buying nas for home

thilly · Nov 12, 2014

I'm looking to buy a nas with a budget of $300 CAD. The two that has caught my attention are the WD my cloud Ex2 and Synology ds213j

The ex2 seems to be feature rich but lacks in performance. The price of the ex2 is very attractive. The ds213j seems to be a workhorse kind of nas. Not sure if it's the best for the price though.

The nas will be used for backups and streaming media (tv shows, hd movies, music) to a few devices on the network. My router is an Asus n66u.

Are there other nas I should consider? I'm looking for a nas that will perform and stream smoothly. At the moment, the Ds213j looks like the better choice, but I'm not fimiliar with the nas market, hence my hesitation.

Darkbreeze · Nov 12, 2014

I'd go with the WD Ex2. I have two and they've worked flawlessly. I use one to stream to my devices including my media center PC and the other I use as a shared network drive that I access from the laptop I use for my auto repair business. I'm able to access files from anywhere on the property wirelessly since it's hard wired to a secondary router in the office but I'm also able to access my data files for Alldata, my shop management application, from any internet connection using the WD remote access software.

I've never had any issues except in the very beginning prior to updating the firmware. Since then it's been smooth sailing. Noteworthy is the fact that I had tried a couple of other NAS solutions prior to this that had been problematic including an Iomega and a Netgear.

thilly · Nov 17, 2014

Thanks for the reply. Would any one else like to shed some light on the synology nas?

popatim · Nov 17, 2014

Performance will be similar as bother are based ont he Marvell Armada 370 SoC. What sperates the two are the NAS's OS/Firmware, warranty, & support. I'm not familiar with WD EX line of NAS's to say if its OS is on Par with Synologies which I consider the best for new users.

halw · Nov 18, 2014

My vote is for Synology. Have a DS212j myself and quite like it.

Darkbreeze · Nov 18, 2014

halw :

Why? What makes it stand out? Does it have features the WD does not?

Thilly, are you looking at models WITH or WITHOUT storage already included? I realize the Synology is an empty NAS with two drive bays but for 344.00 the WD comes with two WD red hard drives that are very reliable. Just wondering which way you were looking to go. If you already have the drives then go with the Synology, if not, maybe the WD is a better solution. I didn't see a DS212J model that came with populated storage bays, but I could be wrong.

halw · Nov 18, 2014

Darkbreeze :

halw :

Why? What makes it stand out? Does it have features the WD does not?

Thilly, are you looking at models WITH or WITHOUT storage already included? I realize the Synology is an empty NAS with two drive bays but for 344.00 the WD comes with two WD red hard drives that are very reliable. Just wondering which way you were looking to go. If you already have the drives then go with the Synology, if not, maybe the WD is a better solution. I didn't see a DS212J model that came with populated storage bays, but I could be wrong.

Alabalcho · Nov 18, 2014

Most of consumer NAS'es on the market are primary storage devices. Those who claim to have streaming support, do not transcode video (this requires powerful CPU), so make sure your TV can play the media the way it is stored.

Darkbreeze · Nov 18, 2014

halw :

Darkbreeze :

??????? You posted, but left no comment.

thilly · Nov 20, 2014

popatim :

interesting. from the reviews ive read, the WD OS gets high recognition for being the most user friendly.

Darkbreeze :

from the time of the first post, i was referring to the diskless version of both models. the synology model only comes with a diskless version. ive been doing some math and it seems that it'll be cheaper to buy the WD EX2 with the disks already installed. if i choose to go with WD, i will be doing that as it is cheaper than buying the synology model + two new drives (i dont have any spares).

Alabalcho :

so basically, make sure the receiver/tv is compatible with the file type of movies/videos? ill be using my receiver which is compatible with mp4 and mkv.

something else came to mind. ive read somewhere that software raid is completely unreliable. is this statement true? do these systems use software raid?

Darkbreeze · Nov 21, 2014

The WD has hardware level RAID. For the models that come with the drives, it comes pre-configured in RAID 1 but can be reconfigured for RAID 0 if you prefer:

http://www.storagereview.com/wd_my_book_duo_review

thilly · Nov 21, 2014

alright, thanks guys. i'll be looking for WD EX2 sales during the next week.

Edybbx · Nov 21, 2014

thilly :

Edybbx · Nov 21, 2014

Wi-fi

thilly · Nov 26, 2014

i have a couple of ideas for the WD EX2 4tb. i cant decide how to configure it.
1. use nas as back up configured in raid 1 which leaves me 2tb of space.
or
2. use nas as media stream device without raid which gives me 4tb space. i can use external hdd to back up media.

Darkbreeze · Nov 26, 2014

I'd take the extra storage space. The performance difference isn't worth the loss of 2TB of space IMO, not with how fast media fills them up. You'll be out of space faster than you think, or at least I always am.

thilly · Nov 28, 2014

that's what i was thinking. i forgot to consider the Apple users in the house as well. can Apple devices easily access the nas just like pc users?

Darkbreeze · Nov 28, 2014

That's where you might run into problems and need to configure a specific file system platform and make sure the media files are in a format that the Apple OS's can utilize. I don't have much experience with Mac products to be honest, but I know I've run into issues with the file system, even when it was not a file extension issue.

thilly · Dec 3, 2014

i'm quite satisfied with my purchase. easy hdd installation and easy wizard setup. for now, ill keep the disks in JBOD unless i need to store some important data. the only downside is the lack of Plex support. this is made up by the WD My Cloud app which pretty much does the same thing.

Darkbreeze · Dec 3, 2014

Nice. Glad it worked out for you. I'm fairly well pleased with my configuration using those too. Good luck.

DataMedic · Dec 3, 2014

+1 for Synology. The features you get destroy anything WD has ever come out with hands down. Don't listen to this cat, he's probably never even used a Synology.

Darkbreeze · Dec 3, 2014

DataMedic :

I never said I had, at all, anywhere in this thread. I simply stated my experiences with MY WD. So before you run your mouth, read the thread a little more thoroughly.

Also, as discussed above, the Synology is about triple the price once you purchase actual storage to put in it.

SaintBonaventure · Aug 2, 2015

Hi there. I'm sorry to bump such an old thread. Tried to PM darkbreeze, but I'm unable to actually do so. I just get an error when I try to do it. (Maybe because I'm new?)

I've been trying for a long time to get Alldata to work with an NAS. This is one of the few links I can find where someone is doing the same thing I'm trying to do. I've got all the data discs for Alldata converted and seemingly ready to go on a 2TB drive in a DiskStation 214SE. Everything is seemingly set up properly, and I can see the folders and data from Windows Explorer. I can even go through the Alldata Disc Copy setup and it looks like everything's going to work. And then when I go to use it, Alldata can never find the discs. Do you have any insight you can provide me for getting this to work? Sorry it's slightly off-topic, but I don't have a lot of other recourses, outside of making another topic. And I wasn't sure if I should go ahead with that.

Darkbreeze · Aug 2, 2015

SaintBonaventure :

Hi there. I'm sorry to bump such an old thread. Tried to PM darkbreeze, but I'm unable to actually do so. I just get an error when I try to do it. (Maybe because I'm new?)

I've been trying for a long time to get Alldata to work with an NAS. This is one of the few links I can find where someone is doing the same thing I'm trying to do. I've got all the data discs for Alldata converted and seemingly ready to go on a 2TB drive in a DiskStation 214SE. Everything is seemingly set up properly, and I can see the folders and data from Windows Explorer. I can even go through the Alldata Disc Copy setup and it looks like everything's going to work. And then when I go to use it, Alldata can never find the discs. Do you have any insight you can provide me for getting this to work? Sorry it's slightly off-topic, but I don't have a lot of other recourses, outside of making another topic. And I wasn't sure if I should go ahead with that.

Check your PM's. They should work regardless how old or new your membership is.

buying nas for home

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