I'm planning to buy a NAS to stream my movies in Blu-ray quality to multiple devices, approximately 5 devices "2-3 may stream at the same time".

I need a NAS with a large capacity, at least 8 bays.

I'm new to the whole NAS topic and would like to read your advice before buying one

I already purchase a life time subscription at plex and tried to stream using my own pc as storage for a while.

Hi Robbie,

Thanks for all the work you do—your reviews have been a great help.

I’m seeing a repeatable issue on the Aoostar WTR MAX with two Samsung 980 PRO NVMe drives in a mirrored ZFS pair. When both drives are in the ×2 tray slots, one often drops and is marked REMOVED, leaving the mirror degraded. Moving a drive to the furthest ×1 slot seems to help, but this isn’t confirmed.

I’ve tried the Linux/Unraid PCIe power tweaks (nvme_core.default_ps_max_latency_us=0 pcie_aspm=off pcie_port_pm=off), but the issue remains. A friend with the same hardware sees the same behaviour. Aoostar say they will ship an updated M.2 bracket in November, hinting at a design fault, and also sent me an untested BIOS, which I avoided as they could not confirm its details—only that it targeted NVMe issues.

Since you reviewed this unit, could you check if this behaviour can be reproduced? I can share logs and steps if useful.

Your independent insight would be very helpful.

Kind regards,
Ben

Currently running:
Dell Optiplex 7050
Yottamaster DAS connected by USB 3.03 - 5 - 3TB drives
2.5GB network switch
Run Proxmox
ZFS for my NAS pool through Proxmox
Proxmox I run a container for SMB shares
I run Ubuntu as my Plex server and maybe some other Dockers.
Bottle neck is the USB connected DAS. I need to get to SATA ports on the mother board with a case that can support a minimum of 5 drives. I have 5 more 3TB drives I could use.

Use: Store extensive movues/TV shows library, Picture, and maybe offer cloud storage.

Plex is making changes and I wonder if I need to gear up my NAS to do hardware transcoding. Or do I split the two. A low energy NAS along with a Jellyfin/Plex server with a good video card for transcoding.

Other computers I have:
Lenovo IdeasCentre Mini with a i5 13th gen and 32GB of RAM
An older MacBook Air with an M1 chip

I would really appreciate some guidance.

Have Synology 416+ but with raid 1
Want to move to raid 5
Was using macrium reflect but they are changing to subscription model so decided to look at ways to get more secure backup and raid 5?
Have not used Synology backup function and do not want to get into a new Synology that is going to require subscription
Looked at 4 bay Synology terramaster qnap ugreen as author and two others. Ruled out Terra master when realized it was Chinese for security in Canada

Had ruled out qnap because of your comments on dated equipment and then late last night decided to search to see if they had any new releases and found the new product line.

Was nervous about ugreen but figured software changes would be easy to deal with if hardware options were better. Ruled out asustor because of noise and power consumption.

Will be scanning and uploading tons of family photos (guessing about a thousand in high resolution)going back to the 1800s so want great reliable storage Have never trusted.

Hi Guys,

I’m looking for some advice on a new NAS to replace my old Netgear ReadyNAS 214. At the moment, it’s mainly used as a backup for three PCs in the house. It currently has four 4TB hard drives, which we use to back up documents, pictures, and videos.

I was considering a Synology, as I’ve used one at work and found it easy to use, but after looking on your site I came across UGREEN and M.2 NAS options, which also look interesting.

Other features aren’t essential, but if they’re available, they could be useful.

Thanks!

I'd like some advice on a motherboard for an Unraid NAS.

I've been checking out Unraid on an old PC but don't want to continue with old hardware. I'd like to build a "naked" NAS. I just want a Mobo with at least a couple of NVME SSD slots and maybe 4 SATA connections. I really want external power so I can keep a low physical profile. I will build a really low profile mount / case for the board which I hope won't be much bigger than a medium size pizza box. Unraid 7 does not require an array so I don't need space for HDD's. Later, I may add some HDD's or 2.5" SSD's over and above the NVME SSD's depending on how things evolve.

I want to learn more about Unraid and run 2-3 virtual machines and some Docker apps. I would rather err on the side of too much power and other resources but without getting carried away since this is really going to be an experiment / test bed. I'd rather spend a bit too much than not enough.

I need a home setup for the following:
1. Media centre (i.e. plex server),
2. smart home assistant ,
3. data backup/fall over; and
4. auto photo backup (i.e. one drive)

Dear Nascompare team,

Thank you so much for valuable insights regarding the NAS snene - it is complicated world indeed. I'm a home user, first time buying a NAS, getting overwhelmed by the amount of options and cannot make a choice, so I would like to have your advice on choosing one.

My needs:
- File/photo backup/browsing from phones (5 users), replacing a 2TB Google Drive
- Media server. I'm using Stremio / Netflix directly on the TV now, and looking for alternatives with Plex/Jellyfin (does they support torrenting?)
- Security cameras. I have 2 with ONVIF support, may grow in the future.
- Adguard home, VPN server, and simple web host (for my kids to play with web development)

My research:
- I almost finalized on Synology since they cover everything and give peace of mind - but I cannot find 2023-2024 version selling around.
- Is DS225+ good for 5 years or should I pay 150$ more for DS425+ ?
- Is there a comparable option?

Thanks a ton,
Nam.

Dear sirs,
I am about to buy a xyber hydra and was wondering if you could advise me on what thickness of pads I should fit between the drives and the metal cover. I can choose between o.5, 1 and 1.5 mm so far.

Thank you for your advice in advance!

want to build nas to store file / pic and media server