Network Storage Setup for The Excel Group
The Excel Group had been running the same network attached storage device for fifteen or twenty years. For most of that time, it did exactly what it was supposed to—keeping shared files, Quickbooks data, and their order management system accessible across the whole organization. By the time we got involved, it was restarting multiple times a day. Every restart meant a gap in access and a real risk of data loss or corruption, and the hardware wasn't going to get more reliable on its own.
Technology Stack
Hardware Doesn't Last Forever
15 or 20 years ago, the Excel Group set up a network attached storage (NAS) device to store and share files across their organization. This allowed all of their employees to access important documents, centralize the data for Quickbooks and their order management system, and keep everything backed up in one place. This setup worked well for many years, but they started running into reliability issues with the old hardware, having to restart the device multiple times a day.
After evaluating a few different options, we recommended replacing the old NAS with a Synology device. Synology’s products are known for their reliability and user-friendly interface, which made them a good fit for the Excel Group’s needs. The new NAS also provided more storage capacity and better performance, which was important as their data needs had grown over the years.
Installation and Migration
TODO: What did the setup and migration look like? How is it integrated with their other systems? (Note: this NAS is also the hardware that later hosted the SMTP relay — worth mentioning the connection.)
The installation and setup process went smoothly, with the new Synology NAS being configured to match the Excel Group’s existing file structure and permissions. The data migration was completed without any issues - although it was kind of a bear due to the frequent need to reboot the failing original NAS - and the new device was up and running with minimal downtime for the organization. The Excel Group’s employees were able to access their files and systems without any disruption, and the new NAS has been running reliably since the installation, with no more frequent restarts needed.
Having this Synology NAS in place has also allowed us to leverage it for other solutions, like when we needed to set up a different email sending solution.