Network Attached Storage kit?

[Skink 10]

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?

[Cyclone 10]

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.

[bkcin 10]

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.

[Skink 10]

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?

[Waldo 96]

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.

[bkcin 10]

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.

[altus 534]

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.

[heavenlyarts 10]

For me.... Synology all the way !!!

[tzijlstra 11]

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!

[Cyclone 10]

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.

[tzijlstra 11]

Roger Cyclone, not used a NAS for quite some time so wasn't sure how advanced they were these days.

[Cyclone 10]

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.