NAS Recommendations

Smiler

Smiler

Smiler

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Hello folks,

I'm looking to buy a NAS enclosure (preferably with Cloud capability I think) to store and steam my DVD and music collection to the home theater type system in the lounge and the kids devices in their bedrooms.

I haven't yet found any on the overclockers website but the enclosures come without drives and overclockers do appear to be very competitive with prices on HDDs.

I have been looking at the D-Link DNS-320L ShareCenter™ 2-Bay NAS Cloud
and possibly the overly long named Buffalo LinkStation 421E - Marvell ARMADA 370 1.2GHz ARMv7 , 512Mb RAM ,2 Bay Diskless NAS Device

Can anyone pass on any advice?

Smiler.
 
QNAP, Synology or a custom built Micro Server running your OS of choice will be the most recommended solutions.

I got a 2-Bay populated Synology from OcUK and it's bloody fantastic.

This is a personal opinion, but D-Link and Buffalo are not brands I rate highly and I would have issues trusting my data to them.

Rather spend the money on a Synology.

OcUK's Range - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=1657&catid=2400
 
Ah, I did find the right page then. Though they are populated so the price difference isn't so big. I was looking for bare enclosures so that I could build it in stages utilizing old HDDs and replacing them one a month.

Thanks for the reply.
 
Sin_Chase said:
QNAP, Synology or a custom built Micro Server running your OS of choice will be the most recommended solutions.

I got a 2-Bay populated Synology from OcUK and it's bloody fantastic.

This is a personal opinion, but D-Link and Buffalo are not brands I rate highly and I would have issues trusting my data to them.

Rather spend the money on a Synology.

OcUK's Range - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=1657&catid=2400
Click to expand...

Pretty much spot on word for word what I'd have said.

I played around with a lot of cheap(er) NAS like d-link, etc. trying not to spend a lot on it and never found something that was both as reliable as I liked and had a complete software feature set til I bought my QNAP - wish I'd just put the money up in the first place and saved myself a lot of messing around.
 
Looks like I need to save up a bit more then. I think I might have to postpone this venture then as I have more pressing needs for that kind of money. Apart from the main computer requiring a new SSD (currently have an old HDD slaved in place with the lid off the small form factor machine) I also have a couple of old cars (my main hobby) requiring a bit of investment. I'll shuffle on with the slow old 1TB buffalo linkstation live NAS for now.

Thanks again for the help.

Smiler.
 
Would not trade my synology for anything, I have a two bay and it's fantastic with more features than I will ever need. I have a DS212 that has been replaced by a 213. Avoid the j models 213j etc they lack grunt when asking for demanding tasks. But still great for lighter work.
 
Another vote for Synology they lead the way in the NAS department in my opinion.

Will be getting myself a DS1513+ 5 bay version very soon.
 
Thanks again for the replies, it does look like this may have to wait though until I have more disposable funds that the other toys aren't fighting over. I shall certainly bear all this information in mind for when the time comes.

Cheers.
 
My trusty DS109j is still going strong, and I am it's 2nd owner.
Synology really are very good NAS units.......
 
I used to build NAS boxes and use either FreeNAS or OMV. I'm now using a 4 bay Synology and I doubt I'll go back to building NAS again. So make of that what you will. I also had a DNS-320. Which is sitting in a box in a cupboard since it was cack. The OS was horrible. Only powerful enough to stream music and pictures from. No hope of streaming movies from it. Synology's DSM is much better. QNAP's OS is great too, but I can't remember what it's called.

Synology live demo: http://www.synology.com/en-uk/products/dsm_livedemo
QNAP live demo: http://www.qnap.com/en/index.php?sn=3541
 
Thanks for the help, and also for those two links in the last post. It has helped to confirm that a decent NAS will meet my requirements, to stream media files to various devices.

Just one question that I was unsure of after the demos, will it stream music and video files when accessed remotely over the internet as opposed to through the home network? Just wondering for the odd camping trip when the bored kids can watch videos/listen to music instantly streamed from the 'cloud' as opposed to having to wait for them to download first.

Thanks again.
 
If you setup port forwarding on your router and make the NAS accessible from the internet, then yes, you will be able to access all your files and folders on it away from home. But take into account your upload rate from your ISP and your download rate over whatever you're using while away from home and whether or not it is good enough to stream. Also take into account that opening up your NAS to access from the internet opens it up to more security problems that you need to be more aware of and regularly check for unwanted access or login attempts (DSM on Synology has a block IP feature you can set for login attempts, QNAP has the same function in the settings / network tab). You can also create self signed certificates so only devices with those certificates can access your NAS over the internet, but that is a bit more complicated.
 
Ah, I see. Ok, I shall bear that in mind. There won't be anything more sensitive than family photos on the drive. I take it though tat the security risk also includes a risk if viral attack onto the drive which will then promulgate no an other devices that connect to it.
 
I'd definitely look at Synology NAS's, they are expensive but they're worth it, I currently have a DS413 and the only thing Im not a fan of is the plastic build (considering its a £400 unit), Netgear are pretty decent too, you'll find they use premium materials for the chassis.
 
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I had a synology and loved it but now I have a HP N54L with XPEnology installed(same as synology) and it even updates :)

It's based on the DS3612xs and runs great but is £1,500 cheaper :)
I'd never go back to synology now..well unless they drop their prices by 75%.
 
deuse said:
I had a synology and loved it but now I have a HP N54L with XPEnology installed(same as synology) and it even updates :)

It's based on the DS3612xs and runs great but is £1,500 cheaper :)
I'd never go back to synology now..well unless they drop their prices by 75%.
Click to expand...

Considering those hps with cash back can be had for £125-130 and free to use XPEnology, technically they are 2ghz+ AMD dual cores with 4 bays with 4tb hdd support with a modded bios I hear.... and you can convert cd drive bay with a 5th hdd if one wanted... 25watt cpu so very low and efficient...

talked myself into it lol
 
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