NAS buying advice needed

[daviddavidkam]

Hi all, I am new to the world of NAS devices.
I have 5 X 3.5" Sata HardDisks which I would like to share the data around my home network.
I have 2 notebooks, 1 netbook, 1 iPad, 1 desktop and a PS3; I would ideally like to share my files with all devices, and it will be a bonus if I can create different user account for access.
I would like to spend around £150-£350 ($240-$550USD) on the NAS.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[LNCPapa]

I recently ordered (and haven't even received yet) from Newegg a Synology 1511+. I was about to press the order button on a Drobo FS until I read all the owner complaints about network speed. I realize, though, that both of these devices are a bit outside of your budget. You might find it a bit difficult to get what you're looking for without stepping up to at least $600 US. The Drobo FS is around $600-630 and the Synology Diskstation 1511+ is around $800-820 US. I could only find 2 qnap devices that supported 5 drives - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc= .

 

[daviddavidkam]

My budget can stretch a little further to say, $850US.
Also, it does not need to house all 5 drives at the same time, so long as it can be swapped around easily.
And I guess I don't need for the NAS to come with any drives, since I have enough of my own already, right?
Any good recommendations?

 

[LNCPapa]

There's a huge price drop if you only need 4 drive support.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...eactivatedMark=False&Order=PRICE&PageSize=100
I would recommend one from Synology... and I've heard good things about QNAP though I've never used one of their devices. I think we even did a review on a 4 drive NAS some time back - I'll update this post if I find the link.

Here's a good review Steve did just a few months ago - https://www.techspot.com/review/400-qnap-ts-412-turbo-nas/

 

[Buckshot420]

Here's the 2 bay Synology on Shell Shocker.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822108095

 

[LNCPapa]

Just got my Synology in and drives installed - setting it up now and will get some numbers... I'll let you know what I think about it soon. Dropped 5x slow but cool 2TB drives into it (since that should easily saturate even dual Gb speeds.)

 

[LNCPapa]

Looks like I'll be looking at this sometime next week... this step is going to take quite a bit of time.

 

[daviddavidkam]

I'm just in the middle of reading the QNAP TS-412 review, seems very reasonable price, but not the best performer in speed.
But the DS411 is much faster, at a higher cost though.

If I want to watch, say a HiDef video file direct from the NAS, will the TS-412 more than capable to handle it? If so, how about multiple-users doing the same thing (different large files in different drives, from the same NAS, but at the same time)?

 

[LNCPapa]

I've only been using my new one a tiny but but so far all I can say is wow. This thing is amazing and so incredibly capable for the price. I was able to join it to my domain and give permissions to AD accounts with ease... I was able to set up e-mail notifications for events and even set up auto IP blocking for failed attempts. This is my first time owning anything from Synology, but I think they've got a long time customer already.

You should really take a look at the capabilities of this thing here - http://originwww.synology.com/dsm/user_interface.php?lang=us

edit: Did I mention that I love this thing already? http://www.duke.edu/~mepm/images/screenshots/apps/Synology_1511_120208.png

 

[dikbozo]

You might consider a 'roll your own' solution like FreeNAS, based on open source.It is free to use as is and is not that difficult to install and use. It will install on commodity PC hardware, such as an old box you have collecting dust(both 32and 64 bit CPUs and IDE and SATA drives). If you wish to use some form of RAID, you may, at your own risk and comfort.

FreeNAS now installs comfortably on a 2GB flash or Compact flash drive and as such can be made quite portable as it re-detects hardware on boot. The minimums on RAM are now recommended at 1GB per 1TB. I would say to have 3+ to be comfortable.

BTW, my current uptime on my FreeNAS box is 18+ days due only to a power outage in the area.

It can seem intimidating to build your first one, but I couldn't be bothered with the pre-built systems due to performance considerations. A truism with NASes is faster CPU = better performance. Oh, and a 'roll your own' will allow you to add a second, third or more NIC for even more better performance.

I stream full 1080p across my wired network on a single NIC with no stuttering to an AMD E-350 based laptop.

 

[mercury01]

I was able to set up e-mail notifications for events and even set up auto IP blocking for failed attempts. This is my first time owning anything from Synology, but I think they've got a long time customer already.

 

[LNCPapa]

Great - Synology 1512 was just announced and they upgraded the proc.

 

[coolermaster]

Here is a decent blog post on buying a NAS server.

http://datarecoveryireland.ie/?p=13