NAS Box or Microserver?

JamesGrant

JamesGrant

JamesGrant

Associate
Joined
27 Jul 2015
Posts
9
Hi Guys,

I have searched this before and read previous topics, but they are over a year old now so I was looking for a fresh view.

I'm essentially looking to get some form of NAS box, mainly as backup storage for my PC. So, I don't need DLNA, apps or anything. The only thing I'm really wanting is an app that syncs to a cloud service such as Amazon Cloud Drive.

I've had a HP N40L for a few years now and it's aged, slow and ready for replacement. It leaves me the question of do I get a NAS such as Synology/QNAP or look down the Microserver route again?

For me, as I need a 4-bay NAS box, going the non-Microserver route could be quite expensive. However, it would be simpler and easier.

However, I'm not one to shy away from a bit of tinkering and was wondering how many people have set up Microservers to essentially be a NAS box? I'd like to shy away from Hypervisors and even running Windows. Previously I ran Windows with FlexRAID and had nothing but problems with the RAID side of stuff. So, basically, I want a stable solution that once set up will be trusty.

Any thoughts from either side?
 
Can you not rebuild the HP N40L with something like FreeNAS, if you only want a backup solution it should be more than man enough for the job.
 
SupraWez said:
Can you not rebuild the HP N40L with something like FreeNAS, if you only want a backup solution it should be more than man enough for the job.
Click to expand...

I could but given the front is hanging off it, I've lost one of the HDD caddies and it's just getting very aged/slow I figured it might be a good time to change. I also need to get new HDD's while I'm at it.
 
If you go for a new NAS you will need HD too unless you get a bundle, could try some RED NAS Drives in your HP and if not happy buy a bare NAS and use them in that.
 
Microserver gen8 with Freenas would probably be a good choice. FreeNAS 10 is looking very swish indeed.
 
Last edited:
Whilst it's difficult to argue against a microserver if you just want something you can drop in and use then personally I like QNAP boxes (although don't go to the 4.3.3 firmware yet) and have several (along with a microserver but that's running ESX and isn't being used as a NAS)

Personally I am not keen on FreeNAS and had all sorts of issues with it when I used it although I know there are some on here who swear by it.
 
If you just want a simple but powerful, robust and well supported backup solution then it is hard to beat the Synology or QNAP offerings. I'd only go the microserver route if you want to dabble or have somewhat unique or esoteric requirements.
 
If you are set on a NAS and want to do more than just serve files then QNAP is always top of my list but they are not cheap, if you want a basic reliable file store then Buffalo, I have deployed many of both as well as various others but for NAS those would be my two choices, I would stay away from the NetGear and Asus offerings as in my experience they been more trouble than most others.
 
Synology are great, but definitely not cheap, compared to the Gen8 Microserver (in terms of the hardware you get). It's a tricky decision. If you want something that is set and forget, then Synology is hard to beat. You're paying a hefty premium for that, though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom