HDD in NAS

Because I use two machines, I went and mklinked both Desktop folders (for common docs) into a single NAS folder; this way, I dont have to worry about duplicate unsync files.

Problem with this setup, NAS is configured to power down the HDDs after several minutes. Is it OK to keep the HDDs spinning non stop? I do understand this will reduce the life of the HDDs, but is that a small price to pay for convenience/low latency?

I also thought of using SSDs to host common docs to keep the latency small.

What are your thoughts? Thanks!

 

If you plan HDDs to work constantly it's best to buy ones that are meant to do that like WD Red series or Seagate IronWolf.

The SSD idea is a good one - I wanted to do the same thing last moth when I needed to put OwnClowd folder on SSD so it wouldn't unnecessarily wake up the HDDs which are on 15 minute spin-down timer, not to mention that would limit latency as spin-up takes a while.

My idea was to put a small and cheap SSD (128GB) for OwnClowd and set the rest of HDDs used for storage and backup on 15 minute inactivity spin-down. That way you get the best of both worlds.

 

Just checked prices of RED HDs and was surprised they are actually very expensive!
I might just the SSD route as you mentioned.

BTW. OwnCloud, seems like a good app I was looking for. Thanks for mentioning that software.