I am planning to upgrade my Synology 1019+ and had been hoping that Synology would introduce something that might induce me to stick with their platform.  But with the most recent announcements, I am pretty convinced that it is time to move on.  I use my NAS primarily for Plex, for storing a huge volume of photos and videos, and general file backup.  My primary needs are (1) a reliable Plex server with hardware transcoding, (2) a robust photo management app, and (3) an overall system that is not so complicated that I need to be an IT expert to install and maintain it.

With my Plex focus and the need for hardware transcoding, I just don't feel like Synology is the home for me.  I have decent, but limited, technical skills, which is the main reason I was hoping to stay with Synology.  I'm used to the software, and the migration process likely would have been smoother.  

Right now, I have about 24TB of data, but am hoping to significantly future-proof myself, particularly since I plan to do a lot of overseas travel the next decade and want something that will grow with me and not require another upgrade any time soon. 

I think I have settled on moving to QNAP and, specifically, the TVS-874, connecting to it using Tailscale, but I wondered if I should be seriously considering something else.  

I already purchased 8 16TB Exos drives, and plan to set it up with a fair amount of redundancy (again, focusing on being overseas and needing things to just "work"), so I was considering a Raid 6 setup, with a hot spare, which I think would give me a starting capacity of around 80TB (2 disks of redundancy and a hot spare).  This should be plenty, and I could also go with a setup that yields only 64TB (half my total capacity) if that makes more sense.

Assuming this path makes sense, is there any real advantage to the i7 version for my use case, or is the i5 going to provide plenty of power?  Also, I was thinking about Quts as opposed to QTS, but could easily be convinced otherwise.  And what raid/hot spare configuration do you recommend?  

Thanks in advance.  Your channel has been a huge help to me over the past year, and I really appreciate the thought and effort you put in to your videos.

Hello there, i love your youtube channel. it helped me a lot in choosing my NAS. i did not find a video on how to secure data against ransomware attacks. (that might be an interesting toppic?) Could i get your advice on how to setup a backup system that ist safe against ransomware attacks? how much can i send you via paypal in return for your help? i have a Qnap TS-410E NAS with 2x 2TB SSD. My idea was to setup 2 volumes on one drive for my wifes and my time machine backup and then use the other drive to do a qudedupe backup of the time machine files. That way our data should be safe, even if a ransom ware attack deletes the time machine backup and encrypts our files. right? i also have a few other questions concerning the encryption and the volume sizes
i hope you can help me with that.

cheers simon

Hi, I am looking for advice for my first NAS purchase.

I have three use cases for this device: (1) Plex Server (2) Homebridge Host (3) Data Backups. From looking at videos/reviews from your channel and elsewhere, it seems like synology have the best OS and are the most reputable, but their hardware seems weaker compared to the competition.

My plex library has a mix of 1080p and 4k media, and I am unlikely to ever have more than 2 users at the same time, usually just 1. Cost efficiency, reliability, and low power draw are key focuses of mine in my search.

Thanks,
Armaan

I want to replace an old NAS where I currently have stored just under 2tb of family documents and photos. I want to be able to get these files online.
Would the Ugreen dxp4800 be suitable or should I opt for the plus model? Or maybe you would recommend something better.
Thanks

Hi,

I just bought a new QNap 8 Bay, TVS-H874 i5. I have it set up with 2 data pools, 1 for NVME and the other for the 8 Bays. This seems to be all good.

I have watched your setup videos for Plex and the NAS multiple times and they are a great resource, thank you! I am confused about permissions with Plex, that is creating a restricted User on the NAS for Plex type content. I have tried this, mucked around but I am really not joining the dots.

- When you create a specific Plex account with restrictions, do you then login with that account and setup Plex? Should you not setup Plex on the Admin account?

- You the bind the Plex Pass account to the Plex user account?

I am also having issues with folder permissions, I can see the root Media folder but not the sub folders when creating a Library in Plex. Do I need to go to Advanced Folder Permissions to enable sub folders?

Cheers!

Can you confirm that QVR Pro 2.6.1.1029 is supported on QUTS 5.2.x? QNAP's QVR Pro release notes and application centre suggest that is now the case. Does that mean that we can now get 8 camera support (without additional licences) on QUTS?

When you installed true nas on your jonsbo build how did you get the NIC to work. I copied your bulid and i am getting no either netfound because the NIc is not intel based.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jason

Hi,

I am about to build myself a new PC.  I had been intending to buy some large HDD's so that I could run a media server from it, but having gone down a rabbit hole of Youtube video's which lead me to the excellent NAS Compares channel, I am now thinking maybe I should use my old PC to set up a separate media server using TrueNAS. 

The PC I am using right now is pretty old, just shy of 10 years, and I know I would need to get some more RAM, but is the rest of the PC good enough?  Initially I intend to get three 8tb Ironwolf Drives and setting up RAIDZ1.  I'll likely add another 8TB later in the year, then perhaps a second pool of 4 drives down the road when I need more space. Although at that point, I will probably be upgrading to a proper NAS Case with new hardware.

The specs for my old PC are...

Motherboard  Asus F2A85-M PRO A85X

CPU              AMD APU A8 6600K 4.2GHz Socket FM2 4MB

RAM              8GB 1866MHz DDR3 CL10

Boot Drive      Kingston 240GB SSD

So can I get away with just replacing the RAM?  is 240gb enough for TrueNAS?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Hello NAS Compares,

Which Tower form factor Synology NAS do you recommend to me? I do not have a budget, but I would like the best performance possible. I understand I can just buy the most expensive model, but I would rather not spend the extra $$$$$ for 1% increase in performance or features I w0n't use. I can wait for the recently confirmed 2025 releases. I am looking to use the NAS to perform these tasks:

1) Host a Windows 10 virtual machine that will run home automation software (Homeseer). This software is *not* CPU or ram intensive. 8 GB system ram is okay. Would like to have snapshot backups of this VM.
2) Run Surveillance Station for 10 - 3 megapixel IP cameras. 24/7 recoding.
3) File server for about 6 TB of data, mostly photos. Would like file backup versioning and plan on doing 3 - 2 - 1 backup to C2 cloud and an offsite Synology NAS.
4) No transcoding/PLEX needed.
5) 1-4 concurrent users.

Thank you!
Peter

Hi there,

I watched your review on the newer CWWK Q670 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG5qHoJa7cE). I followed your affiliate links to the dual slot NVMe PCIe adapter card, which I'm keen to buy (happy to use your affiliate link).

What I'm confused about before buying is how to get this card to work in this system, your video doesn't explain it how bifurcation works with the jumper caps. Is it as simple as plugging a jumper cap into the board and then the adapter, or is there still BIOS settings that need to be set? Also I'm not entirely sure what a jumper cap is.

Also, I was looking at the other links you have for that video, the one for "Better CPU Fan" I think is linked to the wrong Noctua model, it looks like it's linked to the AMD model not the Intel model needed for this motherboard