[Lyian]

I've read over another NAS thread of someone who was looking for a 4 bay.

I'm only needing a 2 bay system myself. (haven't decided if i would raid for backup or not yet) What I would like for it to do, (aside from 'as much as possible') is the following..

* Price (dont want to go much over $300. Anything over that it starts to become more feasible to just build a mini computer to do the same work)
* File Sharing (dua)
* Streaming (to other devices such as game consoles and mobile devices)
* FTP (like to be able to send/retrieve information remotely like from work)
* Printer sharing (this is becoming less of an issue. I currently do not have a printer, and most newer ones have networking built in, but i would be nice to have this option just in case)
* Web hosting (this isnt a must, but it would be nice if i could host a website within it that could run SQL and such.
* Serving - ( i would LOVE it if i could host servers on this thing. Such as Vent or Teamspeak. Not sure if the Nas' are that utilitarian or not, but it would be nice.

The two models im looking at are as follows. Outlined by what I see are differences.

Synology DS212
- Supports USB 3.0

QNAP TS-219PII-US
- Faster Processor
- More memory

It would seem, overall that the QNap would perform better, but i know little about Qnap hardware.

Can anyone provide insight to these, or other NAS systems that might fit the bill?

[Adragontattoo]

I have a homebuilt 20 drive NAS and I STILL keep looking at the QNAPs..

It depends honestly on what you are willing to sacrifice. time? DIY. $$? Premade.

[freakdiablo]

Originally Posted by Adragontattoo

I have a homebuilt 20 drive NAS and I STILL keep looking at the QNAPs..

It depends honestly on what you are willing to sacrifice. time? DIY. $$? Premade.

Have to agree with Adragontattoo. The QNAP looks good, but it comes down to how much effort you want to put into it. A small Atom build running FreeNAS will not only fall well within your budget, but will allow you to expand in the future if needed.

But if you insist on getting a small premade NAS, it may depend more on what/how hard you use it. The way I understand it, if only a few people are using it, you don't need much processing power or ram usage. I can be streaming a bluray rip from my NAS while backing up other files to it and not notice any real slowdown, and that's with using onboard RAID5.

[Lyian]

Originally Posted by freakdiablo

Have to agree with Adragontattoo. The QNAP looks good, but it comes down to how much effort you want to put into it. A small Atom build running FreeNAS will not only fall well within your budget, but will allow you to expand in the future if needed.

But if you insist on getting a small premade NAS, it may depend more on what/how hard you use it. The way I understand it, if only a few people are using it, you don't need much processing power or ram usage. I can be streaming a bluray rip from my NAS while backing up other files to it and not notice any real slowdown, and that's with using onboard RAID5.

The big thing for me, and why im looking at a 'premade' as oppose to building a machine is power usage, size, noise, and connectivity. I really didn't want to deal with having to have the thing plugged into its own display. Plus it would cost more to build one the way NAS's are designed.

I've looked into it already, it would run about 400+ to build one with similar setup. As far as users, Primarily just me, but outside connections every so often are possible depending if it can host VOIP servers.

[txus.palacios]

Originally Posted by Lyian

The big thing for me, and why im looking at a 'premade' as oppose to building a machine is power usage, size, noise, and connectivity. I really didn't want to deal with having to have the thing plugged into its own display. Plus it would cost more to build one the way NAS's are designed.

I've looked into it already, it would run about 400+ to build one with similar setup. As far as users, Primarily just me, but outside connections every so often are possible depending if it can host VOIP servers.

Headless Linux computers, anyone?

I am sure you have some kind of old computer you can use. Then just grab a SATA card with lotsa ports, no need for expensive PERCs or RAID cards (if you find one cheap, grab it, ofc) and use software RAIDs if you need a RAID. VoIP server, I think there're Linux servers for all the major clients (TS, Ventrilo...).

[Mpegger]

You can easily build your own headless NAS device that is low power and much more flexible then the pre-mades. Granted the price may not be the best, but the flexibility you get is worth it imo. Those NAS are low priced for a reason (inflexibility), and it's not geared toward the power users, only to the general "plug-n-play-n-forget" populace, who won't try to tweak or grow out of the unit anytime in the foreseeable future.

[nightelph]

Any reason to consider a server board and Xeon for a NAS application? Or is that overkill?

[Lyian]

Originally Posted by nightelph

Any reason to consider a server board and Xeon for a NAS application? Or is that overkill?

Overkill, unless you want to stream HD movies for your entire neighborhood.

[cw823]

Originally Posted by nightelph

Any reason to consider a server board and Xeon for a NAS application? Or is that overkill?

Absolutely a couple reasons, but the biggest one is ECC memory. I'd also argue that a more stable motherboard can't hurt, and if you're running a ZFS file system (which you should), you want tons of memory and decent CPU power.

Also, depending on the distro that you use for OS, certain distros prefer certain hardware, and server level hardware is always more likely to be on the hardware approved list.

[deathman20]

I personally love my Synology I got. Works perfect for all my needs and have quiet a few services online with the system. For a NAS box though you mention memory, these things do not use memory at all. Mine came with a 1Gig stick and had another 2Gig stick laying around figuring it might need it... Most I've ever used was 300 some meg ziping multiple files at once and indexing 6000+ photo's.
CPU speed isn't super critical as well unless your zipping the files on the box themselves. For streaming media it really doesn't take much of anything to do that. Typically my box maxes at 20% cpu usage for as much as I can throw at it that doesn't include compressing files.

Anyways onto the list Synology has apps such as file, music and photo sharing via smart phones to get anything on the go. Nice web interface as well, was quick to setup. You pay a premium for it. Printer services works good too for older printers, hooked a printer up and is accessible by anyone in the house via PC. Scanning works as well.

Web sharing be warned, if your ISP contract does NOT allow it they will find out and quickly. Took just a few hours before I got an email that something was accessing restricted ports. Just be warned.

Overall I went with my Synology because my IT department at work mentioned how nice it was. I went with it and never looked back. Took my PC I had acting as a server offline within 24 hours, was up and running with the NAS box within hours.

[cw823]

Originally Posted by nightelph

Any reason to consider a server board and Xeon for a NAS application? Or is that overkill?

Originally Posted by deathman20

For a NAS box though you mention memory, these things do not use memory at all. Mine came with a 1Gig stick and had another 2Gig stick laying around figuring it might need it... Most I've ever used was 300 some meg ziping multiple files at once and indexing 6000+ photo's.
CPU speed isn't super critical as well unless your zipping the files on the box themselves.

What did you think Xeon and server board meant? If you go with a cookie cutter with a mediocre file system, sure. But if you actually care about your data and want ZFS (the ONLY real filesystem for critical data), you need a motherboard, processor and (wait for it)....RAM!

[deathman20]

Originally Posted by cw823

What did you think Xeon and server board meant? If you go with a cookie cutter with a mediocre file system, sure. But if you actually care about your data and want ZFS (the ONLY real filesystem for critical data), you need a motherboard, processor and (wait for it)....RAM!

Sorry when I ment memory/CPU speed I ment for the Synology NAS box NOT custom built boxes.

Though if its a ZFS system u do need the power.

[cw823]

Originally Posted by deathman20

Sorry when I ment memory/CPU speed I ment for the Synology NAS box NOT custom built boxes.

Though if its a ZFS system u do need the power.

And to be fair I have never owned a store-built NAS.

[nightelph]

Cool, thank you.

[Kilberz]

Originally Posted by Lyian

I've read over another NAS thread of someone who was looking for a 4 bay.

I'm only needing a 2 bay system myself. (haven't decided if i would raid for backup or not yet) What I would like for it to do, (aside from 'as much as possible') is the following..

* Price (dont want to go much over $300. Anything over that it starts to become more feasible to just build a mini computer to do the same work)
* File Sharing (dua)
* Streaming (to other devices such as game consoles and mobile devices)
* FTP (like to be able to send/retrieve information remotely like from work)
* Printer sharing (this is becoming less of an issue. I currently do not have a printer, and most newer ones have networking built in, but i would be nice to have this option just in case)
* Web hosting (this isnt a must, but it would be nice if i could host a website within it that could run SQL and such.
* Serving - ( i would LOVE it if i could host servers on this thing. Such as Vent or Teamspeak. Not sure if the Nas' are that utilitarian or not, but it would be nice.

The two models im looking at are as follows. Outlined by what I see are differences.

Synology DS212
- Supports USB 3.0

QNAP TS-219PII-US
- Faster Processor
- More memory

It would seem, overall that the QNap would perform better, but i know little about Qnap hardware.

Can anyone provide insight to these, or other NAS systems that might fit the bill?

I Have a Synology DS121 and its pretty ace, has one 3TB drive in at the moment, all UI is awesome, packed full of features, so proud of it

[Lyian]

ok.. ive decided to abort the pre-built NAS's and build my own for multipurpose use. Going to make a new thread based on this. (if it even belongs here)

Thanks all for the help