Best NAS option?

CocoPops

CocoPops

CocoPops

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I've got some money to spend at another online store :rolleyes:

So looking at NAS as an option for backup (Windows), MP3/Film storage for streaming to Xbox/SonyTV etc.

What should I be looking at and hopefully the other store will stock it, their main business is books, CDs, DVDs but they do sell electronics.
 
Do they have anything by Synology? I'm currently on the lookout for a NAS too. The best so far for a 2 disk seems to be the DS-211 but I'm holding off to see if the DS-211+ is any better.

Generally I think Synology and QNAP are the best options.
 
The DS211 has some great reviews, I'd avoid the J if you want decent performance.

The DS211+ isn't much different apparently, only difference is some more RAM, hot swappable drives and a few minor things.

The DS211 was stated to be the best budget NAS by SlashGear.
 
I use FreeNAS on one of my machines here.

Works just like any other NAS box, right down to built in torrent client, itunes server and others.

Totaly free so if you have some old gear kicking around you can seup a nas for nothing.
 
I have the DS210j, which is specced with a slower CPU than the DS211j, and the performance is more than sufficient for streaming full HD video (I have HD audio in my mkv too). As long as you have a gigabit network of course but then that goes for all NAS solutions.
 
I have synology DS211, i found it to be a nice compromise and works brilliantly, im using it for pretty much the exact same things as you
 
I at the moment only have a 500GB Seagate in it (brand new) which is a basic volume so no RAID, i get about 55-60MB write speeds, couldn't tell you read off the top of my head, i was happy with the performance though.
 
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My Grandad has a Synology NAS, unsure of the model.

But it is running with two 1.5TB disks in RAID. We've also got his eSATA 500GB drive plugged into it so that he can use that on all of his machines. He's very pleased with it and it 'just works'.

Highly recommended from both my Grandad and myself.
 
I also recommend you look into the Expandability of the Drobo units and the Extra features of the Qnap units - some of the features it has over the Synology are excellent if you can make use of them.
 
(feels the need to defend synology) examples of these features mrlol? curiosity mostly

yeah forgot to mention i have 500gb usb portable drive plugged in which it backs up to on a schedule, as swinnie said it just "works"
 
PatZ1989 said:
(feels the need to defend synology) examples of these features mrlol? curiosity mostly

yeah forgot to mention i have 500gb usb portable drive plugged in which it backs up to on a schedule, as swinnie said it just "works"
Click to expand...

Compare for yourself

http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=161

vs

http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS211j/spec.php

You may not need any of the extras offered by the Qnap, hence why i added a caveat saying if you can make use of them :)
 
MrLOL said:
I also recommend you look into the Expandability of the Drobo units and the Extra features of the Qnap units - some of the features it has over the Synology are excellent if you can make use of them.
Click to expand...

The Drobo is a seriously tasty piece of kit, but as pointed out later in this thread it is pricey compared to the Synology boxes. I see OcUK have got an extremely competitive price on the 2-bay Synology at the moment; so I may have myself buying one sooner than I thought.
 
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