New Synology NAS or DX517 expansion

[Enquiries]

I am using Synology DS918+ with 4x4TB WD RED PLUS in Raid5 and I am really happy with it, but the available space is at 80% threshold. I simply need more space. What would you recommend? A new DS920/DS923 class Synology NAS or DX517 expansion of the existing one? What are the pros and cons of both approaches? This time I would need 12/14/16TB disks and I would rather get best value rather than most capacity or cheapest option.

[BobS]

I am using Synology DS918+ with 4x4TB WD RED PLUS in Raid5 and I am really happy with it, but the available space is at 80% threshold. I simply need more space. What would you recommend? A new DS920/DS923 class Synology NAS or DX517 expansion of the existing one? What are the pros and cons of both approaches? This time I would need 12/14/16TB disks and I would rather get best value rather than most capacity or cheapest option.

Given the ridiculous prices of a new NAS right now, I would suggest getting four new hard drives.  I have a DS718+ and a DS920+ and just upgraded the drives on the DS920. Also thought about the expansion path but the cost of that ($500) plus the cost of the drives to populate a few slots far outweighed the cost of upgrading to 12TB Red's.  If the DS918+ is working for you and does all you need, go with the hard drive upgrade. Those can always be used in a new unit in the future.  You can remove/replace one drive at a time using the procedures for upgrading a hard drive on Synology's site.  

As for which unit to buy if thats what you want, Rob made a recent video covering just that for the DS423+, the DS923+ and the older DS920+.  You may want to view that first.

[robothunter]

I am using Synology DS918+ with 4x4TB WD RED PLUS in Raid5 and I am really happy with it, but the available space is at 80% threshold. I simply need more space. What would you recommend? A new DS920/DS923 class Synology NAS or DX517 expansion of the existing one? What are the pros and cons of both approaches? This time I would need 12/14/16TB disks and I would rather get best value rather than most capacity or cheapest option.

Assuming you are using SHR, I would buy two 16TB drives and upgrade two of the existing 4TB drives. This would take you from 12TB's of space to 24TB's. Keep the two 4TB's on standby in case one of the existing 4TB drives fails. As you fill up the 24TB's the price of 16TB drives will go down and you can replace the last two 4TB's one at a time.

I have a DX517 connected to my DS918+ and it feels a little sketchy expanding the Storage Pool into it beyond 1 drive (or whatever your fault tolerance is). I have two separate Storage Pools in mine for now. In your case the cost of a DX517 exceeds the value of 4x4TB drives. If you have everything backed up to another NAS it's not a big of a deal, expand away.

The only real reason for you to buy a new NAS is if you are looking for 10GbE now or in the future. Going from a DS918+ to a DS920+ is a nothing upgrade. The DS923 gives you the option of adding 10GbE in the future as well as being able to use ssd's for more than just caching. If your desire is to use the DS923 as your primary and keep the DS918 as an onsite or offsite backup I would buy four 12/14/16TB drives and put two in each NAS (with two of you 4TB drives) to maintain an even amount of storage. That also gives you time to expand your volume size as needed and when there are great sale prices.