NAS comparison

washo · 20 May 2011 at 11:35

I am looking at getting a NAS for home use and have come up with a couple of options. I would like 2 x 2TB drives in both. They are:

Synology Diskstation DS211j and the Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 2

Any thoughts on pros and cons would be appreciated together with recommended HDD. I have no idea how the 2 compare speed wise and if the Netgear is worth the extra money.

Thanks

shine · 20 May 2011 at 12:08

I have the DS211J with 2 x 2TB drives and it handles everything I throw at it. I can't comment on the Netgear but the Synology software is excellent, lots of extras like iTunes server that help make it the perfect NAS for me.

ringo747 · 20 May 2011 at 12:21

Go for the Synology. The UI is very good. I have a DS211 with 2 x 2TB Samsung F4s.

DoubleCheese · 20 May 2011 at 13:40

Quick question on the Snynology NAS, can it do the following:

Backup my MacbookPro Time Machine backups that are on an external FW800 HDD? Via WiFi or cabled to the router?
Backup my W7 machine and attached external HDDs?
Serve/stream music and video to PS3 and iPad?

Any idea what the power consumption is like with 2 x 2Tb drivers?

sypher365 · 20 May 2011 at 13:52

+1 for synology had a netgear stora which just about did the job upgraded to a synology ds411j with 4 2Tb F4's after a month and havn't looked back.

lots of reviews of the different synology NAS's here which should have power consumption as well as feature lists but should do everything you ask for DoubleCheese.

shine · 20 May 2011 at 14:11

DoubleCheese said:
Quick question on the Snynology NAS, can it do the following:

Backup my MacbookPro Time Machine backups that are on an external FW800 HDD? Via WiFi or cabled to the router?

Yes, no problem, I do this all the time. You can even set TM to back up directly to the NAS, this works well too.

Backup my W7 machine and attached external HDDs?

Yes, no problem, I do this all the time.

Serve/stream music and video to PS3 and iPad?

Yes to iPad, I assume yet to PS3 but I've never tried it so can't be 100% sure.

Any idea what the power consumption is like with 2 x 2Tb drivers

Don't know never measured it.

washo · 20 May 2011 at 14:18

The Synology certainly seems the more cost effective option but the processor and memory of the Netgear looked more attractive and possibly worth the extra money. The metal build also looks more robust.

What 2GB hdd's would you put in the Synology?

shine · 20 May 2011 at 14:21

I've put 2 x Samsung F4's in mine just like Ringo.

mraerosmith1981 · 20 May 2011 at 21:39

Go for the synology with 2 samsung F4's, you cant wrong, I use a 211J, for backup purposes with just that spec

Jokester · 21 May 2011 at 10:10

I've just bought the 211J, review sites highly rate it. Going to put in a pair of Sammie 2TB.