Hi all! Hoping I’m asking this in the right place — I’m part of a global video production team, and we’re currently looking for a...
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The original was posted on /r/datahoarder by /u/fordiem on 2025-05-27 20:11:53+00:00.

Hi all! Hoping I’m asking this in the right place — I’m part of a global video production team, and we’re currently looking for a long-term storage solution for our cold archive. I’m relatively new to NAS/storage infrastructure, so apologies if I misuse any terms!

We shoot a high volume of content each year — 2024 alone generated about 150TB of assets (footage, project files, etc.). We currently use a cloud-based platform for editorial and work-in-progress files, but need a physical, on-prem solution to store archived assets for the long haul.

Right now, we’re running:

  • 2 x QNAP TVS-1282T3 units (each with ~75TB)
  • Each connected to a QNAP DL-800C expansion (~110TB)
  • We’ll max these out by the end of 2025 once we finish archiving 2024

We’re looking for a new solution that can:

  • Store at least the next 2–3 years (so ideally 400–500TB total)
  • Be expandable as our needs grow
  • Function as cold storage — speed is less of a priority than reliability and scale
  • Be reasonably user-friendly (we’re a creative team, not full-time IT pros)
    • EDIT: We have an IT department! But unfortunately there’s a lot of turnover in IT (the person who installed our existing QNAPs years ago was long gone by the time I started at my job, we begged them to help us out since nobody knew how to access them but they said no/couldn’t figure it out, so I had to learn how to use them myself) so I want to make sure that it would be easily understandable if/when someone takes over my job!

I’ve reached out to a few vendors (Synology, QNAP, SNS), and quotes so far have ranged anywhere from $40K to $100K, depending on the level of performance and scalability. That said, I’m wondering if there are better or more cost-effective options? Would something like a large DAS with 20–24TB drives work for us, or do we need to stick with the same/similar current NAS system? Is there anything better and expandable?

Would love any recommendations on setups, brands, or pitfalls to avoid. We’re in the process of cleaning up our archive — keeping only final exports and essential assets for older projects, but we aim to preserve the past two years of production in full, including all raw footage and project files.

Hoping to find the best path forward! Happy to clarify anything I’ve missed! :)