This is all new to me, but I'm looking for a storage solution for my work & personal files, photos, music and videos. I plan on sharing media files with family members outside of my home and give them space to save their own photos. From the reviews I've read, Synology seems to have consistently been a reliable solution. I've been looking at the 4 bay DS923+ (newegg.ca sale $879.99) or 5 bay DS1522+ (sale $999.00 CAD) diskstations, but when I started to read about Plex and transcoding I got overwhelmed. I already purchased four 6TB WD Red hard drives but I think they are 5400 and not 7200 based on advice from a computer store sales rep. Should I upgrade and invest in better hard drives? Are the two disktations I've been looking at a good solution for what I'm trying to do and is the 5 bay any better for media? Would I be better off getting a 4 bay and adding a second 2 bay diskstation to manage video content alone?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
When it comes to finding a reliable storage solution for your work and personal files, photos, music, and videos, Synology has consistently proven to be a trustworthy option. In your case, where you plan to share media files with family members outside your home and provide them with their own storage space, considering the DS923+ and DS1522+ diskstations is a good idea.
The DS923+ is a 4-bay NAS that offers excellent performance and features, making it suitable for various tasks such as file storage, media streaming, and data backup. On the other hand, the DS1522+ is a 5-bay NAS that provides additional storage capacity, which can be beneficial if you have a large media collection and multiple users accessing the files.
When it comes to Plex and transcoding, it's understandable to feel overwhelmed. However, for remote video sharing, a NAS with a Celeron-based processor like the DS423+ would be recommended. It includes a transcoding feature that simplifies the process of streaming videos remotely. Other Synology NAS models equipped with Ryzen CPUs can handle up to 1080p videos but may struggle with higher resolutions.
Regarding your hard drives, the 6TB WD Red drives you have are reliable options commonly used in NAS setups. While they are 5400 RPM drives, which are suitable for most storage needs, 7200 RPM drives can offer better performance, particularly for media streaming and video editing. However, unless you have specific speed requirements, upgrading to 7200 RPM drives may not be necessary.