Skink   10 #1 Posted March 31, 2015 I am pondering getting a NAS set-up as prices are now much more reasonable than 2 - 3 years ago  But the choice is still confusing me! Synology seem the best but even they have lots of models  Mostly I want to: centralise file storage (eg photos and films) for PC and Android Tablet (no Apple kit here) run regular back ups from 2 different PCs run Outlook from either PC if I can easy recovery when a PC or NAS HDD dies spend £150 or less if I can  thoughts / comments? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Cyclone   10 #2 Posted March 31, 2015 I rate my synology very highly, it's an old one, 210j, which I'm now considering upgrading.  There is a nas chooser on the synology website that helps you identify a model that meets your needs.  https://www.synology.com/en-global/support/nas_selector  If you're using Outlook against a pop mailbox then the NAS won't help you.  £150 doesn't seem reasonable, given that you will have to pay for 2 disks, and for reasonable sizes (1tb say) the cost is going to be £40 - £60 a disk, even with the cheapest disks your budget leaves practically nothing for the NAS itself.  That said, you could get a single disk option and a 1tb drive for within your budget. http://www.dabs.com/products/synology-ds115j-1-bay-desktop-nas-enclosure-9QS3.html?refs=50498&src=3  But that means you lose the option of having 2 disk redundancy, which is a large part of the point IMO, some security against disk failure, which WILL happen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
bkcin   10 #3 Posted March 31, 2015 Synology are considered the best, and you do pay for what you get.  I used a cheapish 2-bay Zyxel NAS for a couple of years before upgrading to Synology and it was fine, did what I needed to etc.  Since upgrading to a Synology I don't think I could go back to one from any other vendor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Skink   10 #4 Posted March 31, 2015 thanks folks, looks like I need to budget for a 215j and 2 x HDDs . . .  bkcin - what does Synology do that makes you say that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Waldo   96 #5 Posted March 31, 2015 Think my Synology NAS is a 213j (I believe the '13' bit means 2013). Very happy with it, and would certainly buy another (probably 4 bay) Synology, when the need arises. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
bkcin   10 #6 Posted March 31, 2015 The software is very well designed, things work well and as you'd expect them to.  The software on Zyxel, Dlink etc, in my opinion is no match and often clunky.  Synology regularly update the software, taking feature requests on board etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
altus   534 #7 Posted March 31, 2015 You can try out the Synology software - they have a live demo.  I've got a DS411slim I don't use - the software doesn't do some of the things I wanted so I've gone back to plain Debian Linux. I'd be open to offers for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
heavenlyarts   10 #8 Posted March 31, 2015 For me.... Synology all the way !!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
tzijlstra   11 #9 Posted March 31, 2015 Have you considered a microserver?  Depending on how handy you are with IT it offers more flexibility for a similar (or sometimes even cheaper!) price. HP do a brilliant line.  Of course a microserver potentially uses more energy, and initial set-up will require at least some knowledge of computers/networking, but once set-up it should be rock solid and could add other interesting features that most NAS drives don't offer.  All in all though, a NAS is probably right for you, just thought I'd point out the existence of these nifty things, I love mine! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Cyclone   10 #10 Posted April 1, 2015 There's very little that a microserver can do that a synology nas can't, since it's basically running linux and you can access the console. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
tzijlstra   11 #11 Posted April 1, 2015 Roger Cyclone, not used a NAS for quite some time so wasn't sure how advanced they were these days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Cyclone   10 #12 Posted April 1, 2015 This is what synology does out of the box  https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/5.1/features  If you're prepared to access the console you can then do anything that linux lets you do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...