Hi Eric,
This is pretty much where I've ended up. NAS is more robust than regular
HDD, more resilient than SDD. Just remember 3-2-1. I would use NAS as one
of my two backups, with the other in cloud storage, cloud storage being my
one offsite location.
Best,
*Thomas Scharff*
<https://library.wheatoncollege.edu/prf.php?account_id=205579> (he/him/his)
*Director of Discovery & Access*
Madeleine Clark Wallace Library <https://library.wheatoncollege.edu>, 125
Wheaton College <https://wheatoncollege.edu>
26 E. Main Street, Norton, MA 02766 <https://goo.gl/maps/d5JvoKZUEXy>
(508) 286-5601 <+15082865601>
On Fri, Jan 23, 2026 at 11:35 AM Eric Lease Morgan <
00000107b9c961ae-dmarc-request_at_lists.clir.org> wrote:
> As I may have alluded to previously, this is the time of year when I
> routinely curate the past year's data/files. This process almost always
> includes applying the same process to the previous years' data/files.
>
> This year's solution to my curation issues is/was "cold block storage". I
> have been playing with Digital Ocean's implementation. So far I have only
> uploaded 400 GB of data, and the estimated costs will be about a $1/month
> Wow!? In the end though, I may have about 4TB of data, and to some degree,
> I will want to access/churn it, which is not amenable to cold storage.
> What's more, when it comes to cold cloud storage, I do not really own my
> own data/files because they are "over there".
>
> I am now very serousluy considering NAS -- network-accessible storage. A
> NAS is essentically an appliance. It is a set of hard drives literally
> wrapped in hardware with proproetary operating system used to do I/O,
> provide access control, implement file transfer protocols, and to some
> degree, analyze the saved data. I could build my own, but then there is the
> convenience factor.
>
> In the end, I think I will buy a UGreen DH2300 and two 4TB drives for a
> total cost of about $400. This ought to be plenty of storage space and
> allow me to own my own data. I will probably continue to put stuff into
> cold storage, just in case.
>
> Do you have experience with NAS? Seems like a very good idea for library
> archivists.
>
> --
> Eric Morgan <emorgan_at_nd.edu>
>
Received on Fri Jan 23 2026 - 11:44:08 EST