Suggestions for Home NAS

[mching]

I am in need of a NAS, Among other things, mainly to share my files around the other PCs in our household. I have no experience with NAS(s) and other networking stuff so I'm here to ask the good people of tom's for suggestions and opinion regarding this matter. Before anything else;

Here's what I need: (* means preferred, but not required)
1. The NAS must be able to run 24/7 without fail.
2. The harddrive(s) must be user-replacable (so no fixed built-in hdd)
3. Must have a minimum of atleast 2 HDD slots. (I'd say 4 max)
4. Must be effective in sharing files across the network.
5. Must not exceed $150 (exclude HDD costs)
* Able to handle 3tb per drive
* Decent read/write speeds
* doesn't need a lot of human interference (maintenance) once setup is finished.
* Small form-factor

I do realize that I have two options for this;
1. Buy a prebuilt NAS - I know that pre-built ones are easier to maintain, more convenient to setup, smaller in form factor, and built for the purpose of running 24/7 on low voltage. I realize that I have a significantly small budget for this. Given the expensive nature of pre-built NAS(s) I have a very small range of selection. Also, I do not live in the US or Canada (I'm asian, if that means anything lol) so newegg and Amazon are not an option. I've done some searching and the ones available locally that fits the bill are the Dlink DNS-320L and Buffalo workstation duo, pushing my budget to the limit can get me a synology ds212j.

Now I don't know much about NAS(s), but I wonder why the Dlink and buffalo are half the price of the synology given that all of them gave 2 bay drives, have roughly 1ghz processor, and 128mb-256mb ram. Also, I have not seen much reviews regarding the cheaper options so I don't really know how good they are.

2. Build a PC NAS - I know that PC-NAS are cheaper, more configurable, offers more for less money, more future proof, and offers better performance. I do not know if my budget permits the construction of a decent PC-NAS. I have a 2x2gb emaxx ddr3 1333Mhz memory stick lying around which may contribute in the cost of construction. I've always read that building your own NAS would be better, not sure if this holds true only for pc building enthusiasts (which I am).

Although my current needs are basic at the moment, I would prefer ones that can offer a little more functionality such as torrent support, selected folder (timed) backup, and etc. I may need them (further functionality) in the future when I decide to improve our network infrastructure (baby steps!).

So with all the cards laid out on the table. I ask you, the knowledgeable people of Tom's, for suggestions, comments, opinion, further questions, or violent reactions? regarding my dilemma. A suggested model, build, anything is welcome. Thanks!

PS. Sorry for the lengthy post. I hope I was able to relay my dilemma clearly, English really isn't my first language.

 

[zeducky]

You budget sets a fairly hard limit on what boxes to choose, the prebuilt nas boxes usually retail for a fair bit higher then 150$.
Id highly suggest you save up a bit more cash, and but a proper prebuilt NAS like the Synology boxes

 

[mching]

You budget sets a fairly hard limit on what boxes to choose, the prebuilt nas boxes usually retail for a fair bit higher then 150$.
Id highly suggest you save up a bit more cash, and but a proper prebuilt NAS like the Synology boxes

So pricepoint aside, you're suggesting a pre-built one over a home built?

 

[zeducky]

It actually depends.

Some prebuilts are good sturdy boxes that requires little configuration and maintenance.
While homemade you gotta sort out your own OS for it, there are some good premades out there like Flexraid, NAS4free and freenas. All pretty okay systems, tho requires more configuration and maintenance.

i currently got 4 NAS system running at home.
two synology boxes, brilliant boxes, the os is stable and easy peasy to use, and the community is awsome.
1 Qnap, It used to be awsome, but for the last year, Qnap firmware is gone down the drain and their community is in a uproar.

the last is a HP N40L microserver with Freenas, its a great little box, with a ton of options, tho it requires a lot more tinkering and linux know how to get running perfectly.

 

[mching]

It actually depends.

Some prebuilts are good sturdy boxes that requires little configuration and maintenance.
While homemade you gotta sort out your own OS for it, there are some good premades out there like Flexraid, NAS4free and freenas. All pretty okay systems, tho requires more configuration and maintenance.

i currently got 4 NAS system running at home.
two synology boxes, brilliant boxes, the os is stable and easy peasy to use, and the community is awsome.
1 Qnap, It used to be awsome, but for the last year, Qnap firmware is gone down the drain and their community is in a uproar.

the last is a HP N40L microserver with Freenas, its a great little box, with a ton of options, tho it requires a lot more tinkering and linux know how to get running perfectly.

Like I said before, I DO realize that my budget strongly filters out majority of the selection in the market. Only the DNS-320L Dlink and Buffalo Workstation Duo can fit that bill due to my budget constraints and local availability of other brands.

Hm.. maybe I can spare a little more and bump the budget to a max of $180-200. It's not really a financial problem, but rather I think I am unwilling to spend $200 just to share some files. Since what I need (mentioned in the first post) is very basic, I don't acknowledge the cost to justify the means. Unless ofcourse the $200 NAS provides features that I will find very useful for my usecase. (Since this is my first NAS, I have no idea what other functionality it can provide).

Having said that, I realize that a $200 can buy me a Synology DS212J or a better configured PC-NAS.
Can anybody else comment regarding my dilemma?

 

[zeducky]

The Synology boxes can do almost anything you can think of.

I got mine running music station for example, the missus can access the music collection on her phone from from anywhere she wishes. I stream my movie collection whenever i wish. I host my own cloud solution, working like a charm.

 

[mching]

I do understand that the Synology brand comes highly recommended when it comes to NAS(s). But there are other NAS(s) offerings that are almost identical to the hardware configurations that Synology offers for less than half the price. Is Synology really that good to pay a premium for?

Does anybody heard anything about Buffalo Workstation Duo & Dlink DNS-320L? (as compared to the Synology DS202J)

 

[zeducky]

from my experience the cheaper brands like buffalo, you usually get what you pay for, not much, the OS are typically rubbish, performance is low (my first NAS was a netgear with read/write speeds in the single digits) and the supported disks are often highly limited.

 

[mching]

from my experience the cheaper brands like buffalo, you usually get what you pay for, not much, the OS are typically rubbish, performance is low (my first NAS was a netgear with read/write speeds in the single digits) and the supported disks are often highly limited.

First of all I really appreciate your continued reply on my thread (it seems that the Tom's community has changed significantly when it comes to the forums).

Ive found the ff info:

Dlink-320L has Marvell Kirkwood 1.0Ghz Proc and 16-bit@DDR2, 256MB of RAM
Synology DS212J has Marvell Kirkwood 1.2Ghz Proc and 16-bit@DDR2, 256MB of RAM
Buffalo Linkstation Duo has Marvell 88F6281 Kirkwood 600Mhz Proc and 16-bit@DDR2, 128MB of RAM

Since the Dlink option has only a very slight difference between the synology box, I'm betting that it must be a software
premium as to why they're charging more than double for almost identical specs. (or external hardware quality?).
Based on the photos of the units, they (dlink) might've used cheaper plastic for the built (and a relatively smaller fan).
Also, I'd better stay away from the buffalo, since it may seem to perform worst among the 3.

I have not found any decent feedback/review regarding the cheap-NAS boxes I've mentioned, So I really have no idea how they fare. (but with the specs available, it may seem that the performance difference will not be noticeable at all). If I were to go homebuilt, I'd say I'm gonna be sticking with freeNas. (will I be getting a better box If I go homebuilt with the same price?)

Like I said, my main dilemma really is my budget. Although I'd really want to go and buy synology boxes, I still have to fill them with atleast 4Tb(2x2tb) which will cost me another $200. For my use-case, this is not practical at all. Spending $400 on a NAS box when my very own rig cost a paltry $600.

 

[zeducky]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-reviews/31946-d-link-dns-320l-sharecenter-2-bay-cloud-storage-2000-reviewed?showall=&start=2

The DS212j is on par with the Qnap TS-212 nas

The premium price adds bit more quality, and a buckload of configuration options and services.

Tho im unsure what you specific needs for a NAS server is, if you had any ideas what you wanted to use it for?

 

[mching]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-reviews/31946-d-link-dns-320l-sharecenter-2-bay-cloud-storage-2000-reviewed?showall=&start=2

The DS212j is on par with the Qnap TS-212 nas

The premium price adds bit more quality, and a buckload of configuration options and services.

Tho im unsure what you specific needs for a NAS server is, if you had any ideas what you wanted to use it for?

What I really need it for:

1. Share file(s) around the PCs of our network.
2. Users must be able to watch movies directly from that drive to their PCs.
3. Torrent

Bonus:

1. Sync/Backup specific folders on a set interval.
2. Access controls. (some users may or may not read/write on specific folders or files)
3. ftp

thats about it. I may be more inclined to maximize some features that can prove to be useful for me. But as of now (since I don't really know much about NAS) these are my basic needs.

 

[zeducky]

The Syno is able to do all those things, and more if it cant do it from stock, there is a endless amount of user created packages that can be installed with ease...
This is one point where the little bit higher priced NAS boxes wins over the cheap ones.

The Dlink should be able to do those things too as their a minimum of what people expect from NAS boxes these days, but not sure their able to provide anything else.

 

[mching]

The Syno is able to do all those things, and more if it cant do it from stock, there is a endless amount of user created packages that can be installed with ease...
This is one point where the little bit higher priced NAS boxes wins over the cheap ones.

The Dlink should be able to do those things too as their a minimum of what people expect from NAS boxes these days, but not sure their able to provide anything else.

Thank you for taking time to answer my questions.

I think I'll forego the option of a homebuilt nas and stick with a prebuilt one.

and based on your recommendation, maybe I will save up for the synology ds212j.

I wouldn't want to waste $150 on a cheap nas today and would have to replace it in a year or so.

Hopefully these things can last long. Which is my main reason not opting for a non-replaceable (hdd) nas.

I would want these things to last and not just throw it out and buy a new one after the drives die.

 

[zeducky]

you are most welcome

Well i still got my old DS209 running in the addict, and its still going strong