Best NAS for a good price?

[pcslookout]

Best NAS for a good price?

Right now I use a old laptop. Would a little portable hard drive with NAS be better like WD sells or not really? Do they support Plex ?

 

[EXCellR8]

you could probably find a 2-bay Synology, maybe last gen or two, for a couple hundred bucks. we use a DS213+ here at the office and it's a great little machine. I know for sure it supports plex media and a slew of other really useful apps. the software is really nice to use too

 

[Kartajan]

best is pretty vague without more information. Just as a Plex server/ storage I would look at the WD PR series (PR2100/4100) Other use cases will yield other "best" choices.

https://www.amazon.com/Diskless-Cloud-Pro-Network-Attached-Storage/dp/B01GLRX65Q

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/rankers/nas/view

 

[mxnerd]

Yeah, Synology.

https://www.amazon.com/Synology-Network-Attached-Storage-DS216play/dp/B015JQAWW0

tons of packages in addition to Plex.

 

[Pulsar]

I just bought this. It's so much more than just a NAS. Wireless or wired, can handle a printer, and the synology software simply can't be beat with the photo, music, and media server options all being built in.

https://www.amazon.com/Synology-Sta...qid=1505533666&sr=1-4&keywords=synology+4+bay

 

[itakey]

I've been very happy with my QNap Nas, has been running about 2+ years and never misses a beat. Only time it goes down is for quick firmware updates when I trigger them. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[Malogeek]

Just don't get one of the WD cheap NAS My Cloud crap with the sealed units.

 

[thilanliyan]

Is an NAS the same as a regular PC, just in a small form factor? Or does it have a different OS, CPU, etc?

 

[XavierMace]

Depends on the unit. Most of the store bought ones are a custom OS, usually Linux or BSD based and usually with very low powered hardware. Enterprise units often still run their OS, which again usually still Linux or BSD based but with server grade hardware. But they're largely regular PC's just build in a box suitable for mass storage.

 

[Malogeek]

Well they're usually ARM based CPU, or at least non x86 and low power chips in comparison, so.... Not really.

 

[XavierMace]

Well they're usually ARM based CPU, or at least non x86 and low power chips in comparison, so.... Not really.

That depends how far up product stacks you go.

 

[aigomorla]

Well they're usually ARM based CPU, or at least non x86 and low power chips in comparison, so.... Not really.

well i think this only applies if your looking at prebuilt.... but a lot of people also build there own NAS using FreeNAS or UnRaid.

Mine for example is FreeNAS built on a supermicro platform.

:T

My NAS has a lot of ECC Reg ram due to the nature of FreeBSD and how it loves memory. And it has 24 working x64 threads to help it run jails and other stuff like plex and transmission. lol....

 

[Malogeek]

My NAS is probably running the most ECC Reg ram then all the other PC's in my house. And it has 24 working threads to help it run jails and other stuff like plex and transmission. lol....

Your IMG isn't working but if your NAS has tons of ECC ram and 24 threads, then it doesn't really fall into the "usually" category, does it? We're talking about average NAS for home use.

 

[aigomorla]

Your IMG isn't working but if your NAS has tons of ECC ram and 24 threads, then it doesn't really fall into the "usually" category, does it? We're talking about average NAS for home use.

actually not if your looking at people who build there own.

As i said, a lot of people have started to use freenas / unraid if they have any knowledge in how to assemble a PC.

most of these units use a x86 processor.

Even Qnaps use Atom processors so your statement saying they usually use ARM / non x86 processors is not an accurate statement, as there are more NAS's which do use x86 processors then those that don't out in production.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

I'm cheap and have owned 5 different NAS units over the years. I bought a QNAP a few years back and just recently bought another one. Really love the features and the support. And...I'm getting line speed out of a 5 drive unit over Gigabit which is awesome.

 

[Malogeek]

I'm cheap and have owned 5 different NAS units over the years.

Seems like a contradiction to me

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

Seems like a contradiction to me

It might seem that way, but I've always either put them together from Scratch using old drives and linux, or gotten used boxes from eBay. Always the diskless options....but I guess when you add it all up, i've spent a lot in aggregate...but I have friends who spend a lot more and just buy full new systems with disks ready to go...that's not cheap.

 

[XavierMace]

That depends on how often you're upgrading/replacing them. If you're spending 1/3rd the money but replacing/upgrading them 5x as often, then you're not saving anything. I'm honestly not sure how old my previous NAS was before my last upgrade. 5 years? And the upgrade was just done out of boredom not any sort of actual need.

 

[BadOmen]

As the owner of an Asustor, I can't exactly recommend them. Pretty sturdy equipment for a great price, but the apps and the knowledge base are awful.

 

[mv2devnull]

Depends on the unit. Most of the store bought ones are a custom OS, ... with very low powered hardware.

Enterprise units ... with server grade hardware.

Mine for example is FreeNAS built on a supermicro platform ... run jails and other stuff like plex and transmission. ...

This leads to conclusion that NAS are at least two subgroups.

The bare minimum branch focuses on low power consumption. That is hard to compete with self-built, except perhaps by duct-taping a drive to Raspberry Pi.

The enterprise branch is built to do so much more than just being a drive behind a Cat cable, (unlike the DAS drives that connect with SATA/SAS/USB cable).


I have seen a $100'000 NetApp. It was used for "apps" less than my 4-bay Asustor is, and my unit is not for apps either; its cold storage.

 

[XavierMace]

The enterprise branch is built to do so much more than just being a drive behind a Cat cable, (unlike the DAS drives that connect with SATA/SAS/USB cable).

Ummm, no? The consumer stuff is the products that try to be more than storage. Enterprise stuff is purely storage.

 

[Kartajan]

I would argue that the enterprise stuff is generally overkill for the typical consumer space (They spend a lot on uptime features, which can murder a budget quick..)
The consumer stuff is typically low power with a lot of features that tend to overpower the device's CPU if they are all put in use.

I still maintain the the "best" answer depends a lot on the use case, as there are always pros and cons to each solution.. I have yet to see the "perfect" device for every possible task..

 

[pcswig13]

I have used a WD EX2 with two 3TB WD NAS drives for over 3 years now as purely backup on my home network. I don't do streaming so don't need Plex support.
This unit works well, although in year one I did have some issues with the interface hanging in the browser. A firmware update provided by WD fixed that and I am happy with it since then.
I use Acronis backup software and had some trouble with the initial setup of that as it would not recognize the NAS unit until I entered the NAS IP address instead of depending on Acronis' software to find the drive on its own. It works well with daily incremental and weekly full backups.

 

[mv2devnull]

Ummm, no? The consumer stuff is the products that try to be more than storage. Enterprise stuff is purely storage.

Okay, make it three branches:
* The cheapest bare minimum (sans "apps")
* The bells and whistles (includes self-built "super"micros)
<long price gap>
* The Real Enterprise

 

[XavierMace]

Okay, make it three branches:
* The cheapest bare minimum (sans "apps")
* The bells and whistles (includes self-built "super"micros)
<long price gap>
* The Real Enterprise

I'm not really sure where you're going with this or what you're trying to get at. Or why "super"micros is typed like that. The "cheapest bare minimum" generally have apps. Those features generally continue on up most of the consumer oriented product stack. You can't really divide it into branches. It's all about what each individual users needs are.

On the custom built side, there's a mix. Some people like aigomorla run theirs as a multipurpose box. Others (like myself) still run their storage box as a straight storage box and leave the other tasks up to other systems (either physical or virtual). Many of these custom builds exceed the entry level business units in every regards save for having a warranty. Cost wise, they're easily as expensive as the lower end business units.

On the "enterprise" side, you don't see apps, they're just straight storage units. I use "enterprise" in quotes because just being business oriented does not make it enterprise. Many small businesses are perfectly happy with the midrange Synology/QNAP units. On the true enterprise side, $100k isn't even a drop in the bucket. I want to say our last batch of drives alone was $250k.