First time poster Thecus 4 bay vs. Synology and QNAP 2 bay

[Wafflebird]

Ok, hello there.

Please allow me some latitude as this is my first post here. I started about a week ago looking for a better storage system for my files (currently 1 2 TB USB 3 External HDD and one 1 TB USB 2 external HDD) . I shoot a lot of pictures and prefer to save all my raw photos separate for "Just in case" scenarios. Well have I learned a tremendous amount the last week just by surfing etc. I really like the Synology and QNAP OS and their products look great. However I can get a 4 bay Thecus for less than the upper level 2 bays from Synology and QNAP (713+ and 269L). The hardware on the Thecus is really still fairly comparable.

Now that I have learned how much more can be done with these units I am stoked with the possibilities. I obviously would like to use the unit as a media server and also potentially have access to my files remotely as well. I sell construction equipment and I have to have a tremendous amount of data sheets, specs, etc. at my disposal. Storage space though is important and obviously the 4 bay unit will net me more storage space initially.

OK, Thecus OS not as good as the other two. With that said am I really giving up anything of merit once the unit is up and running? I have all cat 6 and Gigabit from my Office to the 16 port gigabit switch where the NAS will live. It just looks like I can get more for my money with the Thecus. I would like to stay at least with the same processing power/RAM of the Thecus unit, I know there are other 4 bay units for less but I would prefer as much power as I can get in this price range. The 4 bay unit will allow me better data protection as well in comparison to the 2 bay units, at least in theory.

In summary I would like to (in order of importance)

Like to have safe saves of my photos and documents etc.

Like to be able to copy movies (DVD and Blu-Rays) and music to the NAS and play from it in other rooms in the house as well as remotely

Be able to connect and view the NAS on my TV and operate it from there

I know I will spend more buying 2 more drives for this unit, I figure I can start out with two as I would with the others and then get two more down the road.

One other question regarding the set up, I am planning on having this connected into my 16 port switch that is connected to my router, will I be able to access it remotely this way or will it need to be plugged directly into the router?

I hope I have not rambled too much and I really look forward to your input.

 

[L&LD]

With your intended uses and also being used as a business class machine, I would be suggesting a Qnap TS-470/670/870 Pro or above. With 4TB WD Red drives fully populated and configured as RAID5 from the get go (make sure you have a few extra drives on hand too, just in case).

With raw images, storage capacity is always never enough.

I can feel your enthusiasm, but don't get fooled that the hardware is the only thing that makes a real NAS tick. The O/S, software/apps and hardware come together to give us more than the sum of their (bare) parts would seem to, at first blush.


Keep in mind too that to be able to play movies remotely will depend on you ISP upload speed.

If you really need this next level of connected storage, I do not recommend doing it incrementally; dive in, do it properly and enjoy.


Don't worry about the money (if this is within your budget already), the freedom this will offer will be worth it once you see how storage capacity and accessibility should really be.

 

[dalwa]

N5550

i have Thecus N5550 5 bay NAS, amazing can do all what you ask for,

 

[Wafflebird]

How important is HDMI

First off thanks for the responses. How important is HDMI out? If I want to see, play, on my main TV I am assuming (Dangerous as it is) that this will all go over the network cables? I have a Yamaha RX-A2010 receiver network attached and I have a smart Panasonic Plasma TV. I use my Yamaha for all audio in my main room. Will it be able to "SEE and Play" movies etc. or will I have to see it from the TV and play it from there? And if so will I get HD and say Dolby HD DTS Master Audio this way if I RIP Blu-rays or standard DD from DVD's? I am guessing all this can be managed through Plex etc. Just want to make sure I have this all sorted prior to my commitment as I do not want to be disappointed with an "Oh it can't do that, I thought it could" scenario.

Also per my earlier question will this unit work with outside access with it connected to my 16 port gigabit switch "Behind" my router?

I have, I guess, blazing fast internet where I am with an average of 55-56 MBPS download and 11-12 upload (Oh yes I PAY for it believe me).

Hoping to not seem too clueless, I have TCP/IP and network certification from about 12 years ago and work with PC's daily. This is still a little new to me. One thing that is nice to see is that with Linux you can have a OS that is awesome with just a gig of ram, even serving 5 clients.

Really liking the QNAP and Synology units at this point, but the Thecus still looks like a good deal, just not as smooth and polished as the other two.

One questions as I have not looked into this yet, are "New units" (like everything tech) "just around the corner" and is there a rumor mill on this stuff like there is with cameras etc.?

I am not doing this like in the next week or so, more realistically in a couple of months so just keeping my eyes open. Of course anything new/better will have a higher price point. Maybe the current stuff will drop making it more attractive. Maybe you can supply me with the standard history for such updates.

Thanks again.

BC

 

[stevech]

The max-d out QNAP may be an expensive overkill.
Esp. the red drives with their cost premium.
Maybe too a 2-bay with 2x 3TB drives.

But I'm cheap.

 

[Dennis Wood]

If you take a lot of RAW format pics, you'll likely be looking for more speed to edit directly from the NAS. For this reason, I'd suggest at least looking at the TS-470 Pro which I've been testing with an added (optional) 10GbE network card. With four 7200 rpm sata 3 drives installed, it's good for about 450MB/s reads. You'd need a 10GbE NIC installed in a workstation, and could direct attach up to two workstations via the 10GbE network ports on the NAS. The TS-870 Pro may be overkill for you but fully populated with 8 drives, it has no problem pumping out 730 MB/s over 10GbE. We are now editing RAW pics and video completely from the LAN, with four of our 12 workstations connected via 10GbE to a combination of TS-870 Pro, and 2012 R2 Server. Also using the TS-470 Pro at the home office for remote rsync backup etc. A time lapse with 5GB of photos imports to Adobe Premiere CC in less than 2 seconds over the LAN...very impressive.

Your NAS just plugs into your switch..no need to direct connect to your router.

IF you want to direct attach a home theater system via HDMI, you can do this as well with the TS-470 Pro, When you enable the "HD Station", it installs an XMBC front end, codec pac and a few other apps to both play your movies, and access the NAS if required "directly" using a keyboard and mouse. It does do audio via HDMI and claims 5.1 support..although I've not tested this. Be carefully looking at models, as not all support transcoding and HD output. The "pro" models have faster processors, and support more RAM if required to run virtual machines.

As of the latest firmware (4.1 April 2014) you can also run virtual machines on the NAS. We're currently running a 2012 Server BDC, and Windows 8.1 Pro workstation this way. It's a very slick way to access a "workstation" when required remotely. This is exactly what we're doing now instead of leaving a workstation on 24/7. As the NAS units are running 24-7 anyway, adding virtual machine functionality is a great feature. You do need to add more RAM though, as the standard 2 GB won't allow VMs. I've got 8GB in there now, which is plenty for the two virtual machines running.

I've been thoroughly impressed with Qnap's addition of HD Station and Virtualization Station to an already feature rich GUI. You may want to check out my blog posts on 10GbE in general: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/labels/Cinevate

Cheers,
Dennis.

 

[Wafflebird]

Thanks Dennis

Dennis,

Thanks for the response and input. As I am just a single person and lone photographer your recommendation is probably a bit more than I need although I had already started to lean towards using the NAS as my main drive to copy raw files to and work with. As redundancy I will probably keep my 2 TB drive as a back up to that. I do now think though that a 4 bay drive would be the best bet, if I can hold out that long. If not a QNQP or Synology with expansion options will do. I am saving and putting away $10 here $43 there building up for this. I could buy it outright but I am doing it this way to familiarize myself to everything so that I am up to speed as much as possible at the time of purchase. YouTube and review sites are a tremendous help, this site especially.

I don't see me updating beyond the Gigabit for a while as I just got the 16 port Gigabit switch about 2 weeks ago.

I am very excited by the possibilities of this and I also think that NAS's are the wave of the future for home computing/storage, so much so that I am considereing getting into this myself as a side business. With digital cameras getting higher and higher megapixel counts storage as we currently know it won't be enough. HD video (which almost everthing records in now) eats up a lot of space and everyone wants to keep those memories.

Thanks again.

 

[Dennis Wood]

Understood..just wanted you to be aware of the upgrade path down the line if required. If you think you might be going the 10GbE route in the next 5 years (my typical service life for a NAS so far), consider a NAS with those options.

If HTPC functionality is a criteria, you can check this out for units that support HDMI out: http://www.qnap.com/hdstation/hd_station.php

Btw, I've got zero exposure to synology or thecus..so only recommending what I've tried myself.

 

[stevech]

Be sure to spend time with the on-line demo of the NASes at Synology and QNAP. Don't know if Thecus has such.

I tried both QNAP and Synology demos, and called their tech support once as I made my buy decision that came out Synology DS212. Just a 2 bay. Had it for a long time and haven't anywhere near filled it. But I don't rip movies, thus no need for HDMI to TV. If I did, I'd probably use a Roku or some such, as I don't want the NAS in the room where the big LCD TV is.

 

[Deleted member 28741]

Photography

I am also a photographer.. Pictures are hard to replace once lost or corrupted so I know where you are coming from.

Editing on a NAS is tediously slow... I use an external LaCie FireWire 800 drive to run master files on Lightroom.

That disc gets copied by time machine alternatively to the NAS and another External USB HDD.

I also copy the whole Lightroom catalog directory to the NAS regularly (but not daily).

Next I have a FireWire RAID where I also keep a backup of the LR folder.

Lastly I keep an external USB disc offsite with "the best" images.

And I still think that's not enough backup...

 

[unrated]

I have, I guess, blazing fast internet where I am with an average of 55-56 MBPS download and 11-12 upload (Oh yes I PAY for it believe me).
BC

LOL - you forgot we're in 2014 and not in 2000.
At least i've got 2500mbps (2'500'000kbps) download in switzerland for a good price.....
not 55... haha! (not a business connection)

sorry nevermind^^


PS: if you're looking for a good and cheap online storage, try www.cloudspeicher-vergleich.com