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Question

Noobie Question on a home NAS

Aug 31, 2011 4:09AM PDT

Hey guys!
Noobie here and first post. I have a question regarding a home NAS. I am looking into a QNAP NAS with an option for SATA 2 drives and a more expensive option for SATA 3 drives. Now I know the big difference is speed (SATA 3 handling 6GB/S)

If I only have a 1Ge network, what is the point of buying the more expensive SATA 3 if my network can only do 1GB/S?

Won't the bottle neck be the internet speed? The 6GB/S is the backplane of the NAS from the drives to the controller head right?

Thanks so much!

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Follow up
Aug 31, 2011 10:07PM PDT

Thank you both for your reply. I guess my main question that I am trying to wrap my head around is Drive speed VS Internet speed. If the drive speed is 6GB/s and my ethernet is only the 1GBit, then the bottle neck would be the internet right?

What exactly does the drive speed (not RPM, but the 3GB/s or 6GB/s) do for me if my internet to move the data isn't as large as the drives? What does the 3GB/S actually mean? Is that how quick the drives present the data to the NAS to be transfered over the internet?

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That 3 or 6GB is potential burst tranfer rate
Sep 1, 2011 6:16AM PDT

It's not sustained read/write and is also affected by many other factors such as file size and type. It's more like voodoo than exact science so I'd not pay that much attention to those performance numbers. That speed is, also, only measurable within the box. Once the data hits the network port to travel outside of the box, it begins to run at the speed of the connecting network components. Your local network will move data more slowly than it can move around inside the box (NAS). As well, your local network components will move data at a faster speed than will your internet connection. Ergo, speeding up what goes on in the box will have zero affect on your local network or internet transfer speed. The box is fastest, local network next and internet is the slowest.

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Answer
Local network speed and not internet speed
Aug 31, 2011 4:25AM PDT

could have an affect but the burst speed of the drive (and that's what they advertise) isn't going to make a bean's worth of difference in your NAS when you're talking SATA2 or 3.

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Answer
I want to know.
Aug 31, 2011 7:07AM PDT

Let's see. Today's home LAN might reach 1Gbit. Today's home wifi might be less and if you put that on some wifi, it's half that for reasons you can guess.

So my question is, is this going to pay off?
Bob

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(NT) If it's unclear, let me answer it in one word. NO.
Sep 1, 2011 6:37AM PDT