# How to pick a NAS



## babuja (Mar 20, 2016)

Hi guys, 

Whats the best NAS for photographers? Do Qnap and Synology handle raw files formats?


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 20, 2016)

NAS boxes are just storage facilities that are accessed over the network instead of being hooked directly up to the computer, so yes they can handle raw files.  They're great for backups, or for storage if you only work on laptops that tend to wander round the house with you, but they can be a bit slower than directly connected drives.  I like my Synology one for convenience though.


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## babuja (Mar 20, 2016)

Thanks Victoria. Im using a WD mycloud for backup, share and remote acess but not very happy about funcionalities of Wd. With qnap and synology can i "see" raw pics in the Qnap when acessing it remotely? Does qnap produces previews/thumbnails of the raw file when i acess the folder? Or do i have to open each file to see the image? Cheers


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## clee01l (Mar 20, 2016)

Something to consider about NAS drives and RAID. NAS drives are usual a small single function LINUX computer dedicated to getting and sending files across the internet.  If the drive is a RAID device, it usually has a piece of hardware called a RAID Controller.   RAID drives also use a proprietary filesystem and the drives are formatted  with this file system.  If the computer fails or the RAID controller dies, you may be left with all of your data on a working disk drive but no ready way to access the drive contents.  If there is no RAID, the LINUX OS will likely have formatted the drive using one of several common and well known filesystems.  Your disk drive can be pulled from the Linus computer and installed into any other operation system and special software can be used to read the LINUX filesystem data.  If there is a RAID Controller and a proprietary RAID filesystem, you will need a working RAID controller replacement to read the data.  It is difficult though not impossible to obtain special proprietary software ($) that will read the proprietary filesystem used on the NAS drive. 

Both QNAP and Sinology use EXT3 a well known LINUX filesystem


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## babuja (Mar 20, 2016)

Thanks for the info clee01l ...I'm aware about raid  controller issues, that's why I'll do 2 other backup copys, automatically sync from main HDD.


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 21, 2016)

So actually what you're asking about is the ability of their mobile apps or web browsers to display thumbnails of raw photos?  Or what do you mean by "accessing it remotely"?


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## babuja (Mar 21, 2016)

Yes, that's it. When using mobile app or web browser do they display a thumbnail of all photos?


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 21, 2016)

I've never tried it, but it looks like Synology can: Solution - Digital Image Solutions Synology - Network Attached Storage (NAS)


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## babuja (Mar 22, 2016)

Thanks Victoria, i'll take a look


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## babuja (Mar 22, 2016)

Recommended :: TS-251+ :: Raw Image File Format :: Compatibility list :: QNAP


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## babuja (Mar 22, 2016)

Qnap also supports raw files from several different cameras...perfect


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