NAS Drive File and Folder Loading Speeds

TidySean · 06 Nov 2023

Hello all,

I hope you're all doing good.

I need some pointers, please to look for on a NAS relating to the speed it loads up files and folders.

I have two NASs.

One Buffalo TS-HTGL/R5 Series and One Synology DS923+.

The Buffalo is probably close to 15 years old and absolutely fine, I recently messed it up with a power cut but a firmware update later and it's fine, even at 99.51% capacity (HDD Space Used RAID Array 1 2777.39 GB / 2791.08 GB (99.51 %)). Shame Buffalo went bump a while back and I got a Synology.

The Synology is mostly faster than the Buffalo, the time each take to do a properties file check are in different time zones.

However, I have two copies of the Buffalo files, it's being retired. If I open a photo on the Synology, it takes ages to load that image, in that time, I can browse to the Buffalo, find the photo and load it far earlier than the same photo shows from the Synology.

Is there something to look out for on the Synology to make it always instantly available, please, if anyone knows?

Not exactly Windows 10 related but the machine I am running is Win 10, soooo ;-)

Thanks all for your time.

Sean

Berton · 06 Nov 2023

I replaced 2 WD 1TB NAS drives last year, software had security issues and no fix.

I got a Buffalo LinkStation 2TB, contains 2 x 2TB 2 Seagate drives running as RAID 1 for total storage of 2TB, speed of transfer seems to be okay, about the same as using a USB drive connected to the computer.

The NAS is Ethernet-connected to the Wireless Router, any computer I have connected to the Network whether Wired or Wireless can Map the main folder on it to access/work with any files I store on it.

I have Win7, Win10 and Win11 machines connected by Ethernet and various times will have Notebooks connected Wireless/Wi-Fi.

Since programs don't get installed on it the speed is not critical.

With Notebooks coming with 256GB and 512GB drives it's nice to be able to save Internet downloads directly to folders on the NAS.

TidySean · 06 Nov 2023

Hi @Berton, thank you.

I have no issues with anything other than the load time of a folder of files on the Synology.

Everything is wired and gigabit, other than the Buffalo, strangely, DrayTek router. There is a huge difference in storage, around 10 TB difference.

I am considering keeping the Buffalo for longer and using it, but I'm not sure 15 year old drives are that sensible to keep anything on, even in Raid5. They're Samsung drives.

Berton · 06 Nov 2023

It never hurts to follow a thought that if something may go wrong and can afford it to just go with the gut-feeling and replace it. Better to spend a little to save important data.

TidySean · 06 Nov 2023

Thanks, @Berton, that’s basically what I have done, new NAS the files have been moved to the Synology now and the Buffalo is powered down. I had thought I had broken the Buffalo, it was in EM mode and the firmware wouldn’t update. Long story short, the Buffalo was set to a different subnet but was bricked and I couldn’t change it, reset button did nothing, LCD showed nothing, changed that and it updated fine but took me ages to work it out.
I’m just wondering if there’s more life in the Buffalo or if I should just power it down and store it, in case something didn’t copy correctly. I did copy 2.5 TB from it with zero errors or problems, which I thought was strange. Usually there’s something, some file without properties or something.

Berton · 06 Nov 2023

What I did with my 2 x 1TB drives was to combine all the data into one drive, disconnected the empty drive and removed the case it was in. Then I plugged the drive into a dock on my Linux Mint computer, ran GPARTED and deleted the partitions, recreated a single NTFS partition and have it in a Win10 case as a D:\Data storage drive. Then after setting up the Buffalo moved all the data from the 1TB to it then repeated cleaning the old drive and have it available for further use in a computer. The main issue with reusing NAS drives and External USB drives is the interface in their cases handle things differently so the cleaning is necessary if wanting to re-use them.

TidySean · 07 Nov 2023

Ah, I see. I am planning to keep using the Buffalo, just for different files or purpose. That thing is bullet proof, I have thought I have lost my data on it many times but I always manage to get it running again. It's full to the brim yet still performs perfectly. It was the old file server in work, then they got a proper server setup and it sat under my desk for over a year. Then one day I plonked it on the FDs desk and asked if I could have it, and he said yes. IT wouldn't let me to take it until they broke the raid. I said, don't break it, then they explained.

At the moment it's powered down, everything is on the Synology. My only consideration is when a drive fails, could I replace it, not sure with old drives now, and if a drive did fail, could a copy whatever new stuff I had on it fast enough before a second drive fails. Probably not worth the bother / risk ultimately. Anyway, thanks, @Berton.