NAS vs Home server

Bl4ck0ut

Bl4ck0ut

Bl4ck0ut

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I was pretty much at the point of pulling the card out to purchase a Synology Diskstation DS214 2 Bay Gigabit Ethernet Network Attached Storage Enclosure when the idea of hosting an all in one home server crossed my mind.

Now I do already have a simple one disk NAS to access media content and that will not change, but what I would like to do is have storage for all data (files) on the network instead of having large local drives in all of our PC/Laptops.

I would also like to be able to monitor, update and install all applications centrally rather than on individual devices, as well as be able to monitor all computers and accounts. On top of this I would like a decent back up solution for all of our devices. This is primary reason for me wanting to upgrade the network and why I was going to go for the NAS solution, but then after thinking about it for a few days, I can't see that it would give me the power and flexibility I need. I'd love to go the server route but I have a feeling it will rocket my electricity bill (which may not go down well with the Mrs) and also I'm not sure it is really necessary.

Any thoughts/opinions on this matter would be much appreciated.
 
HP N54L will do what you want. Costs very very little to run too. I have one running windows server, you can also install the synology software on it = 4/5 bay unit for a fraction of the price, google xpenology
 
NAS = Network storage only.

Homeserver = NAS + Awesome and cool stuff.

As above, the N54L is a decent bit of kit and is available for around £130 delivered if you look in the right places.
 
Im actually quite impressed with how powerful it is tbh. I run a game server on mine with 5-7 users connected and it runs fine (not minecraft) also RDP to it for random bits. At the same time two hd streams can pull from it and its still only using 70-80% cpu. Im running 4X wd red Hdd's in it and my smart energy meter has not noticed its connected :-D
 
Right I've just had a quick look into it and I think I'm pretty much sold (on a micro server at least) especially if I can find one £130 delivered! :O

My only concerns would be the amount of power it consumes, heat and noise?
 
Heat = none!
Noise = very very minimal. I have mine in the spare room next to our room and I cannot hear it at all. You could sleep in the same room no problem.
Electric = this is your lowest power option unless you go nas pretty much. I get monthly statements with a smart meter. I noticed no change at all. You use more leaving lights on than you would with this server. If your really worried about power consumption don't get one but I would be amazed if it's more than £3-4 a month.
 
MichaelAwkward said:
Not really, the lines can be blurred. Plenty of NAS boxes come with extra features that can be found on proper home servers.
Click to expand...

Nothing comes even remotely close to something like the flexibility of the N54L/self install box.

I have a synology box and it does 1% of what my windows server can do. Its boring as hell compared. Plus expansion of some nas boxes such as synology is so limited.
 
Randall8686 said:
Nothing comes even remotely close to something like the flexibility of the N54L/self install box.

I have a synology box and it does 1% of what my windows server can do. Its boring as hell compared. Plus expansion of some nas boxes such as synology is so limited.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but my point was that many NAS boxes aren't simply just network storage.
 
I've got a Synology DS413 and it's a great little box, Easy to set up, easy to use. But I've got a dual CPU home server coming soon and I've thought about using it as a replacement.
 
Well i have a synology infact i have two, and it great at what it does but its cr@p at thinks like expanding. If you have say a dual bay unit you cannot add more hard drives to it. Yes you can use usb or e-sata but you cant expand your volume onto it. I have mine also running my I.P cctv and its okay at doing that too. However compare the cost of a 4 bay vs a hp n54l and im sorry synology are extremely bad value for money for what they are. I love both mine and they are fab, but for the money you dont get much flexibility compared to other options.

Yes they are great at what they do. But they are very limited in what they can offer compared to other options.

But if it does what you want then great. But i would still buy a n54l or equivalent and install the synology software onto it.

Just looking at this logically
 
I have a home server (I typically just power it on to run backups) which has an Intel 4 port gigabit NIC in it. Recently added a Synology 414 (2 port gigabit NIC).


My server runs at around 80 Watts, the Synology is around 20 Watts. How much do the HP Microservers use?

The Synology is used as my read-only media storage for the house
 
No they come empty, same as a synology would. Dont get me wrong they are great. A bit like an apple product. What it does it does very well. But expensive. The hp's can run the synology firmware so for £130 you can have a 4/5 bay synology box or windows server etc. plus u can add more ram and a graphics card if you want to use it On a tv etc.

Both very good synology works out the box.

Hp needs fiddling with
 
My microserver is amazing, it handles so much. Game sever, ftp server, dlna server etc.. All while easily maxing out my network when serving files. Pretty normal to see 115MB/s+
 
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