After HP EX495, Considering ReadyNas Pro Pionner or QNAP TS-659

[Nixlimited]

So I recently pulled the trigger after what I thought was sufficient research regarding various different NASes. I got an HP MediaSmart Server EX495. Suffice to say, I have been dissatisfied with the EX495. Requiring setup through a PC was annoying, but workable. But what has really killed it for me, which is my fault for not understanding up-front, is that at best this box acts like a Raid 1. Because I plan to use this as a movie streamer, I need a lot of capacity and a more efficient redundancy setup like Raid 5. I do like the ability to do on-NAS video conversion, but it's not compelling enough right now to keep it. I also find it fundamentally lacking that none of the USB ports can be used for direct copy-to-NAS, at least not without a bunch of root-access hacking.

So, with that said, I have narrowed my options to the ReadyNas Pro Pioneer and the Qnap TS-659. Currently, the QNAP, because it is slightly newer, seems to have the feature-set lead and it appears to be the more power efficient option. However, the ReadyNas series has been a rock-solid contender consistently in the charts here. It is a bit annoying that NetGear seems to have disabled features on the Pioneer addition for no reason other than to force the purchase of the same hardware with disks. Between the two units, the prices are similar enough that it is basically immaterial to me. Both have support for AFP and Time Machine backups which is requisite.

Any advice on which of these to make my new NAS?

 

[claykin]

I have a NVX Business and am very happy. Been using Readynas products for a couple years and they haven't disappointed.

QNAP and Synology have both come a long way in the last year or so. They had good products before this past year, but they've both ratcheted up the game recently including improved US support offerings.

Keep in mind that nothing is perfect and with all brands there are issues. I recommend you visit the forum sites for both products and poke around. Keep in mind that most forum visitors are people with problems. Rarely do happy users visit and post accolades....

Unless you absolutely need a diskless model, IMO the NVX Business is a better buy than the Pioneer. Its about $350 more but you get 2 x 1TB Enterprise disks ($250 real world value) and the extra features of the full NVX (and 2 x extra years on warranty).

Also, whatever you do, Netgear, QNAP, Synology, just make sure you use disks from the manufacturers HCL (compatibility list).