automatically set up a RAID 5 array with (the remaining space on) all 4 drives. I like that. Advanced Linux geeks can adjust the volume allocation, since the system provides resize2fs and the usual suite of LVM tools - though at this point I don't see myself needing that, since the device uses ext3 - very high limits on the size and number of files in the filesystem.

The setup process took something like 10 hours after all. I don't know exactly, because I decided to go to bed around 80% completion. Best to do the next one overnight.

Data transfer to this device is a little bit disappointing. I have it on a 100MB ethernet line, which usually gives me 10-12mb/s of real transfer on other machines. On this device, using rsync (regardless of compression) I get around 7mb/s; piped through SSH, only 3-4. As far as I can tell this is due to the rather light processing capacity of the ARM processor it uses.

Still, I'm satisfied with this device and the functionality it provides - especially rsync and NFS.

An eventual update - after a few days of working with the system...

I'm still pleased with these devices. They do their jobs pretty darn well.

Network backup in our environment has proven to be a little bit tricky though. On one end of the backup flow, we have an existing infrastructure requiring standard rsync and ssh ports.

The set up is a little bit convoluted though, so I'm documenting it elsewhere.

I'd also recommend the use of the optional software packages maintained by NSLU2-Linux. For the Synology devices I've used, this script is the right one. Most useful to me is the 'fdupes' tool, which finds duplicate files and lets you delete them - nice for saving space.

One thing I miss is 'unison' - a 2-way synchronization tool... like rsync, only smarter about changes occuring in multiple sources. The optional packages don't include it, sadly, so I'm pursuing another route: from one primary workstation, rsync to the Synology device - and have all the other workstations/laptops sync with the workstation via Unison.

Another day...

So here's where the rubber hits the road. I brought the on-site device to the business location for the initial deployment. On arrival, I discovered the wireless network wasn't operating properly, and on further investigation, that the router was basically toast.

The next morning, I went to pick up a replacement, only to discover then that it didn't support any sensible DNS services (or DHCP reservation for that matter) - I don't recommend the Linksys BEFRS81.

I'm on a tight schedule though, so I move ahead and let that one play in the back of my mind. After setting up some other hardware, I realized I could set up DNSMasq using the optional software kit. I'm familiar with DNSMasq in my home network, and it serves me well there - so I deployed it here, and disabled the DHCP features of the router.

Good stuff. Right now I'm very thankful for open-source software and platforms that remain open to customization.