What storage for music with Nucleus?

Roon Software Discussion
1 
       I purchased a Roon Nucleus today.  I did not buy it with internal memory.  I have 4TB's of music stored on an old Sooloos control 15 and Twin store.  I would like to transfer this music to a data storage device that can be accessed by the Roon Nucleus. I would like to have an automated back up system so having a system that does that would be great too.   Is it better to use a DAS and connect directly to the nucleus with a USB cord, or, should I use a NAS and access the information through my network across ethernet cable?  Also, what is an appropriate brand/model that you would recommend I pair with my Nucleus.  For example a QNAP TS-453D-8G 4 bay NAS.  Is this overkill and/or is this a compatible with using the Nucleus?

I would appreciate any help to help me choose the right storage device. I would like to buy the storage device as soon as possible so I can begin using my Roon. Thank you.

2

An internal SSD is definitely the way to go. It’s fast, silent and fits perfectly inside the Nucleus:

I have the 4TB version of this SSD inside my Nucleus, and it works perfectly.

3

SSD is also my choice (silent, fast).

QLC SSDs are less expensive for the same capacity as other technologies, but have a shorter lifespan when used intensively.

Storing music does very little writing (and the roon database is on the other SSD) - so the profile fits really well with QLC.

As the expert says here SSD drive for Nucleus+ - #17 by danny

Like @Martin_Kelly I’ve gone for a 4TB Samsung QVO.

BTW Samsung replaced a previous SSD for me when it failed 4.5 years into a 5 year warranty with no fuss at all!

4

You pose the question as a choice between a DAS (a USB drive attached to the Nucleus) or a NAS to hold your music files.

As has been said, locally-attached storage, whether an internal SSD/HDD or a USB drive is better than a NAS as far as the Nucleus is concerned.

However, you also raised the point about requiring backup for the music files. In which case you should probably think about both: a locally-attached storage to hold the music files and a NAS or an additional drive to hold a backup of your music files.

Personally, I have taken the approach to have a 4TB USB drive that I connect to my PC and take a backup (over the network) of the music files held in my ROCK/NUC (my DIY Nucleus). I then store the drive off-site in case of disaster.

Note that at this stage of development, Roon or the Nucleus do not have a function built-in for making backups of your music files, so a third-party backup application is needed.

5

In case it’s helpful - I keep my master music store on a Mac ssd, and then sync it with the Rock SSD ( I use goodsync).

I can then use time machine to manage multiple onsite and offsite Mac backups for my music files.

I also have ROCK back up it’s database onto a remote Mac server.