It’s getting time to retire the old Apple Airport Time Capsule, and I’m looking recommendations on easy-to-use replacements. This would be used for general files and automatic laptop backups.

Requirements:

  • At least 2TB
  • Capable of archiving to an offline disk used as an off-site backup
  • Easy enough for my parents to use
  • Not crazy expensive if possible

I’ve never used a dedicated NAS, so I’m humbly seeking the opinions of the Lemmy experts. Thank you!

  • curbstickle@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    13·
    8 hours ago

    Ideally? I’d say something with support for 2 drives, mirrored.

    Without a price to define “not crazy expensive”, I’d say take a look at QNAP and Synology 2-bay devices, pick what fits the price range. I’d put it on the network and mount it on the PCs you want to as a drive to drop things in.

    Then I’d add one more thing - 3-2-1 for anything critical.

    • Three copies of all critical data should be made on a regular basis. Original data + at least two backups
    • Two different storage types should be used to store the data to minimize the chance of failure.
    • One offsite location. Could be an encrypted copy of a backup on cloud storage, could be a drive at another home.

    How critical data is would be up to you and your parents, I just want to note that a single backup at your home is not going to be helpful if there is flooding or a fire or whatever that would damage both the originals and the backup device.