Ask Slashdot: What Network-Attached Storage Setup Do You Use?

“I’ve been somewhat okay about backing up our home data,” writes long-time Slashdot reader 93 Escort Wagon.

But they could use some good advice:

We’ve got a couple separate disks available as local backup storage, and my own data also gets occasionally copied to encrypted storage at BackBlaze. My daughter has her own “cloud” backups, which seem to be a manual push every once in a while of random files/folders she thinks are important. Including our media library, between my stuff, my daughter’s, and my wife’s… we’re probably talking in the neighborhood of 10 TB for everything at present. The whole setup is obviously cobbled together, and the process is very manual. Plus it’s annoying since I’m handling Mac, Linux, and Windows backups completely differently (and sub-optimally). Also, unsurprisingly, the amount of data we possess does seem to be increasing with time.
I’ve been considering biting the bullet and buying an NAS [network-attached storage device], and redesigning the entire process — both local and remote. I’m familiar with Synology and DSM from work, and the DS1522+ looks appealing. I’ve also come across a lot of recommendations for QNAP’s devices, though. I’m comfortable tackling this on my own, but I’d like to throw this out to the Slashdot community.

What NAS do you like for home use. And what disks did you put in it? What have your experiences been?

Long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo asks “Have you considered just building one?” while suggesting the cheapest option is low-powered Chinese motherboards with soldered-in CPUs. And in the comments on the original submission, other Slashdot readers shared their examples:

destined2fail1990 used an AMD Threadripper to build their own NAS with 10Gbps network connectivity. DesertNomad is using “an ancient D-Link” to connect two Synology DS220 DiskStations Darth Technoid attached six Seagate drives to two Macbooks. “Basically, I found a way to make my older Mac useful by simply leaving it on all the time, with the external drives attached.”

But what’s your suggestion? Share your own thoughts and experiences. What NAS do you like for home use? What disks would you put in it?
And what have your experiences been?

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Dubai Court Recognizes Crypto As a Valid Salary Payment

The Dubai Court of First Instance has declared that cryptocurrency can be used as a legal form of salary under employment contracts. CoinTelegraph reports: Irina Heaver, a partner at UAE law firm NeosLegal, explained that the ruling in case number 1739 of 2024 shows a shift from the court’s earlier stance in 2023, where a similar claim was denied because the crypto involved lacked precise valuation. Heaver believes this shows a “progressive approach” to integrating digital currencies into the country’s legal and economic framework. Heaver said that the case involved an employee who filed a lawsuit claiming that the employer had not paid their wages, wrongful termination compensation and other benefits. The worker’s employment contract stipulated a monthly salary in fiat and 5,250 in EcoWatt tokens. The dispute stems from the employer’s inability to pay the tokens portion of the employee’s salary in six months.

In 2023, the court acknowledged the inclusion of the EcoWatts tokens in the contract. Still, it did not enforce the payment in crypto, as the employee failed to provide a clear method for valuing the currency in fiat terms. “This decision reflected a traditional viewpoint, emphasizing the need for concrete evidence when dealing with unconventional payment forms,” Heaver said. However, the lawyer said that in 2024, the court “took a step forward,” ruling in favor of the employee and ordering the payment of the crypto salary as per the employment contract without converting it into fiat. Heaver added that the court’s reliance on the UAE Civil Transactions Law and Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 in both judgments shows the consistent application of legal principles in wage determination.

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US Fines T-Mobile $60 Million, Its Largest Penalty Ever, Over Unauthorized Data Access

The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) fined T-Mobile $60 million, its largest penalty ever, for failing to prevent and report unauthorized access to sensitive data tied to violations of a mitigation agreement from its 2020 merger with Sprint. “The size of the fine, and CFIUS’s unprecedented decision to make it public, show the committee is taking a more muscular approach to enforcement as it seeks to deter future violations,” reports Reuters. From the report: T-Mobile said in a statement that it experienced technical issues during its post-merger integration with Sprint that affected “information shared from a small number of law enforcement information requests.” It stressed that the data never left the law enforcement community, was reported “in a timely manner” and was “quickly addressed.” The failure of T-Mobile to report the incidents promptly delayed CFIUS’ efforts to investigate and mitigate any potential harm to U.S. national security, they added, without providing further details. “The $60 million penalty announcement highlights the committee’s commitment to ramping up CFIUS enforcement by holding companies accountable when they fail to comply with their obligations,” one of the U.S. officials said, adding that transparency around enforcement actions incentivizes other companies to comply with their obligations.

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National Public Data Confirms Breach Exposing Social Security Numbers

BleepingComputer’s Ionut Ilascu reports: Background check service National Public Data confirms that hackers breached its systems after threat actors leaked a stolen database with millions of social security numbers and other sensitive personal information. The company states that the breached data may include names, email addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers (SSNs), and postal addresses.

In the statement disclosing the security incident, National Public Data says that “the information that was suspected of being breached contained name, email address, phone number, social security number, and mailing address(es).” The company acknowledges the “leaks of certain data in April 2024 and summer 2024” and believes the breach is associated with a threat actor “that was trying to hack into data in late December 2023.” NPD says they investigated the incident, cooperated with law enforcement, and reviewed the potentially affected records. If significant developments occur, the company “will try to notify” the impacted individuals.

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