You can do all of this with most NAS devices.
Advice On A Replacement NAS
- Thread starter Valo
- Start date
I’d been looking at Synology mainly but will look in to QNAP.
Thanks for all the replies.
Good to see a lot of Synology users. I’ve been looking at them and reading various reviews and thought the DS1621+ would be my best bet also. However thanks for the tip about trying to find a DS1618+ I’ll have a look into this.
I’d also be tempted to transfer my Homebridge install I’m running on a Pi to a Docker image a run it on the synology.
Do any of you use an NVMe cache, if so what size and are there any chipsets/manufacturers I should avoid?
I’m now trying to figure out the easiest way of transferring my existing data. Could I run the synology with a single drive with the capacity to copy my Drobo data across, then remove the Drobo drives and install them into the synology expanding the storage pool?
With regards to building my own, that’s not really an option due to personal circumstances unfortunately. Thanks for the info though.
Soldato
I don't use an SSD in my DS918+ for caching but recently took out my small Intel NVMe drive from my laptop as it ran out of space so might put in it soon but I'm not a user of many of the features so maybe I won't notice much difference.
As for data transfer, I don't think I'd put a single drive into the Synology and then increase the pool afterwards - I think to create a storage pool you have to start with a minimum of 2 disks which are formatted when you install DSM. Is there any way you could transfer on to a single disk which could then go in a USB 3.0 or eSATA enclosure to then transfer across - once done you could then add the final blank disk to the pool?
Soldato
Been looking at that along with the TS-673A from QNAP to go alongside a TS-453A unit I have. Essentially the new unit would be the main storage with docs sync to a onedrive 1TB account (365/azure) and also replicated via rsync to the other NAS. Not interested in the virtual stuff so much as I have a hyper-v / esxi host that.
I do vlan interfaces off my current QNAP, but don't think you can do that on the synology.
I may sell the QNAP TS-453A once a replacement is purchased and purchase a basic 2 bay NAS for the rsync replication
I sync my important stuff to OneDrive but it also have a C2 backup from Synology setup so its all fully backed up and I use a addin card (Synology E10G21-F2) on both of them which negates the need to sub-interface and vlan it off.
I've got a rsync setup between the two NAS's for my important data as well.
Soldato
Ok many thanks, will look into the optional card. QNAP is of interest because of ZFS, but I do like the idea of the SHR from Synology etc.
I would also add a vote for Synology. I've not used one myself but everyone else I know who has one doesn't have a bad word to say about them. I'd probably vote against QNAP just on the basis that they seem to be on the front page of The Register pretty often with another exploit. I think the latest was April this year. Particularly worrisome if you need yours open to the internet for anything you might want to do remotely.
I'd also give a vote for TrueNAS or similar and rolling your own. If you're going to be spending a lot on a branded solution rolling your own is a lot more viable. To use proper hardware (ECC, server motherboards, etc) and not just old cast off desktop stuff can get pretty expensive as Intel seems to be removing ECC from their cheaper cpus and forcing you into Xeons.
I'd also give a vote for TrueNAS or similar and rolling your own. If you're going to be spending a lot on a branded solution rolling your own is a lot more viable. To use proper hardware (ECC, server motherboards, etc) and not just old cast off desktop stuff can get pretty expensive as Intel seems to be removing ECC from their cheaper cpus and forcing you into Xeons.
Soldato
Both get hit from a security standpoint more and more.
https://www.howtogeek.com/746871/synology-nas-devices-under-attack-from-stealthworker-botnet/
https://www.howtogeek.com/746871/synology-nas-devices-under-attack-from-stealthworker-botnet/
It's great to see a recommendation from someone who has used neither product and uses The Register (who are as bad as the Daily Mail when it comes to headlines) as an example of why to avoid another one (which incidentally has suffered from the same/similar security concerns).
If you are that bothered about security don't tie into a vendor who uses proprietary software or take the necessary steps in avoiding such issues, such as not using the 'cloud connect' software and secure access via a VPN.
FWIW I have used both Synology and QNAP and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either. DSM is more polished than QuTS/QTS however they both offer pretty much the same at sometimes significantly different price points for similar hardware.
Also TrueNAS isn't really the OS for a regular home NAS user, it's vastly more complex and can be quite overwhelming for someone who wants a plug and play NAS.
Finally, Intel for a custom NAS? What is this, 2017? AMD are far superior in almost every way for the types of CPUs that go into home NAS devices and the ones typically chosen will support ECC (AMD 1500B as an example).
Soldato
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Soldato
Not that Synology/DSM hasn't had it's fair share of exploits and other issues but it appears StealthWorker attempts to brute force it's way in, in which case it's purely up to the end-user and (lack of) security they've deployed.
DSM includes a fairly decent 'Security Advisor' that will run through a lot of the basics such as passwords, setting up non-standard ports etc but enabling 2FA on accounts always helps and as others have mentioned, don't expose it (or any NAS) ideally to the internet and use a VPN if you have to.
@Valo - I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Synology's for a (near enough) headache-free but effective solution although, i do agree in that you would get better bang-for-buck if you go elsewhere like QNap.
Only recommendation would be to stump up for an x86 platform, purely for VM's and Docker's - although supposedly you can sideload Docker on some Realtek Synology's ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Soldato
It's a shame that Synology can't handle VLAN interfaces like the QNAP, if it could then it's pretty much spot on.
A bit of a thread resurrection here as I'm finally going to be able to go-ahead and actually replace my NAS now.
Does anyone have any recommendations on where beset to try and find a good deal on a Synology DS1621+?
Does anyone have any recommendations on where beset to try and find a good deal on a Synology DS1621+?
Soldato
Thanks for the info. I've settled on Synology as that'll do everything I need and more, as well as the UI looks great.
Don’t be under the impression that Synology will be impervious to the same issues.
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At work we had some really old PC's I came across in the basement that should have gone to recycling years ago. I was curious about TrueNAS so I used one of the boxes with a Core i3 4130 CPU, harvested 2 8gb sticks of DDR3 ram and used a 500GB disk for the install and a 3TB WD Disk for storage from the other machines. Watched the tutorials and installed TrueNAS, sorted out a data pool, dataset and mapped a drive and hey bingo it all worked.
I already had an old WD 2TB Elements external drive so mirrored it on the TrueNAS box. To cap it off I bought a Synology DS118 with a Seagate 4TB Ironwolf HDD pre installed that arrived today. Haven't set this up yet but will do in the next couple of days. My aim is to mirror all important things and backups across my external drive and two NAS machines. Probably overkill but a cheap way to get 9TB of backup storage. I agree that TrueNAS is complicated for No0bs like me but I managed to install it as a simple network drive which will do for me. TBH it felt good building the TrueNAS box and getting it to work.
I already had an old WD 2TB Elements external drive so mirrored it on the TrueNAS box. To cap it off I bought a Synology DS118 with a Seagate 4TB Ironwolf HDD pre installed that arrived today. Haven't set this up yet but will do in the next couple of days. My aim is to mirror all important things and backups across my external drive and two NAS machines. Probably overkill but a cheap way to get 9TB of backup storage. I agree that TrueNAS is complicated for No0bs like me but I managed to install it as a simple network drive which will do for me. TBH it felt good building the TrueNAS box and getting it to work.