Need a recommendation for data storage.
 

My collection of 4tb USB drives is getting pretty big, and just managing the wall warts is a task in itself.

I think it's time for me to get either a NAS setup going on, or a fileserver of some kind for my home office. All the content licenses and now some exclusive content I'm producing is just taking up too much space for consumer USB drives.

Ideally I'd like to get some kind of a linux based file server set up that sits on the network and can be accessed via mapped drive letters, maybe something that can back itself up to some cloud service or whatever on an incremental basis.

I use both Windows and Mac at home around the house and for work and don't mind tinkering and building stuff, I'm not the best tech out there but I'm no stranger to screwdrivers and command lines and usually am successful with projects - eventually.

What do you guys recommend?

I have this: Amazon.com: Synology America DiskStation 8-Bay Network Attached Storage (DS1815+): Computers & Accessories

Running 8 3 TB Western Digital Red drives. Don't go cheap on the drives, they will burn out. Get server level. This particular unit allows for the expansion units as well, I believe you can string together up to 18 drives.

This particular brand also has a 12 Bay model. In your scenario, I would probably get that. My drives are getting pretty full.

Nice. Expensive but looks like it'll do the job and then some. I like the 12 bay with the expansion, but damn that's gonna kill the budget. I'll start saving up for it I guess.

Have you considered saving that data to cloud? Amazon S3?

go on ebay find a used server with 16 drive case you can find one for $300-$500 shipped buy yourself some hd's then install FreeNAS Project - Open Source Storage - FreeNAS Project and your done :)