Synology vs. QNAP

[azzidodabass]

Hi guys,

Following from a recent thread I started, I have some more questions. I have created a new thread as topics are totally different.

I took delivery of a Synology DS214play last week. I wanted something that would serve all my files without having to have my main PC on all the time, but that would also download Torrents and Usenet as well.

I was taking advice from a good friend who knows a lot about this stuff. He has a QNAP NAS which he uses to download torrents. When I was searching for a NAS that I could afford (around the £250 mark), I was unable to find a QNAP one with an Intel CPU; so I bought the Synology.

After having the Synology for a few days and trying to set it up how I want it and failing (even with the help of my friend), I have now found, and somehow totally missed, a QNAP TS-269L for £10 cheaper than the Synology. Lord knows how I managed to overlook this when finding a NAS to buy.

If I had found this before buying the Synology, without doubt I would have bought the QNAP, as my friend would have been able to assist me more easily with us having the same software environment.

So; now I am unsure what to do. Should I order the QNAP to replace the Synology?

I can see trade offs for each brand. For instance, my friend does not use Usenet, but he would be able to get rtorrent/rutorrent set up and working properly (can't get autotools to work on Synology); but then looking at the QNAP 'appstore', nzbget which I found acceptable to use on Synology is 2 versions out of date.

I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall deciding what to do. This post feels almost like a thinking out loud kind of thing. I know full well that each brand will have pros and cons. The QNAP forums seems to have much more of an active and helpful support for 3rd party apps.

Meh.. what to do......

 

[KIA]

but he would be able to get rtorrent/rutorrent set up and working properly (can't get autotools to work on Synology).

More info is required. I managed to get rtorrent & rutorrent to run on my Synology when I had one.

Have you asked for help on the Synology forum?

 

[syn3rgy]

I have fiddled with a qnap here at work, not in a personal capacity however, i have a synology at home which i absolutely love.
I dont use rtorrent however, they do have a setup guide on their forum (LINK)

you mentioned that there are things that you cannot do, besides rtorrent, what are they?

 

[azzidodabass]

@KIA
I can install rtorrent and rutorrent no problem; just autotools will not work. I tried everything and unfortunately none of the (very little) advice on Synology's forums didn't work or wasn't relevant.

@syn3rgy
Yeah I have seen that guide. However you will note that the guide was used on DSM v3 and as I am sure you're aware, Synology are now at DSM v5. I am always hesitant using guides that are in computing terms, ancient.

What annoys me about the rtorrent thing in particular is that it is available as a package download from Synology. Yes ok, it works; it installs and you can download torrents and even the watch directory works. Once you're past that installation process though, there is no way to change the watch directory from within the GUI!. You have to SSH into the box and change the config file manually.

Furthermore, as I have already said, the autotools plugin that is installed by default does not work. Firstly the watch directory that you set fails to detect files. Secondly, when it comes to the auto move, it fails. I am guessing it is a permissions thing, and even though I tired a crap-tonne of things to try and get it working, I couldn't. Even my mate who is quite good at this kind of tinkering was stumped.

While I accept that in order to get things working there may be the need for a bit of command line messing around stuff - and I am semi-ok doing it with a guide and if I can understand what it is that I am doing and why I am doing it. I hate doing things blindly cause when something goes **** up, I am left with no clue as to why.

For me, the less complicated stuff that I need to do to get it working, the better.

Anyway - ** No competitor talk, this includes hinting ** I went ahead and ordered a QNAP TS-451 for ** No competitor pricing **, which seems like a comparative bargain. It arrived today and I am just setting it up.

Having signed up for both the Synology and QNAP forums in advanced, it seems to me that QNAP has a larger user base. They have dedicated support forums for the apps that I will be using so hopefully I will find the QNAP easier to use and better supported.

I've got a few weeks to decide though - so who knows ... I might end up sending them both back