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

Scope · 23 Jan 2025 at 21:15

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.

mid_gen · 24 Jan 2025 at 14:16

Be interested to see what recommendations are. I've got a DS214 that I'd like to upgrade to 4 or 6 bay solution....

The raspberry pi option is quite appealing tbh. I don't need loads of horsepower though, I just want something to run some redundant storage and security cam server.

Armageus · 24 Jan 2025 at 14:21

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).

wigster · 25 Jan 2025 at 17:36

Scope said:
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.

With Synology they focus on the software side but still it would be better using a more updated CPU. QNAP Has the better hardware but fails on their software.

Semple · 25 Jan 2025 at 18:06

Armageus said:
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).

Exactly this, don't really understand why people pile applications onto a NAS box and then complain when it starts running slow.

Mini PC or NUC, stick Proxmox on it and then dump all your containers on that.

batfink · 25 Jan 2025 at 18:42

Im still rocking a DS209 which only gets light use as a file server. It has been switched on pretty much 24/7 for 15 years! It is backed up but I should probably get around to replacing it before it fails.

Plenty of life left in your 918+ yet.

Scope · 2 Feb 2025 at 15:29

Armageus said:
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?

lsg1r · 9 Feb 2025 at 16:33

I'm running an unraid build based around a 13500, pretty sure you could do similar 12/13th gen for around £550 these days, most of the bulk cost on a home nas/server comes from the cost of the drives imo. Biggest issue will be your choice and cost of case, I'm personally using a node 804 but there are other options.

Mine is used primarily for jellyfin and transcoding works fine.

Scope · 9 Feb 2025 at 16:42

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.

novalis · 6 Mar 2025 at 13:14

I think build your own. I have a hypervisor with locally attached storage in software RAID that I present via SMB/NFS for services

m4cc45 · 2 Apr 2025 at 11:11

wigster said:
With Synology they focus on the software side but still it would be better using a more updated CPU. QNAP Has the better hardware but fails on their software.

This is the essence of it. QNAP hardware is mostly okay, even good at times. The software is awful. Thankfully the main apps are there (Plex / Emby / etc.) but, after that, you'll be struggling where as Synology has a plethora of apps for every thing.

As others have said split out the storage and compute if possible, it will likely be cheaper, with the money saved you could get the NAS a 10Gbe card as well to improve the speeds.

M.

Spleen Sauce · 2 Apr 2025 at 12:47

Scope said:
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.

I've had an MSI Cubi running 24/7 for a few years hosting my entire homelab and had no issues. In fact I've just bought another and rebuilt it all as a Proxmox cluster.

Meddling-Monk · 7 Apr 2025 at 10:32

If anyone is looking at the new 2025 Synology models (which are coming soon), note that the 10gbe NIC add on appears to be not supported on these new models. This either means there's a new NIC coming out as well that they support, or there is no 10gbe on the new models entirely, only 2.5g connection. No confirmation either way at the moment. But it does mean that potentially the DS923+ and the DS723+ is the last set of Synology NAS that officially provide 10gbe that isn't of the larger chasis models. So if you need 10gbe access, those would be the models you'd be after, or you'll need one of the larger chasis models to get 10gbe from a Synology NAS.

wigster · 18 Apr 2025 at 21:49

Meddling-Monk said:
If anyone is looking at the new 2025 Synology models (which are coming soon), note that the 10gbe NIC add on appears to be not supported on these new models. This either means there's a new NIC coming out as well that they support, or there is no 10gbe on the new models entirely, only 2.5g connection. No confirmation either way at the moment. But it does mean that potentially the DS923+ and the DS723+ is the last set of Synology NAS that officially provide 10gbe that isn't of the larger chasis models. So if you need 10gbe access, those would be the models you'd be after, or you'll need one of the larger chasis models to get 10gbe from a Synology NAS.

Rumours are going around that they are also locking hard drives to their own brand only.

lsg1r · 18 Apr 2025 at 23:34

wigster said:
Rumours are going around that they are also locking hard drives to their own brand only.

It's not really a rumour now, they've confirmed that 2025 plus models will be locked in a press release on their German site. I saw this coming when they started doing it... it's partly why I built my own unraid server.

brendy · 19 Apr 2025 at 00:08

They'll still use non branded but there are certain features like advanced failure etc. Synology has always been funny with disks not on their list, they still work.

lsg1r · 19 Apr 2025 at 12:08

brendy said:
They'll still use non branded but there are certain features like advanced failure etc. Synology has always been funny with disks not on their list, they still work.

It's a little more than that from what I'm seeing...

"The use of compatible and unlisted hard disks will be subject to certain restrictions in the future, such as the creation of pools and support in the event of problems and malfunctions caused by the use of incompatible storage media. Volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analysis, and automatic firmware updates of hard disks will only be available for Synology hard disks in the future."

Now some of that you can live without, but being able to create pools is kind of needed imo and if it's anything like now there will be warnings etc too.

It's all about money really... why let your users buy a drive for £300 when you can charge them £600+ for the same drive with a different sticker (and 'custom firmware'... their sales pitch not mine) on it.

Synology is increasingly relying on its own ecosystem for upcoming Plus models | Synology Inc.

Centralize data storage and backup, streamline file collaboration, optimize video management, and secure network deployment to facilitate data management.

www.synology.com

Armageus · 19 Apr 2025 at 12:25

lsg1r said:
It's all about money really... why let your users buy a drive for £300 when you can charge them £600+ for the same drive with a different sticker (and 'custom firmware'... their sales pitch not mine) on it.

Synology is increasingly relying on its own ecosystem for upcoming Plus models | Synology Inc.

Centralize data storage and backup, streamline file collaboration, optimize video management, and secure network deployment to facilitate data management.

www.synology.com

Absolutely about money but not entirely just that - it also cuts down the amount of support calls etc when users fit desktop drives and wonder why their array drops out due to not being TLER etc

lsg1r · 19 Apr 2025 at 13:29

Armageus said:
Absolutely about money but not entirely just that - it also cuts down the amount of support calls etc when users fit desktop drives and wonder why their array drops out due to not being TLER etc

Cutting down support calls means they can have less support staff... reduced wage costs

Ali195 · 20 Apr 2025 at 19:03

Damn, i love my Synology, been using my DS718+ with 16RAM, 16TB for absolutely yonks now. Love DSM as well but yeah that locked on drive nonsense is going to really hurt them in the long run.

I remember the huge uproar from users back when they added all those ‘warnings’ you weren’t using ‘official’ Synology drivers n’ all that tosh, but this is a disaster.

That being said, mine is basically a storage device for photography and 5 camera feed, don’t need compute.

Will seriously consider building my own in future, assuming camera surveillance is a thing on home builds, I know little outside of DSM to be fair.