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I need to move my media (movies, photos, random files, home movies) files off of a hard drive on my wife's computer. We will be using this as a plex server and a place to store photos. We really need redundancy. I was looking at the QNAP TS-453E-8G-US 4 Bay unit. I selected QNAP since Synology units look under powered and you need to use proprietary drives and ram. Is this the correct choice? I have never had a NAS before so im looking for something fairly easy to use.
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Thank you for your message! For your use case of setting up a Plex server, photo storage, and achieving redundancy, the QNAP TS-453E-8G-US is a solid choice. Let me break it down for you:
Why the QNAP TS-453E-8G-US is a Good Choice
Hardware Power: The TS-453E comes with 8GB of RAM and a decent Intel processor, which is capable of handling Plex, even with light transcoding needs.
Redundancy: With four bays, you can start with two drives in RAID 1 for redundancy and add more drives later to expand storage or migrate to RAID 5.
Ease of Use: QNAP’s interface is user-friendly and offers flexibility with built-in apps and customization options.
Flexibility: No need to rely on proprietary drives or RAM—QNAP allows for more freedom in upgrades.
Hard Drive Recommendations
For 12TB drives, I recommend the following options:
Seagate IronWolf Pro 12TB
Designed for NAS, with high durability and 24/7 performance.
5-year warranty with rescue data recovery services.
WD Red Pro 12TB
Optimized for NAS environments and quieter operation, with strong reliability.
Alternatives to Consider
If you’re open to alternatives within your budget:
Synology DS923+
Though Synology has proprietary drives for some models, the DS923+ doesn’t require them.
Excellent for Plex and photo organization, with a polished UI.
QNAP TS-464
A bit more expensive but future-proofed with 2.5GbE networking and better hardware overall.
