Hi NAS Compares

I’m a beginner when it comes to NAS but I’m thinking about getting my first one. I’m a part time photographer. Currently I have my images on two external SSD, which are backed up to an external HDD and the cloud. Used storage is around 8 TB at the moment, growing 1-2 TB a year. As my two external SSD are getting full I’m looking for a different solution as I’m tired of plugging in different external SSD.

I was looking at the Synology DS1825+ and DS1525+ being fully aware of the drive limitations Synology put in. My concern is mainly the availability of the drives, I guess if you go that route you almost have to have a spare drive.

Performance:
My understanding is that with more used bays in a NAS you get better read and write performance. Which is important for me as I flick through thousands of images through Adobe Lightroom and if the read speeds are slow the workflow gets quite annoying. However I don’t know how much the performance increases from a 5 bay unit to an 8 bay unit is, because in general I should have enough storage for my needs with a 5 bay unit. In addition I read that you shouldn’t use up all of the space on your drives because you will lose performance. Is that the same experience you have? What is a rough rule? 70-80%?

Back-up:
Currently I’m backing up to an external drive which I would plan to continue to do. I also have a Backblaze back-up in the cloud. What I read is that Backblaze doesn’t let you back up a NAS under the plan for private customers, but that plan is great value. I was thinking to back up my external back-up drives to the cloud in order to keep the current Backblaze plan. But I’m not sure if this is a big „No No“ when it comes backups. Could it give me extra troubles when restoring a backup?

Synology yes or no:
First of, would you highly recommend going away from Snyology? My needs are a reliable system with strong security and I don’t like to tinker with things myself too much. I just want something that runs smoothly, is easy to use and what I read is that the Synology Software provides that. 

Upgrades:
If I go with either the DS1825+ or DS1525+ are there any upgrades you would recommend in order to improve performance for my main use case of going to through lots of images. This is where I sometimes get annoyed by performance because I only need a quick look, decide to keep the image or not. If it takes quite long to even load the image it is a never ending task. 

Recommendations:
Are there any other options that I may should consider? I have not yet mentioned SSDs. I’m happy to pay a bit extra for better performance but for Synology I could only find the enterprise series which is ridiculous expensive. Maybe there are other options I’m not aware of.

considering this Motherboard. ASRock IMB-X1314. Is there a power efficient processor that will work with this board. Or is there another comparable MB

Hello, im looking for large/fast/simple/ and budget friendly storage solution. Im looking at the QNAP 288TB TVS-h1688X 16-Bay NAS Enclosure but Im not sure it would be fast enough.

If I set up the four 2.5" drive bays with SSDs, or use the two M.2 drive bays with 2 x 4tb drives as a cache, and only connect via thunderbolt 3, would that get me faster speeds when working directly off the h1688X?

Or would I be better off running raid 6 on a large array or drives in a DAS? Downside = future storage growth and not supporting multi users connected.

We have a small office, of 3 people, and I could run all three work computers to the h1688X via the thunderbolt 3 card connections with 6 to 10ft cords so that we are running the fastest line to the h1688X. But I feel like there is quite a bit of setup and might not be the simplest solution, or the h1688X has way more than I need in terms of apps and settings.

Maybe a rack would be best with some sort of software running on my Mac?

Thanks

I run a small video production company and it's time to buy our first NAS - I want it accessible by 2-3 editors at a time (mostly 2), editing in Davinci Resolve on Apple hardware. Need about a 40tb capacity to handle the feature doc we're working on, plus all our other projects. Debating whether to keep it smaller and be more active at archiving once projects are done, or bigger and lazier. Either way, need a backup solution too. QNAP seem to be the bees knees, but is it overkill? Could I get away with a Synology at a third of the price? Or should I dive straight into a TrueNAS build? Help!

HI,

I am a researcher, and I want to buy a NAS to back up, store, and access that data in real time. My lab group consists around 12 members and we store our lab research data. We want to connect the nas to our institute server infracture so that we can access it directly from our computers when we log in with microsoft.

Our budget is around €2500-3000. Can you suggest which NAS will be suitable for us and also I had doubts about RAID, wether to use HDD,SSD hybrid or also use M.2 NVMe SSD.

So before buying any unnecessary NAS i want to be sure which suits best for us.

Tasks which we want to do is access files in real time which are photos, Docs and 3D images files which ranges from 500Mb to 2Gb each. This files we want to store it in NAS directly and run on our desktops.

Thank you,
Dhyey

Hi all,

I've just bought the F4-424 Max to combine/replace my Synology DS718+ and micro Dell Optiplex 7000 server that's been slung under the office table for 3 years.

I'd like to run my two Micron 7450 Max NVME drives as NVME cache once I get Unraid installed on the new Terramaster NAS/server.

However, these drives run quite hot ... can anyone who has access to a F4-424 (Pro/Max) or F6-424 (Pro/Max) tell me how much space there is to mount M.2 NVME heatsinks on the drives? The cover closes over the motherboard on these and I haven't been able to find a photo or measurement of how much space there exists under the cover.

Thanks guys for doing this!

Looking to upgrade my Phtogography-/Videography store solution from multiple external harddrives to a NAS. I want to be able to ingest large amounts of pictures (through Lightroom) or video files (for cutting with Resolve) and edit them on my MacBook Pro. Additional files would ony be business-related file storage, nothing personal, no media server, etc.
Best Regards
Eric

I help a small business with their IT. I am self taught over the last 30 years or so. Company uses Microsoft 365 for its email and applications. I am trying to convince them to ensure they have a suitable backup, so looking at getting them an Synology NAS and using Active Backup for Microsoft 365.

I am torn between getting a DS925+ or a DS1525+ with 2 Synology HAT3310-8T 8TB drives. I am not concerned about being locked to Synology drives, for me it makes things simpler and I wish it was like that when I got my DS723+ as I spent far too long trying to work out what was the best drive.

Is the extra drive on the DS1525+ worth the extra £170 over the DS925+ as I could get 2 Synology HAT3310-12T 12T instead

I was thinking of using SHR as I could then add an additional drive(s) at a later date.

IT expenditure isn't a high priority, so getting this set up and then adding an additional drive won't look like it is breaking the bank at a later date.

Keep up the good work on YouTube

Hi there,

I currently own a Synology DS1813+, and it's time for an upgrade. Over the past year, I’ve been gradually purchasing WD 22TB Red Pro drives in preparation. However, with Synology’s recent shift toward proprietary drive requirements, I’m now looking to move away from their ecosystem.

I’ve been considering the QNAP TS-873A-8G-US, but I’m concerned about its age—it’s been on the market for about four years. Since I plan to keep my next NAS for 12+ years, I want to ensure I’m making a future-proof investment. Do we have any indication of a successor to this model, possibly coming this fall?

My current NAS is primarily used for:

Plex media storage
Backups
Personal cloud access
I’m also interested in consolidating my server into the new NAS and exploring newer features and capabilities.

Would you recommend waiting for newer models, or are there other options I should consider now? I’m open to any suggestions or insights you might have.

Thanks in advance!

Best regards,
Ed

Hey There,
Thank you o much for the great work you do! I need advice regarding a UPS for our Sinology 1821+ with 6 drives currently installed. This unit will power only the NAS and a 10GB switch. Our editing station which use MacBooks or on separate UPS units.

Realistically looking to keep the Nasty running for 30 minutes - before shutting down.

Currently looking at the APC Performance BR1000Ms Sine Wave 1000VA -1500VA units or the MUCH more expensive SMC1500 units.

Three questions:
1) What Wattage of UPS do I need to use to power the NAS and switch for about minutes when the drives are in use?
2) I also have a fiber modem and Wifi Roueter in a separate location (120Watts max per together as or their power supply units) what UPS size would I need to keep things running for about 30 minutes there?
3) Is the cloud based Smart Connect worth the addition cost in the SMC1500 for my Synology Setup or will DSM view basic UPS status too? Thanks!