Hello, I’m leaning toward a Synology …more about ease of use. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks

Hello there!
I have an unusual request!

Could you get me some close up photos of the QNAP TS-h973AX motherboard?

I want to know if the connection between the motherboard and the backplane of the disks is actually a PCI-e port or a proprietary connector. So that I can install a graphics card temporarily. My objective is to install TrueNAS Scale or any other Linux operating system.

Also I would like to scout for a COM header or something that would give me a text console.

Thanks in advance.

Hello Rob,

Thank you for facilitating independent advise in this overwhelming vastness of NAS solutions. Years ago, I did work in iT for some time, so i understand the basics. My attitude is to dive in, learn as much as possible in a short period of time and make a decision for years to come. The pressure! Haha.

I would love to hear your advise on the following scenario, we have in mind for our place. My wife is a freelance graphic- and web designer. She’s not doing any heavy duty video editing, but 3d design might be on the horizon. The websites she designs, are hosted elsewhere. Also, she needs to safeguard the data she works with as a grantwriter for a non profit. I use the computer mostly for music (electronic drumkit), and administration. We do like the idea of streaming with Plex server. For that reason, and to minimize wifi, i did wire our house with CAT6 ethernet to every room. So, it’s just the two of us in a small office, home environment. Our current internet speed is about 300mb/s.

We currently have a MacPro (2 TB ), and 2 macbook pro’s, both with 1 TB drives each. In the near future, after we take the NAS hurdle, we’re planning on an additional desktop. Aside from this we use Apple Tv (4 gen), an iPad and an iPhone each.

After diving in, and doing the research, i came up with some questions:
My stereo amplifier has a usb input to use with a media player. Can you tell me if I would be able to hook that up directly to the nas, if it was close enough, and be able to use an iPhone or tablet to control Plex and play music?

The same question would apply to using hdmi and hook up our 4k tv to the nas directly to take some pressure off the network? If I understand correctly, it would be best to add PCIe nvme m.2 ssd for caching and boosting performance to 4k resolution? Personally, I would not want to go beyond 4k ever. I actually preferred 1080 because it’s easier on the eyes.

Would I be assuming correctly that RAID5 is commonly used in these situations? This would imply a 3+ bay NAS. Would 16TB be enough? I think I’d want to expand with two PCIe nvme m.2 ssd, but which one to choose and how big? What PCIe card would i need?

I believe this sums it up for the moment. I really do appreciate your patience and enthousiasm on these matters. I can relate to the fascination for technology.

I am looking very much forward to read your thoughts,

Kind regards,

Frederic San Giorgi

I have an older QNAP TS-469PRO with 4 x 2TB running RAID 10, but this device is no longer supported by QNAP. I would like to upgrade to a QNAP or Synology NAS, but I understand I can't swap the current 4x2TB drives from the QNAP into a Synology NAS. I also want to make sure I purchase a device with the longest time duration support I can get, so I'm reluctant to purchase a unit that has been out for 2 to 3 years and would prefer to wait on a newer model. I'm not that concerned about traditional HDDs vs SSDs since I plan on running RAID 10, so to keep costs down, I'll most likely opt for HDDs. I've been watching videos and like the more friendly user interface of the Synology devices, but can't decide between the two brands. Since I'm not in an urgent situation, do you recommend waiting until later in 2023 to see what offering each company will have? Any other suggestions?

Thanks for your videos and your great product analyses.

So I'm looking to purchase a well 2 nas for the first time one for basically running it like a cloud storage to send files online to clients and have multiple people access it so I can send the files remotely and the second one is going to be the main storage and possibly to run things off if necessary so my budget rounding up is about $3,000 but it's definitely going to be less than that.

The first drive is for multiple people to access I'm trying to get that as cheap as possible because the entire goal for that one it's for multi-access just to send and transfer files remotely and maybe send messages if that's possible.

The second one I'm trying to get it future proof as best as possible because that's going to be my main storage and I plan on using that one for years so I need it to possibly be upgradable I run a videography photography business and I'm having issues with my portable hard drives so I need a better solution.

With the first drive, I plan on getting a Synology because they said that one's very easy to start and get going so the models I'm looking at are the DS923+, DS720J, DS723+, DS220+, and the DS218

With the second NAS I decided on the QNAP TS-h973AX 9-bay

I know I said my budget is $3,000 but I'm trying to go way cheaper than that and I'm not trying to buy that many hard drives right now I want to upgrade it as I'm moving forward.

So with that being said if you can maybe give me some more advice and some alternative options I definitely appreciate it also I run an at-home business so the storage is going to be used at a home location

Hey

Iam looking to buy a new Qnap NAS..

It is mostly for photo, storage, backup.

we have a lot of famliy movie and thousand of pictures..
we need to sort and organise

We have been looking at the 453D and 464 - but cant diside.

please give os a hint in the right direction

Br.Fa, Andersen

TS-251 with 8GB & J1800 CPU. I use PLEX on the NAS and want to improve the transcoding. How can I add a temporary transcode directory for PLEX on my NAS? What steps can I taking to improve transcoding of my videos so that they play properly. Need step by step as I am new to NAS, so guides and videos are appreciated.

Hi Robbie/Eddie - I am trying this one more time; I still haven’t been able to see your response. My latest thought is Yahoo is accidentally routing your email response to the dreaded Junk folder. So, if you already responded, please resend your response and I will double check my junk folder for the next few weeks. Thanks so much. -Brian in US
My exact question is copied below:
———————

Hello Robbie,
Thanks for all the work you do to make videos that are useful - and understandable!

This will be my first NAS - I am building it for my family to store and share photos, videos and files in a “cloud” that we own.

So I have to convince my wife that it is safe. (Yikes) And I am super nervous that my plan might put the high-value family data (photos and videos) at more risk than they are currently - stored in individual phones, laptops, hard drives.

So far, my plan is to buy: the DS220+, Seagate Iron Wolf 4TB drives, an external 5TB drive for permanently attached USB backup, and possibly a secondary drive for 1-button copy backups that I can disconnect.
——————-
Question 1: Why use RAID?
Please hear me out.
Since NAS is new to my family, I am guessing I won’t need the extra speed that RAID provides - only three users to start, mostly using NAS for backing up data. (Cloud function will come after everyone gets comfortable,)

From what I have read…
RAID seems unstable - is it true that if there is ONE ERROR (like a URE) on the disk that the whole array will be lost? …I heard this from another YouTuber. (Thio Joe Tech - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A2OxG2UjiV4 )
I am hoping this is incorrect - I would expect the frequent health checks done by both Synology and Seagate would find these errors and possibly segregate that sector of the drive before the error causes a failure in a critical action - like an array rebuild.
I would also hope that a RAID array would be more robust to a single error - essentially allowing only a SMALL portion of the data to be corrupted by a bad sector without loosing the ENTIRE data set in the array.

If RAID arrays ARE prone to this type of error, why would I risk it?

It seems that MULTIPLE BACKUPS with non-RAID hard drives might be sufficient and safer than building a potentially risky RAID array.

Can you set me straight - tell me, Is RAID the way?
Or, are my fears about RAID being less stable than non-RAID drives justified?
(…again, remembering that I might not even notice or need the speed associated with RAID)
——————-

You can stop here if you are tired of reading… but I do have one other, maybe simpler, question.

——————-

Question 2: Does a NAS typically need pure sine input from a UPS?
Some of the UPS info online says that some sensitive(?) equipment doesn’t just need a UPS but also very accurate sine waveform - something about PFC. I noticed in your UPS video that you were using a CyberPower UPS with “Pure Sine Wave” output. Is that required for Synology NAS?

Thank you! …for reading my long question(s). Any feedback you have will be great.

Sincerely,
NAS newbie - Brian

Hi,
I am a first time NAS buyer. Have watched many of your helpful videos. 1. The DS920 is around £450 to £500 in the UK at the moment. Amazon don’t have the DS923 yet but have listed it for about £620, which is not far off the DS1522. Given that PLEX is not a big issue for me, would the benefits of the DS923 including now deign able to use the SSD slots for storage pool and not just caching? Would the longevity also be a factor.
2. If I went for the DS920, what would its realistic lifespan be?
Thanks
Ben

Hi Nas Compares,

We love your channel, keep up good work. I am looking for a small home office nas (about 5 bay) which I can also stream 4k to my 4k TV with. We have a home cable lan network. I am an architect so have big files.

Thanks for your time.

Evan.