NAS for CAD Data Server

Synology RS1619xs+ 8GB or 16GB

I’ve just ordered my RS1619xs+ and all the gear for the 10GBe setup for my new CAD Data Server and only purchased 8GB of Ram. However while I wait for things to arrive, I have been wondering if I should have doubled my RAM to 16 GB.

My old DS155+ has served me well but it’s been pushed to it’s limits with many operations getting the CPU up to 99% usage. Then the lag time between getting files from the CAD DATA is excruciating slow…. especially when my other 2 engineers are working on the same Assembly.

So the New RS1619xs+ should be a huge improvement. I loaded it with 4X 10GB WD RED Pro drives, 2GB of Cache so to only thing I went stock with was the RAM.

Also back to my DS1515+. When running the Synology FREE Anti-Virus App, the machine can take 10 hrs. to check 8TB Raid 5 drive. If I want to run this on my new RS1619XS+ will this also be a time issue? Or should I purchase McCafrey AV?

 

RS1619xs+ is four times more powerful then DS1515+. Instead of Atom CPU, you will get Xeon with DDR4 ECC (error correction) memory. You also get NVMe SSD cache slots and x 8-lane x8 slot for a 10Gbit upgrade. You may want to fill 3.5inch bays with SSD or connect the expansion unit to get more PRO drives in the RAID boosting data transfer speeds even further.
With a cache enabled on those NVMe slots, you might not need as much regular RAM. You will need 0.5GB of RAM per every Terabyte of total cache you will have. Which means you are still OK with 8GB RAM.
Make sure all 4 LAN ports are connected to your router and Load balancing is enabled on Synology. This will allow all users to have full Gigabit bandwidth and speed up things.
Or you can have a look at cheapest 10GbE switches here: https://nascompares.com/2018/01/19/cheapest-10gbe-switches/
All you need is one or two 10GbE ports. One for a NAS and the other for bandwidth distribution for local machines 2/5/10GbE.

Also, the antivirus will work faster with Pro or SSD drives.

I hope this helps.

I purchased 4X 10TB WD RED Pro HD, and planned on using RAID 10 (I believe that’s the fastest and most secure) Also I purchased the Synology a NETGEAR 16-Port 10G Ethernet Smart Managed Pro Switch (XS716T) – with 2 x 10Gigabit SFP+ and the Synology Dual-Port 10GB SFP+ PCIe 3.0 X8 Ethernet Adapter (E10G17-F2) for the RS1619xs+ NAS and planned to connect them together using the 2 SFP+ ports with these cables: Cable Matters SFP+ 10GBASE-CU Passive. I hope I got that part right!

I also purchased an dual port Intel Ethernet Converged X710-DA2 Network Adapter (X710DA2) for my Workstation, and plan on using both ports to connect directly to the Switch, or even the NAS. My other 2 Engineers will both have single port an Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540T1 and they’ll be wired using CAT7 cables to the Switch.

So how’s my logic on this?

Here’s the reason for all of this upgrade… so you can see any improvement will be welcomed. This is the Real Time view of my DS1515+ suffering through me alone using CAD and nothing else running on either my machine or the DS1515+ other than the DSM. When those System Spikes happen, my CAD program sits waiting.

4X 10TB WD RED Pro

NETGEAR 16-Port 10G Ethernet Smart Managed Pro Switch (XS716T)

Synology Dual-Port 10GB SFP+ PCIe 3.0 X8 Ethernet Adapter (E10G17-F2) 

Cable Matters SFP+ 10GBASE-CU Passive

Intel Ethernet Converged X710-DA2 Network Adapter (X710DA2) for my Workstation

Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540T1

CAT7 cables

 

The plan sounds good to me. Also, any CISCO certified SFP+ cables will be compatible. So no worries there.

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I think I may have found the culprit with my high CPU usage. I use Solid Edge from Siemens and we have 3 floating licenses that uses “License Manager”. But I’ve been talking with Tech Support regarding why Solid Edge is so slow and we think the reason is due to “linking” of part and sketch data in a large Assembly. This is a piece of automated equipment, and therefore the relationship of mechanisms with the part being made, requires the parts and sub-assemblies to use fixed data so they all behave correctly. Well in Solid Edge you can use Parts, Assemblies, and Sketches to “copy” certain geometry/details so to be sure everything is based on the same dimensional data.

Anyway these “links” continually update. Well in my effort to find why my CPU is being overloaded I decided to “break” these links and try it again. What makes matters worse in when there’s someone else also in the Master Assembly (but in a different sub-assembly or part), and then these “links” are placed on lock, so as to keep the data clean. So now when I try and do my editing or create new parts, there’s no overloading on the CPU. Here’s the overview monitoring my “broken link” Assembly.

 

Thank you. Just an update.

The DS1817+ has all the company data on it as well as a backups for everyone but the CAD data which resides on the new RS1619xs that I purchased at the end of last year. This has worked out great with myself and my 2 Engineers all using 10BGe all day long with no more lag loading large Assemblies.

Granted the ioSafe 1019+ also lacks a 10Gbe port but for night backups it should be fine with the 2 1Gbe ports bonded… too bad it didn’t have a PCI 3.0 slot too.

 

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