Thanks for the min.io recommendation, Tommy!
Eric, which one did you end up going with?
*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 Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 7:39 PM Tommy Keswick <tkeswick_at_library.caltech.edu>
wrote:
> One of our 3-2-1 preservation pillars is a local Synology NAS set up with
> min.io so that we can write to it and our cloud pillar using the same S3
> protocol.
>
> --
> Tommy Keswick, MLIS
> Research Applications Developer
> Caltech Library
>
> On Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 3:54 PM Eric Lease Morgan <
> 00000107b9c961ae-dmarc-request_at_lists.clir.org> wrote:
>
> > On Jan 23, 2026, at 11:34 AM, Eric Lease Morgan <emorgan_at_nd.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > 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.
> >
> >
> > I'm really enjoying my NAS -- network accessible storage -- device, and I
> > am advocating their use in libraries and archives. IMHO, these devices
> play
> > to many of the core principles of librarianship and archival practice.
> More
> > specifically, they make it realatively easy to independently archive and
> > preserve digital content for the long haul.
> >
> > Just to reiterate, a NAS is essencially a hard drive attached your local
> > network. It is a thing where you and your colleagues can store digital
> > content without using any Internet connections. Through the use of a NAS,
> > you actually own your data. If the Internet is unaccessible, you still
> have
> > access to your content. (Okay, if your local network goes down, then you
> > are in trouble, but you could attach the NAS to a local computer if your
> > really needed.)
> >
> > I bought a NAS with four slots, and I bought four 4TB hard disk drives.
> > After putting the drives into the NAS, and after doing a bit of
> > configuration, I ended up with about 10TB of network storage for a
> one-time
> > $1,000 out-of-pocket expense. If you fill up 10TB of disk space with sets
> > of curated data/information, then I'd be impressed. In my case, I have
> > cached 10's of thousands of plain text books and 100's of thousands of
> > journal articles in the form of PDF files, and even after
> indexing/modeling
> > the collection in a myriad of ways, my disk space usage is about 5TB.
> Your
> > milage will vary.
> >
> > How can a NAS be more systematically used in a library or archive? Well,
> > the process is a whole lot like stacks maintenance in a library. Here's a
> > recipe:
> >
> > 1. Spend $1,000 to buy a NAS and a set of disk drives.
> >
> > 2. Plug the NAS into your network, and configure it to
> > implement one or more file system services, such as but
> > not limited to: FTP, SFTP, NFS, Samba, and rsync.
> >
> > 3. Share access to the NAS with your colleagues, and at the
> > very least, this will enable your colleagues to mount the
> > NAS as if it were a local hard drive.
> >
> > 4. Find all of those floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, SSDs, and USB
> > drives used to store your important information. Once found,
> > copy their contents to the NAS. Once done, store the floppy
> > discs, etc., along with the hardware used to read/use them,
> > in a safe place.
> >
> > 5. For extra credit, digitize stuff (books, archival
> > matrials, audio cassettes, phonograph records, photographs,
> > etc.), and put the result on the NAS. Like the floppy disks,
> > store the originals and their associated gizmos in a safe
> > place.
> >
> > 6. For extra extra credit, use the NAS's built-in functions
> > to back up your colleagues' computers.
> >
> > 7. Compress the content of the NAS and copy the result to
> > the cloud. In this case, you can use "cold" storage, which
> > means you pay a minumum for the service, as long as you
> > don't access the storage very often. In my case, this is
> > a few dollars per month.
> >
> > 8. For extra extra extra credit, run a Web server on your
> > NAS and allow colleagues and/or the public to access some
> > or all of your collection.
> >
> > 9. Go to Step #1; librarianship and archival practice are
> > never done.
> >
> >
> > In the end, a number of things will have happened:
> >
> > * you will actually have your data and you will not be
> > embolden to somebody (or something) else
> >
> > * you will have practiced 3-2-1; three copies, two storage
> > mediums, one copy in a remote location
> >
> > * you will have minimized long-term out-of-pocket costs
> >
> > * you will have taken control of your own content
> >
> > * you will have increased the number of your technical
> > skills
> >
> > "Yes, but what about Google Drive?" Google Drive is good for
> > collaboration, not long-term archival storage, and besides, those URLs
> are
> > really ugly. "Yes, but we already do much of that via our website." Fine,
> > but are you practicing 3-2-1?
> >
> > In summary, I have found my NAS to be extremely empowering. I think you
> > will too.
> >
> > --
> > Eric Morgan, Librarian Emeritus
> > University of Notre Dame
> >
>
Received on Wed Feb 25 2026 - 09:04:12 EST