First NAS for home use

[Enquiries]

Hi, long time youtube subscriber here. I'm about to buy my first NAS for home use but I think I'm too confused to make a decision. What I'm looking for is a great user interface with a possibility of adding outdoor cameras and also plex or similar in the future ( with transcoding). I have been thinking of buying a 4-bay hardware, so 4 x 4TB HDDs because they are quite affordable. Maybe start with 2 drives first and in the future upgrade it with new hdds? I've looked at Synology hardware but I'm not sure about the hardware, I know the user interface is very good according to your videos. So can you help me out with this dillemma. I need a user friendly system with enough performance to also transcode (run) video service and cameras.

[ed]

Given your requirements, I’d recommend the Synology DS423+. Here’s why:

User Interface:

Synology DSM (DiskStation Manager): Synology’s DSM is known for being one of the most user-friendly NAS operating systems available. It offers a clean, intuitive interface that’s perfect for beginners but powerful enough for advanced users as you grow more comfortable with it.
Camera Support:

Surveillance Station: Synology NAS devices, including the DS423+, come with Surveillance Station, a robust application for managing IP cameras. It’s easy to set up and allows you to add outdoor cameras for home security. The DS423+ includes licenses for two cameras, and you can purchase additional licenses as needed.
Plex and Media Streaming:

Transcoding Capability: The DS423+ is powered by an Intel Celeron J4125 processor, which supports hardware transcoding. This makes it an excellent choice for running Plex or a similar media server, ensuring smooth video streaming and playback.
Future Proofing: The DS423+ offers enough performance to handle multiple tasks, such as running Plex while also managing your surveillance cameras.
Storage Flexibility:

4-Bay Design: Starting with 2 x 4TB drives in a RAID 1 configuration will give you 4TB of mirrored storage, which is great for data redundancy. As your storage needs grow, you can easily add more drives and migrate to a different RAID setup (e.g., RAID 5 or RAID 6) without losing data.
Expandability:

Memory Upgrade: The DS423+ allows you to expand the memory if you need more performance in the future.
SSD Caching: You can also add M.2 NVMe SSDs to boost read/write speeds if you find that your workloads require it.
Hard Drives:
For the 4TB drives, Seagate IronWolf or WD Red Plus are both excellent choices. These drives are designed for NAS environments, offering reliability and 24/7 operation, which is essential for a home NAS.

Estimated Cost:
Synology DS423+: Around £400-£500
4TB HDDs (2x): Approximately £70-£100 each
This setup should fit comfortably within your £700 budget, with room to expand as you add more drives later.