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+--- Thread: starting small and expanding (/showthread.php?tid=11721)
starting small and expanding - Enquiries - 02-13-2025
I watched your setup of synology and qnap and talk of starting small and expanding.
main use will be computer backups and media.
On both videos you mentioned adding drives later.
BUT I have questions you didn't cover.
Is one brand better at adding drives and setting up and not taking days to reconfigure?
pop in a drive and an hour later all is done?
Both seemed to be more than able to scrape media data. But qnap looks more polished and easier to accomplish, is this correct?
How must tv season data, name etc be formatted for this to work?
RE: starting small and expanding - ed - 02-14-2025
Great questions! If you’re planning to start small and expand, here’s what you should consider:
Adding Drives Later – Synology vs. QNAP
Synology (SHR - Synology Hybrid RAID)
Easier expansion without full reconfiguration.
You can add different-sized drives without losing storage efficiency.
Rebuilding a RAID can take several hours to a day, but your data remains accessible.
QNAP (RAID 1/5/6 or Qtier)
RAID expansion requires same-size drives for best results.
RAID expansion and migration take longer than Synology but allow better manual control.
Some models (like QNAP TVS-h874) offer ZFS, which can provide better data protection.
Winner for Easier Expansion: Synology (SHR is more flexible).
Media Scraping – QNAP vs. Synology
QNAP
More polished and customizable media scraping via QuMagie (Photos) & Video Station.
Supports hardware transcoding better (on Intel models with iGPU).
Synology
Works well with Plex and Jellyfin, but Video Station is more limited.
Easier integration with Synology Photos for backups.
Winner for Media Scraping Ease: QNAP.
TV Show Formatting for Metadata Scraping
For best results, use Plex/Jellyfin/Synology Video Station formatting:
✅ TV Shows → /TV Shows/Show Name/Season 01/Show Name - S01E01.mp4
✅ Movies → /Movies/Movie Name (Year)/Movie Name (Year).mp4
Recommended NAS for $1000 (10TB Mirror)
1️⃣ Synology DS923+ (4-bay) + 2x 10TB drives (SHR flexibility, future expansion)
2️⃣ QNAP TS-464 (4-bay) + 2x 10TB drives (Better media experience, more raw power)
3️⃣ Used QNAP TVS-672XT or TVS-h674 (If you find a deal, this would be top-tier)