NAS Box or Microserver?

[JamesGrant]

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?

 

[JamesGrant]

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.

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.