What NAS for a beginner?
- Thread starter wigster
- Start date
QNAP hardware will be cheaper but Synology software is far more secure and has far more applications you can just download to it. It used to be that people thought QNAP was for more expert users, this simply isn't the case, it's just poorly designed.
It really depends if you have any hardware lying around, if you do then you can put something like UnRAID on it and try it out. If you have an idea of what you want to run (i.e. Number of drives, Is it just going to be storage? A Plex server?) then that will help point you to the right solution.
M.
It really depends if you have any hardware lying around, if you do then you can put something like UnRAID on it and try it out. If you have an idea of what you want to run (i.e. Number of drives, Is it just going to be storage? A Plex server?) then that will help point you to the right solution.
M.
Synology has a halo factor that it doesn't really deserve. Yes, DSM is arguably the best NAS OS but the way its hardware lags behind Asustor and QNAP, its support policies and the way it tries to lock owners to its own memory and storage make the other two more attractive options IMO. Terramaster is also worth considering now V6 of its OS is available if you only want a NAS for storage (or as a platform to run other NAS s/w).
Everything is vulnerable to attacks but Synology patch quicker, don't hide issues and the same for the applications, the developers seem to update much quicker. QNAP are well known to hide CVEs. A lot of security people have found vulnerabilities, reported them and they've not been fixed in several months.
It has that halo factor because they generally just work and are better supported. There are so many issues with QuTS / QuTS Hero , the application support just isn't there, yes the hardware is slightly better (i.e. you can get devices with 10Gb and yes you can put in most memory sticks) but you're still not going to get anywhere near 10Gb, hell 2.5Gb isn't achievable a lot of the time even with quick drives. If you use there own applications, especially items like QuMagie for the AI photosearch, then you'd best not be doing anything else as it kills most other things.
M.
Last edited:
You are painting a black a white (Synology = good, Qnap = bad) picture that strays into the oversell. It’s far more nuanced than that.
Out of the two Synology is better. It is that black and white.
I've owned most popular NAS brands (Netgear ReadyNAS / Synology (both RS and DS) / QNAP / etc.) and the best supported device is the Synology by far, it's not even close. The apps it has are much better, interface much better, security (i.e. security vulnerabilities patched) is quicker, technology is better. Yes it doesn't have the latest hardware such as built in 10Gb but what's the point in having that if the underlying hardware can't actually run at that speed? I currently run a QNAP and can tell you, from experience, it will be my last QNAP device I have. I've helped with QLocker on two QNAP's which caused thousands of file loss, not because of the users fault but because of vulnerabilities in the OS. What did QNAP do to help? Release a statement, said they'd restore a file that there new malware scanner removed making it impossible to buy the recovery, and that was that.
So, between those two brands, I do have a pretty black and white opinion.
M.
QNAP or Synolgy?
For me, QNAP wins because I've had a very positive experience with my 8 year old NAS and I appreciate the reliability, quick support, upgradable RAM, virtualization options, transcoding options, hardware, third party integration, I like QTS and finally surveillance - QVRPro is excellent.
The following are not so important to me, but they are for others
Wider range of models including multiple bays
More powerful CPUs and support for higher RAM
Expandability and direct connectivity - PCI slots, hot swappable drives, thunderbolt, SSD caching, PCi slots, GPUs, fast network cards
Multimedia support
I like the expandability, high-performance components (aka Hardware), and versatility of QNAP but as I said I don't see things in black and white aka I like the simplicity and ease of use of Synolgy and QNAP lost a lot of credibility with the Ransomeware fiasco and poor apps not so long ago.
For me, QNAP wins because I've had a very positive experience with my 8 year old NAS and I appreciate the reliability, quick support, upgradable RAM, virtualization options, transcoding options, hardware, third party integration, I like QTS and finally surveillance - QVRPro is excellent.
The following are not so important to me, but they are for others
Wider range of models including multiple bays
More powerful CPUs and support for higher RAM
Expandability and direct connectivity - PCI slots, hot swappable drives, thunderbolt, SSD caching, PCi slots, GPUs, fast network cards
Multimedia support
I like the expandability, high-performance components (aka Hardware), and versatility of QNAP but as I said I don't see things in black and white aka I like the simplicity and ease of use of Synolgy and QNAP lost a lot of credibility with the Ransomeware fiasco and poor apps not so long ago.
QNAPs apps are absolutely awful. The only app I'd recommend on a QNAP is Plex. They don't have inbuilt DLNA so you need to install several apps just to get DLNA working and that causes all kinds of IO issues on the QNAP as it's trying to identify media and it takes an absolute age. I've not used QVRPro as all of the cameras I own are cloud based so I don't need it going to the NAS so I can't comment on that. I would say Synology has Surveillance Station which I've heard good things about but never used.
With most NAS brands, including Synology you can always get better hardware, expansion cards, transcoding, etc. It just will have a premium. I find that Synology has the best app selection by far with the most maintained and the security is far better than QNAPs, for me that's why I don't put anything of any value on the NAS which is missing the point in a way.
M.
With most NAS brands, including Synology you can always get better hardware, expansion cards, transcoding, etc. It just will have a premium. I find that Synology has the best app selection by far with the most maintained and the security is far better than QNAPs, for me that's why I don't put anything of any value on the NAS which is missing the point in a way.
M.
MinimServer runs perfectly on Qnap alongside the inbuilt Qnap DLNA service. It’s free but but there is an upgrade option that gives you additional functionality.
QVRPro is a highly customisable surveillance suite that turns your NAS into an NVR. With two Poe cameras and two weeks of recording, it costs me err nothing.
QVRPro is a highly customisable surveillance suite that turns your NAS into an NVR. With two Poe cameras and two weeks of recording, it costs me err nothing.
Just wanted to ask WRT to the storage drives (will be relevant to the OP as some of these off-the-shelf NAS solutions come without drives), I've seen the prices of the higher capacity drives (12+ TB) go up in recent months quite a lot, particularly when buying new.
I've also recently noticed a lot of content creators talk about a certain site that refurbishes server-grade drives, specifically for use in servers. Obviously the prices of these refurbs are a fraction of buying new (hence making home NAS solutions more accessible in terms of cost), but does anyone have any experience using such refurb drives or even especially from that certain site?
I've also recently noticed a lot of content creators talk about a certain site that refurbishes server-grade drives, specifically for use in servers. Obviously the prices of these refurbs are a fraction of buying new (hence making home NAS solutions more accessible in terms of cost), but does anyone have any experience using such refurb drives or even especially from that certain site?