Correct.



Yes. The 214play is one of the models that supports hot-swap.

Though the Synology RAID system is just a bit of icing atop some existing linux RAID system, I was impressed by their description of how their version of the technology works. I'm looking forward to seeing it work in action. In theory I don't have to do anything other than just swap the physical drives and wait for each rebuild in turn.



Good point. If you're in a position where you want the NAS backed up to the cloud, then I agree, you need to make sure your NAS has the ability to support whatever backup service that you use.

I personally use the NAS as a media server, and as a secondary backup for things that our household already keeps on their local systems and/or backs up through other means. For instance, my audio production work files go on the NAS, but they are also backed up in two other places (not counting the audio workstation itself). So I don't feel a huge need to back up the NAS.

I do suppose it would be a PITA to have to re-build the NAS and all its contents if it were to go fully down. For instance, I'm currently in the window where one of the RAID pair has failed and I'm waiting for the replacement to arrive Wednesday. If the second drive fails before then, then I'd have to rebuild and repopulate the NAS from scratch. I wouldn't lose any data, just the rebuild and reconfiguration time. In a situation like that, I could see the need to have the NAS backed up. It's something I'm going to consider more carefully in the future.