DS224+ vs F2-423 and questions about NASCOMPARES Benchmark Video

[SamCraig]

Hey all.

I think I am leaning towards the Synology 224+ (but also considering the terramaster f2-423 (because of the multitude of videos from NASCompares YouTube).  I am brand new to the NAS world, so I like that Synology has intuitive software and sounds like it's got everything I would want.  My biggest use cases are: Running a Plex movie server (and dlna/smb server?) and backing up our phones (photos and videos).  We'd also likely use it to offload other files on our computer that we don't want taking up space. One video on the youtube channel showed pretty great performance with the Synology 224+ but I couldn't tell if he was using the 2gb of memory that comes with it, or if the memory was upgraded. I also wasn't sure if the drives were 5400 or 7200. I do love that the terramaster has much better hardware and more expansion possibilities, but wondering if it might be overkill?  Driveless, they both also seem to be around the same price.

So my first question is - was the benchmarking video using 2gb or more?
Second question - just how different (features) are the overall apps between the two systems?

Anyone have strong feelings here?  Thanks!

[ed]

Glad you're diving into the NAS world—exciting times ahead! For your first question, yes, most of the time when we run tests (like the one you saw in the video), it’s with the default 2GB of RAM, no upgrades. For typical use cases like Plex, phone backups, and file storage, 2GB is often enough, especially if you're not running heavy background tasks like Docker containers or virtual machines.

That being said, the RAM on the DS224+ is upgradable if you ever find yourself needing more, but for your listed needs, the Celeron processor in the DS224+ can handle a single 4K transcode in Plex just fine. If you're looking for heavier multitasking or multiple 4K streams, then yeah, something like a QNAP 73A series with a GPU upgrade (through the PCIe slot) would be the way to go.
Terramaster have no good phone backup app.

[SamCraig]

Glad you're diving into the NAS world—exciting times ahead! For your first question, yes, most of the time when we run tests (like the one you saw in the video), it’s with the default 2GB of RAM, no upgrades. For typical use cases like Plex, phone backups, and file storage, 2GB is often enough, especially if you're not running heavy background tasks like Docker containers or virtual machines.

That being said, the RAM on the DS224+ is upgradable if you ever find yourself needing more, but for your listed needs, the Celeron processor in the DS224+ can handle a single 4K transcode in Plex just fine. If you're looking for heavier multitasking or multiple 4K streams, then yeah, something like a QNAP 73A series with a GPU upgrade (through the PCIe slot) would be the way to go.
Terramaster have no good phone backup app.

Thank you!