I have an old QNAP that I use as a Plex Server. However, it doesn't handle 1080 files very well. I'm planning on purchasing a new NAS and was wondering if I can connect the old NAS for file storage. Can I pull media from the old NAS to the new NAS on the fly and use the power of the new NAS to watch Plex movies in 1080/4K? Or, do the video files have to be on the new NAS?

Hi, I've scoped your site for a couple of years now. I think its time I finally make the jump. A few years back purchased a Synology DS218J on dirt cheap on Prime day. It's done the job fine but I want to upgrade now that Ive maxed the 8T drives. I've decent ability on the computer, but much of the stats referenced are beyond my knowledge level. Ill brake down how I currently utilize the NAS and what I would like to be able to do with a new one. I tend to lean toward purchasing hardware that I think would be considered beyond what is deemed necessary for a home user. But I would always prefer having hardware to grow into, containing interfaces, scalability and above all performance perhaps beyond necessary. The last thing I want to do is wait for something to be processed.

The following might be overshare, but I like to paint a clear picture of where I'm coming from and why. The last thing I ever want to be accused of is putting on airs or fronting.

- I currently reside in a somewhat rural area in what was meant to be a home for my mother which I would visit on weekends, work on and eventually my partner and I retire at. A small cabin-ish place about 1.7 hours north of SF. Cohabitation with mom was a nightmare, she bailed to go leach off her sister when I made it clear this isn't a free ride and she need to help around the house. So now I reside here and care for 3 dogs she abandoned and work on the place. I note this so it doesn't sound like a flippant "Ive got two residences" ie endless funds.

- I'm a Mac user. Currently use a Mac Pro (cylinder style) around a year or two old. 2.7g 12 core. 2T. The footprint fits the space. I'm eyeing a Mac Studio but not ready to throw down. I do freelance graphics and photo editing. Nothing too crazy, no 3D graphics or gaming.

- I find the Synology DSM confusing and not exactly intuitive but can muddle through. Synology often in Help or directive verbiage, doesn't site the exact software, program, heading or process name as it is listed. So it can get confusing. ie: Go to the heading titled Surveillance Center, but actually the item listed is named Surveillance Station or is listed under a different menu item all together. It feels as if all help and direction is written solely for a Windows version and not updated for the headings or names used in the Mac version. Many times hunting around is required. But in the end, it appears to be doing its thing correctly so I'll stick with them.

- I'm not versed in the different back-up types, different RAIDs etc. Why so many? WTF. I just want my shit backed up so I don't loose it.

- My partner resides at the SF home during the week, weekends up here. He has zero tach ability. Works for a law firm so all his devices VPN and can't be backed up on outside servers. So no worries there.

- We currently have a Nest Cam at each home to keep amp eye on things while away. I'd prefer not pay Google the fee for storing our 10 day camera feed. (around $150 pr yr x 2)
So I was thinking since Im looking to upgrade the NAS, I could integrate a security cam setup and get notifications same as Nest. (ideally 4-6 cams here, 1-2 in SF) Because even with Nests system, not all activity is recognized or acknowledged, I lean toward recording 24/7. If I was confident the systems would work as expected, recording just events) Possibly move the DS218J there for security came use or can leave it here and just buy another for SF.

- I don't currently use any sort of auto back-up. Though I should, I find it slows things up at the least convenient time. So I drag-n-drop most everything manually into the server.

- I'm unsure how much is hype trying to get people to buy cloud storage or should I be concerned about ransomeware issues with the server? I don't utilize remote access functions and prefer keep my system as secure as possible with less opportunities for outside access. Also curious about having the NAS backup to the NAS in SF. If so, I need to revisit my data limit with Xfinity.

- Currently stored on the DS218J - A decent size collection of audio files (FLAC, WAV, DSD, AIFF, and apple formats, movies (DVD's saved a files) photography (Canon and Sony cameras) along with various personal files and software.

- I do not use the NAS to process files, only for storage and to maintain a backup. I refer to use specific software on the Mac to play audio and output via HDMI to a home amp setup or to view movies. I prefer the ability to process the files prior top listening or viewing.

- I use JRiver Media Center for audio playback and have a love-hate relationship with the program. Love to audio file processing capabilities. The output can be amazing. But the software is sloppy, has a lot of quirks and their forum style help can be a real shit-show. I've seen some issues in the forums regarding problems with some NAS servers.

-Yesterday, a Synology etch services person recommended I be sure to use Surveillance rated drives. I wasn't aware this was a thing. ?

- Currently my plan is to donate for your time and assistance with product selection, but buy the hardware from a source with tech services to assist with setup and future issues. Correct me if I'm wrong, it doesn't sound like that's your thing.

- I'm opting not to post this in your forum as my personal experience with forums is rarely positive.

Is it possible to stop the disk from optimizing?

I currently have 4 drives x 4 TB that are SMR and I used to have RAID6 on them, I formatted them to have SHR-2 on them, but the process is taking way too long.

I want to stop the process and get rid of the SMR drives and replace them with CMR drives, but I need to get the data out of those drives (they are accessible but incredibly slow, so I just want to stop the optimizing disk for few hours to copy the data out and then throw the drives away)

So I was wondering if its possible to stop optimizing the disk while still keeping data on them?

Hei,
jeg håper alt står bra til.
Jeg er spesialist innholdsmarkedsføring fra PRconsultancy.org, og vi kjører en kampanje for en ledende applikasjonsleverandør for personvern på nett.
Jeg likte innholdet i artiklene deres på, og jeg tror nettsiden ville passet bra for kampanjen vår. I hovedsak ønsker jeg å skrive og publisere en ikke-salgsfremmende artikkel av høy kvalitet på siden deres.
Hvis du er interessert så kan vi komme med noen unike ideer på emner som vil engasjere leserne deres. For kontekst kan du se noen av våre tidligere artikler her og her.
Gi meg beskjed hvis du er åpen for et samarbeid slik at vi kan komme i gang så raskt som mulig.
Vennlig hilsen,
Ulrike
ulrike.niemann@prconsultancy.org
https://prconsultancy.org/
951-687-6224

Address: 60 Leadenhall St, London EC3V 1LT, UK

Hi,
I have been enjoying your YouTube Videos.

I have a F5-221 TerrMaster running TOS 4.2.39-
Firstly - I purchased 2 Seagate 12TB Drives and I configured them as Raid1 in my Storage Pool. I have been moving over my files accordingly.

Here are my config questions.
1. I have an 8TB Internal Hard Drive that I want to put into Bay 3 and I want to configure it as a separate Storage Pool. This I want to use to configure a PLEX Media Server that will be accessible from the internet to allow friends/family access to my media content. (I thought I could do this by configuring it as a HOT Spare that that does not seem to work?)

2. I have 2 External USB 3 drives (1 5TB the other is a Western Digital 16 TB) Can I plug these into the USB of the F5-221 and have it shareable without having to reformat the drives?

3. I have been using Virtual Box VM's locally on my PC. Can you do a youtube video on how to configure the Virtual Box using 221 NAS and what the benefits would be?

4. What is the Virtual Disk Option all about?";}

Here are my requirements and current train of though. Worth noting that I’m totally new to NAS and most things I’ve learned over the past week, mostly from your very useful YouTube channel which is awesome.

- 3 workstations which will be connected via 10 GBE and 10 GBE switch
- Within a few years I’d like to have 5-6 computers connected
- Primary usage is working project files for 3D content creation and rendering but also compositing which would pull lots of image sequences off the NAS. Having more than one connection I think the type of use will be random access.
- Would like to have a setup that saturates the network and gives as close to the 1000 mbps read / write as possible (or feasible)
- I think 30-40TB of working storage should be ok
- Even though I will want a backup of the drive at all times, I do want a good level of redundancy to ensure smooth continuous operation
- This is the first network in the office, currently local machines only, so a desktop solution over rack mounted solution
- I have in mind a very rough £3k budget including drives but getting a decent speed is worth paying extra
- From all your very useful guides and videos I’m currently thinking QNAP TS-h973ax is a good base
- From what I have seen, RAID 10 seems a better choice than 5 or 6, because of the speed and redundancy
- Current thought is having 4x16gb drives would give 32gb of usable space, although not sure about the SSD caching in terms of size and speed, especially given third QNAP has 2 different types.
- Not sure if the non ECC memory is an issue in this QNAP box, or how much memory would be best for this setup.
- Open to other configurations

Offering your considerable and unbiased knowledge on this subject to the public is a great thing and I thank you wholeheartedly for doing so. ";}

Hello, I was wanting to know something I can't work out myself.

I have a Windows computer and loads of saved Web Page Files in MHTHL Single File Format that I was considering putting on a Synology Nas in btrfs format.

I also need a new computer and I would like to know, if I bought a MacBook and a Synology Nas......,,Would I be able to open and read the old Windows saved Web Page MHTHL Files stored on the Nas?

Thank you,
Rob.";}

I've broken and bought a DS1522+ with the 10Gbe card. I was waiting for the DS922/3+ as I couldn't face buying the effectively outgoing 920+ with 1Gbe. Then my elderly DS411j started hiccuping and the dam broke. I use the NAS for central storage and backing-up for large files between several PCs and file transfer speed is important.

Now, I'm trying to decide which network switch and cards to buy. I'd like 10Gb connecting two PCs and the NAS and I'd be happy for that to be a separate network - preferably without internet and with the PCs accessing the internet on the existing LAN. That LAN also has the home wifi and a host of Raspberry Pis on it - all trundling along at 1Gb. Is this separate networks idea possible or will the new LAN have immediate internet access through the PCs connecting to the exisiting LAN? It's likely a stupid question but I don't know the answer.

What would be the best value switch and cards to buy for 10Gb or should I compromise with 2.5Gb until the prices drop for 10?

Have I made a mistake buying the 1522+? I keep stuff for a long time and the network card speed swayed me. The fear of attacks on QNAP and the other non-Synologys kept me brand loyal. My elderly DS411j has kept going but the transfer speeds are agonisingly slow at maximum storage size. 11 years isn't bad though - on WD Green drives: mistakes that I have made, chapter 21. I'm now updating it with actual NAS drives and will keep it as a backup device.

I got such a fright with the DS411j degrading with SHR1 that I'm planning to set up the DS1522+ with SHR2. Is this too cautious? It's certainly expensive to use two HDDs for redundancy - although if I'd lost data like I thought I had with the old Synology, I'd have bitten my own hands off to have used SHR2. My backup strategy is now triple but I'll never get those heartbeats back.

Thanks for all your work. Your channel and site are excellent and have been a godsend.";}

Thank you for putting your videos on YouTube it has been extremely helpful is setting up my NAB (DMS920+). I created on large pool/volume. Additionally, I set up a shared folder. However, I cannot map the network drive. When I right click on the drive in Synology Assistant that selection is greyed out. Thoughts?";}

I purchased a DS220+. I also have mycloud EX2 which is now only local. Is it possible to change the software on the WD device to use the DSM from synology and OMV?";}