Recommendation for (Synology) NAS replacement (home/mini server)

[Scope]

Im currently running a Synology 918+ NAS with 8GB ram and I find it is struggling with the more resource intensive docker containers (for example Immich)..

The 918+ is 5-6 years old now and due for a replacement in the near future, but the current Synology line-up doesn't fill me with any joy, so I will be looking at a DIY solution, not just as a NAS, but a home server running all sorts of self hosting applications..

My current requirements are:

• 20+ docker containers including Plex (with hardware encoding), Home Assistant, Mariadb, *arrs, zigbee2mqtt, etc)
• File server (currently got 3 drives, but only 7-8gb in total) - these are equally old so probably buy new drives.
• Currently not running RAID, but might do on the new box.
• No need to a screen, but ideally would have a (i)GPU for hardware encoding.
• (Minimum) 2.5 Gb Port

The need the new server to be quiet, low idle power usage, small form factor..

I will be looking into running something like Unraid or TrueNAS as OS..

The latest equivalent Synology (923+) (for example) is around £550 (diskless), so that's my starting point pricewise (+ disks), but prepared to go a bit higher for the additional CPU power.. The 923+ is using a CPU first released in 2017, which is rubbish for a top of the range Synology NAS.

What should I be looking at in terms of hardware - motherboard, PSU, RAM, cache drive, etc.. It will all be new hardware.

 

[Scope]

Why not just let your existing Synology do what it's good at i.e. being a NAS and sharing files, and separate out your "compute" requirement to a Mini desktop PC e.g. Lenovo Tiny, Dell Optiplex Micro, or HP Mini, or one of the small form factor Beelink (or similar).

That is a fair comment.. Its only the more "power hungry" docker containers that are making me rethink if the 918+ is up to the job, so perhaps if I got a quiet, powerful (enough) mini pc to run some of the containers on, that would do the job..

Any suggestions (other that the ones you have already given), in terms of which spec, etc I should go for?

 

[Scope]

Thanks for the feedback.. I looked into Mini PCs, and was about to buy one - although I was reluctant due to potential problems like noise and low lifespan expectations..

Anyway, it turns out that the issue with my 918+ was me running too many docker containers, putting a strain on the volume - RAM and CPU were fine.. I had a spare slot in the NAS so put a small SSD I had laying around, and straight away the problems went away - the SSD is obviously able to cope with much higher IOPS than the HDD.. I also installed a further 8GB RAM (total as 16GB).. Its been night and day, a complete transformation, the NAS is now super fast.. So it seems like I can delay upgrading the NAS for a while.