ASK NC

Hi,

I’m a first time NAS buyer and have been watching your videos and looking through your website articles a lot over the last year. It’s a complicated purchase so I have some questions, if you would be so kind as to answer.

Budget: Less than £2,000 (preferably around £1,500 mark
Use case: Home
Reason: Get central storage for my house and my parents’ house’s data & backup photos/videos/documents

- I decided to go with Synology from your many videos and the DSM software seems best/easiest to use.

- I was going for the DS923+ but believe that the DS1522+ is more future proofed.

- I would like to start with 2 drives (and have one as a backup). And buy more drives in the future.

Questions:

- What RAID configuration should I go for to have 1 drive as a backup in the beginning, and have flexibility to add more drives in the future?

- Which storage drives are the best? (WD Red Plus/Seagate etc.)

- Does my thinking make sense/what would you do?

- Is there anything else I need to kee

For your use case, RAID 1 (mirroring) would be the best option as it provides redundancy by duplicating all data onto two drives, with one drive serving as a backup. As you add more drives in the future, you can switch to RAID 5 or RAID 6, which offer more capacity and fault tolerance.

For storage drives, WD Red Plus and Seagate IronWolf are both reliable options that are designed specifically for use in NAS systems. It's important to use NAS-specific drives as they are optimized for continuous operation and provide better compatibility with the NAS.

Your thinking makes sense and going for the DS1522+ is a good choice for future proofing.

When purchasing a NAS for home use, it's important to consider factors such as the number of drive bays, processing power, RAM, and connectivity options. Also, ensure that the NAS has adequate cooling and noise levels that are suitable for your environment. Finally, make sure to consider your backup strategy and regularly back up your data to an external source or to the cloud.

I hope this helps you make an informed decision for your NAS purchase. Good luck!