using NAS Server as MySQL DB server?

Question

we are small web develepment company with 4-5 workstations. We use one of the PCs as a webserver and DB server. We are considering option to buy some NAS server (like http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS212j&lang=enu) to use it as DB and webserver. As i dont have any expirince in this field, i would ask is this wise? will this cope with the complex and more dempanding sql queries as we test projects on the local environment? Or maybe will it be wiser to buy another PC and install only OS and WAMP/LAMP on it?

thanks.

Answer 1

I would highly advise against using a NAS for anything else than a file server. The only way you can tell if it would cope is by actually doing it - but I would reccomend a dedicated machine for this. The HP ProLiant MicroServer could be a choice, same price range currently, and comes with a dual-core 1.5Ghz CPU, 2GB RAM and a 250GB HDD.

Answer 2

You do not want to run a development database on a relatively slow CPU and 256MB RAM.

You should get a dedicated box for that and put Windows with XAMPP or more preferably Linux with the server roles you need on it.

Answer 3

If you intend to actually use your database, its very unwise. If you are suggesting that you will only use the NAS for mounting filesystemsthat your databases will be stored on, thats a bad idea too. Decent spec computers are very much a commodity right now, I think its a false economy to skimp on these resources.