I'm having issues nailing down what hardware to buy for my first NAS. I want a 4-bay enclosure (but I'm open to up to 6-bays) that I will primarily use as a Plex server. I have a lot of HEVC files that need to be transcoded so integrated graphics are essential for me. Noise is also a large factor since I live in a one-room home so I think I want to run nothing larger than 8TB drives in RAID 5, but future expandablity and flexibility would be appreciated as my circumstances change. Two more nonessential features I'd like are ECC memory, and 2.5Gb ethernet ports (or higher). I am leaning towards 8TB WD Red Plus drives because they seem to be quiet. Really my bottleneck is enclosure. I had my eye on the Synology ds423+ because of the software but it doesn't quite tick all the boxes. Realistically I'm open to any brand and advice. My budget is US$1500-2000 but has flexibility. Thank you

Love the channel & support - Kudos to you both first of all!
I have 8TB of data across 4x3TB in a DS415+. I'm due for a migration and want to minimize wasting existing drives and maximize for follow use case:

Plex & moving Photo Station into Syn.Photos to properly have facial recognition.
I also want to run a VM so I can have an always on PC on the NAS that can run photo deduplicate software and I can access and open personal Excel files on the actual software from any browser.

Which has longevity - 1522 or 923? or the 1621? Better CPU, h.265 transcoding etc? Would the NVME Volume pools/cache be possible on all and would they help bring benefit?
Also I'm thinking of moving all data onto BTFS & SHR-2 setup during migration (not sure how yet) from current SHR & ext4 DS415+
Thanks

I have an old synology DS115j. I am considering upgrading to the newer DS723+. This is for “home” use. I only use the NAS to play back video to an LG TV in the same home network that the synology is on.

The files are usually mkv, mp4, and maybe an old avi file. I don’t use Plex.

I am the only person who will be using the drive...no family to compete with.

Does the fact that the DS723+ doesn’t have hardware transcoding effect what I want to use it for?
(I plan on buying 2 Seagate IronWolf 4TB drives initially and eventually maybe two SSD drives for extra storage and perhaps speed) Thank you for your time.

I’m planning on building out my home network setup.

My ISP offers a 1200 Mbps internet connection; I am planning on installing a 2.5-Gig capable network, so that I can gain access to the full 1200 Mbps internet connection.

I’m also planning on installing a Networking rack containing TP-Link networking equipment.

To include the following equipment:

ARRIS Surfboard S33 DOCSIS 3.1 Multi-Gigabit Cable Modem with a 2.5Gbps port.
TP-Link Omada Hardware Controller (OC200).
TP-Link ER707-M2 | Omada Multi-Gigabit VPN Router | Dual 2.5Gig WAN Ports.
TP-Link TL-SG3428X-M2 | 24 Port Multi-Gigabit L2+ Managed Switch.
TP-Link EAP655-Wall | Omada True WiFi 6 AX3000 Wall Plate Wireless Gigabit Access Point.
TP-Link EAP660 HD | Omada WiFi 6 AX3600 Wireless 2.5G Access Point.

Can you recommend a PoE Switch to power the PoE devices on this network?

I’m also planning on a NAS to be used to backup 3 Mac computers.

Synology 6 bay NAS DiskStation DS1621+, using Seagate Exos X18 18TB Enterprise HDD

Hi Robbie/Eddie, I'm looking to upgrade my laptop, ASUS ROG Strix GL703GM, from my research I've found that either the WD 850X or the Samsung 990 is the best SSD upgrade I can get. My question is, which one? The WD is currently cheaper, but the 990 is apparently just so much better, is it worth the extra €100 in the long run?
Also some advice on RAM upgrade would be appreciated, I'm between a G.Skill Ripjaw or a Corsair Vengeance. Thanks guys!

Hi, what sim router would be best to run 10 PS5s. Or 2 to have 5 on each? Thanks in advance

Hello,

Please see my setup below.

- HP Elitedesk 800 G4 Workstation
- i5-8500
- 32 GB RAM
- UnRAID (18 TB parity + 22TB Data + 1TB NVME Cache)

This system is currently working for my needs, but it has limitations (only 4 Sata) plus it doesn't have enough space to mount all the HDD.

I was looking at your Jonsbo N2 guide under $250 but I feel like I would be downgrading the CPU. I usually have 3-4 concurrent streams with a maximum of 2 Transcodings. The i5-8500 handles it like a charm.

I really want to get into something less bulkier like the Jonsbo N2 but I am not sure what to buy in terms of MOB, CPU, etc. I tried your guide under $500 but Ali Express charges me $100+ in shipping since I'm in the US. The MOB in Amazon does not come with the CPU so I would be need to buy that one separately if anything.

Is there any other approach that you could recommend?

Thanks in advanced!

The problem is a high pitch noise. I tried so far WD Gold 18 TB, Toshiba X300PRO 16TB - the same.
Currently got HGST DeskStar NAS 4TB 7200 RPM 128MB Cache in rubber mounted case - the noise is barely noticeable, so the vibration. New HDDs will go the same way. The PC case is on the table 1m away. Purpose: a dump for photo/video/backups.

Now checking the datasheets:
IronWolf Pro series is 20/26 for 22-12TB.
WD Red Plus is only 20/29 for 12-14TB.
Wed Red Pro is 20/32 for 20-22TB.
WD Gold the is 20/32 for 20-24TB.

Currently considering either WD Red Plus or IronWolf Pro.

Again, not quite concerned about clicky-scratchy noise and too much of vibration - rubber isolated case for HDD will do. The huge problem for me is a constant high-pitch noise from what I tried already. It hurts my ears literally and is unbearable.

Good morning guys,

First of all, congratulations on your web. I've been checking it for some time now and I really enjoy.

My computer at home is starting to fail and I have decided to replace it by a NAS.

After search I think I would go for QNAP HS-264 or HS-453DX. However, as they are expensive, I would like to know if you would go for them or had a better option for:

Watching 4k movies in our tv
Backup pictures from different devices and access them via web.

Kind regards

Hello,

I own a print/sign shop. No employees. I have 2 design computers and 2 print computers on 2 different floors of my building.

I'm looking for a reasonably priced NAS to be able to save my print files from my design computers and be able to access them from my other computers.


I've been using a 1tb Sandisk portable SSD to to save files but having to plug it in every time is getting annoying.

My print files are never very big so 20tb storage would be plenty

I was looking into the WD My Cloud Pro Series PR2100 with 20tb but I am absolutely clueless.

Is there a better alternative?

Thank you