NAS - 4-Bay required

Varsh · 2 Jan 2012 at 23:55

For the last 4 or so months I've been going over exactly what NAS to get yet I still can't decide exactly.

The QNAP 419P II looks like the one I would get but it's rather pricey, the 419P+/Turbo are a little more affordable but at the expense of extra CPU speed.

Looking at the Synology DS411 it looked like a viable option as it's certainly much cheaper but is not hot-swappable, I'd rather have that but I could live without it I suppose. It's also slower and has less RAM than the 419P's. The DS411J/DS411+ have pretty much the same features as the 419P+/II/Turbo but again at the expense of hot-swap and a little more pricey.

I'm wanting to put in at least 4TB to start with and upgrade later
Have a high read/write speed on a RAID 5 setup (want parity)
Will be hosting personal websites so small traffic
Splitting access rights so that others can't see my files and vice versa
Storage (obviously)
Streaming videos and music to other devices like the PS3 and a TV (DLNA)

Any advice or ideas on what I could or should get?

a1ex2001 · 3 Jan 2012 at 11:10

Your cheap option will certainly handle what you require.

For personal use hot swap is a nice to have and nothing more, think about it how often will you actually need to swap a drive and is the extra money really worth it?

KIA · 3 Jan 2012 at 12:31

HP Microserver + Linux

Dave85 · 3 Jan 2012 at 16:29

This may make your choice easier. Synology still have not fixed mkv streaming to the ps3 without it stopping randomly between 80 to 90%

Varsh · 3 Jan 2012 at 20:24

I have a lot of MKVs too so I guess that does rule out Synology then. Shall I just go with the cheaper QNAP 419 option? It's then a matter of trying to find HDDs to fill it with - and it's a nightmare now because of the obvious price hikes.

Edit: Do you think a QNAP TS-419+ Turbo with 8TB (4x 2TB) for £823 inc VAT and Delivery is a good price? Considering the HDD prices and all.

Dave85 · 4 Jan 2012 at 00:14

If I could go back in time I probably would have went with Qnap however according to the latest reports from forums at synology they have replicated the mkv issue and are working towards a fix for the next dsm release. Take that with a bag of salt though.

considering hard disk prices that doesnt seem that bad of a price but if you can wait I would. Hard disk prices are coming down again and again synology may get it fixed.

Deception · 4 Jan 2012 at 10:34

We've recently put in a ReadyNAS NV+, which has 4 bays, RAID 5 and hot swappable. I just need to look at what else it does, to make sure it fills the other roles.

Varsh · 5 Jan 2012 at 14:34

Well I've been looking around and found that some 2TB HDDs I can get under £100 and also the same NAS for under £400 so that's certainly lowered the price a fair bit.

Any news on the ReadyNAS?

Deception · 5 Jan 2012 at 15:41

Varsh said:
Well I've been looking around and found that some 2TB HDDs I can get under £100 and also the same NAS for under £400 so that's certainly lowered the price a fair bit.

Any news on the ReadyNAS?

Here is a link to its specs:

Link

As you can see, it supports most of the stuff you need and I believe we got it for under £400 too.

a1ex2001 · 6 Jan 2012 at 14:22

I'd hang on a month or so if you can hard drive proces are dropping like a stone and I wouldn't want to be diving into the market right now!

Varsh · 9 Jan 2012 at 15:35

Well it seems like hanging on a month is probably the better idea. The same place that was selling that NAS and HDDs for £823 is now selling the same exact thing for £778! Looks like the HDD prices are really tumbling.

Deception · 9 Jan 2012 at 15:37

Varsh said:
Well it seems like hanging on a month is probably the better idea. The same place that was selling that NAS and HDDs for £823 is now selling the same exact thing for £778! Looks like the HDD prices are really tumbling.

Hopefully prices go back to normal soon :eek:

Varsh · 12 Jan 2012 at 21:33

Well I checked again just now and the thing is going for £765! So in 10 days the price has gone down a hell of a lot already. I'm loving this.

unleashed · 13 Jan 2012 at 10:49

Have you considered building a WHS 2011 box?

Varsh · 13 Jan 2012 at 17:14

The thing is with WHS 2011 is that it's not as secure as a Linux setup plus I've been using a Linux setup for about 7 years now. I could install Apache and such on WHS 2011 but I don't want to purchase another OS. I was looking at the Acer RC111 though. I am still up for purchasing a WHS setup if anyone has any recommendations.

unleashed · 14 Jan 2012 at 09:46

I've had a Tranquil SQA-SH for about two years now originally ran WHS V1 now running WHS 2011 which is 64Bit only based on Windows Server 2008 core. Not the cheapest WHS box but I can honestly say I have had no problems thus far. I'm running the OS on a RAID 1 pair of 2.5" drives installed within an Icy-dock module which occupies one of the 3.5" drive bays. The four remaining slots I have installed 2GB drives.

The HP ProLiant and Acer RC111 boxes can be had for less money, there are various reviews on WHS web sites.

Varsh · 17 Jan 2012 at 15:42

After looking at a WHC 2011 setup I've decided against it, in fact it would end up costing more to setup with the options I want and I don't have the money to do that unfortunately.

As for the same thing I've been keeping an eye on, it's gone down even further in price, £743 now! I think I'm going to get that after next Monday when it most likely will go down in price again.