How to select a NAS Drive for Home Use?

[dhiraj100]

I would like to purchase a NAS drive for home use.
- We have 4 computers at home, that want to share the NAS drive
- 1-2TB of storage
- RAID (but not sure what RAID is needed ... want to be able to recover from hard disk failure)
- I am thinking 2 bay ... (what is the advantage of 4 bay)
- should be on home wireless network
- store files on it, use it for storage and backup
- keep music and Squeezebox server on NAS drive
- In future serve up movies
- Currently using Desktop PC for storage and squeezebox 24/7. Don't want this. Want to turn off the PC.
- Remotely access data from NAS drive
- Care about performance when accessing files
- Streaming video/music
- Want to post/host large photo collection and share with friends
- Price is a factor
- Lower power consumption than my Desktop 24/7.

Do I want 2 bay or 4 bay? What is the benefit for 4 bay?

Do I want an eSATA port and if so, why?

I am currently looking at Synology 209+II or Synology 209 or ReadyNAS NV+. What would you recommend? I hear Synology has very good performance, and reasonably low power compared with ReadyNAS NV+. Is there a big difference between Synology 209 and 209+II? Would you recommend anything else?

 

[claykin]

If you are looking at 2 bay units RAID 1 is your only option to provide redundancy.

If you need more storage space then 4 bay would be an advantage. You could use 4 x 2TB disks and have a 6TB RAID 5 volume. Or you could setup multiple RAID 1 volumes if you'd prefer. Obviously with 2 disks you are limited.

All can be attached to a wifi network

All can be used for file storage and backup (thats the primary NAS function)

Music and Squeezebox should not be an issue with any of the ones you are looking at. Its built into the Readynas and I think an optional download on the Synology.

Remote file access is also do-able on all. However the Synology uses a web browser to access files and will require you open a port to the Internet. The Readynas also supports this function and has another option called Readynas Remote which is a NAT Traversal tool that provides drive letter access to your NAS shares. Imagine it showing up as a drive letter in MY Computer just like if you were sitting on the LAN. Very slick.

Performance, the 209+II will be best, followed by the 209 then the NV+/Duo. Check the Smallnetbuilder reviews and the NAS charts for detailed performance for each device.

Power consumption should be similar for all units of same disk capacity. The disks use the most power so if you use power efficient disks (like the WD Green series) you'll save a bit of energy. That said, I usually recommend Enterprise disks such as the Seagate ES2 disks since they usually work better in RAID environments. Just make sure you use disks that are on the manufacturers approved disk list. Never buy random disks without chcecking for compatibility first. This goes for all NAS products.

eSata is useful when backing up NAS shares. Yes, you do want to backup since RAID does not qualify as backup. eSata can backup shares about 2-3x faster than USB2. If you run your share backups at night when you are sleeping, speed shouldn't be much of an issue.

You can also look at the QNAP products.

BTW, I own a Readynas NVX.

 

[dhiraj100]

The ReadyNAS NVX is more expensive than the ReadyNAS NV+ I was looking into. The ReadyNAS NV+ does not have an eSATA port. Also I heard from a friend (though he bought his ReadyNAS NV+ a few years back) that the ReadyNAS NV+ does not go into a low power state when the disk is not being accessed/used, and his typical power consumption is 60W, which is higher than using a laptop 24x7 as a 'shared drive' and music server.

True, RAID is not backup. But, I plan to put a lot of audio/video on the NAS drive too, that I do not need to backup. Can I selectively pick what to backup from the RAID internal drive?

Also which of these NAS units do you recommend. I need only about 1-1.5TB of usable space. Does that say I want 2 or 4 bays? I think 2, probably, with RAID1 based on your guidance (do I lose one of the disks to RAID1 or is there smart usage of disk space in the RAID1 implementation?)

Also I would like to be in the < $500 range for a diskless solution, ideally $500 for a 1TB solution, but willing to go a bit higher. So ReadyNAS NVX is out of my price range for instance.

What do you think of ReadyNAS NV+ vs. Synology 209+II vs Synology 209? The Synology 209 gives up only a little performance on larger file sizes and the eSATA port from what I can tell.

But I do want it to be somewhat future proof and keep this for a few years.

Thoughts? Suggestions on what to buy?

 

[claykin]

The ReadyNAS NVX is more expensive than the ReadyNAS NV+ I was looking into. The ReadyNAS NV+ does not have an eSATA port. Also I heard from a friend (though he bought his ReadyNAS NV+ a few years back) that the ReadyNAS NV+ does not go into a low power state when the disk is not being accessed/used, and his typical power consumption is 60W, which is higher than using a laptop 24x7 as a 'shared drive' and music server.

Disk spindown can be an issue on ALL NAS products. Assuming your friend has followed the rules, his disk spindown should work:

1) Use manufacturer approved disks only
2) Typically have the latest firmware installed. In the case of the NV+ its V4.1.6.
3) Make sure journaling is disabled. If journaling is enabled the disk cannot spindown since there is activity every few seconds. (NOTE: Its also advisable to have a UPS attached and monitored by the NAS to avoid file system corruption during an abrupt power off event.)
4) Enable disk spindown in the admin menu of the NAS

The above goes for ANY NAS.

True, RAID is not backup. But, I plan to put a lot of audio/video on the NAS drive too, that I do not need to backup. Can I selectively pick what to backup from the RAID internal drive?

Using the built in backup utility you can selectively backup NAS shares, but not down to pick specific files within a share. So you'll want to methodically create shares based on what you want to backup.

If you use a PC/client based backup solution, then yes you can granularly backup whatever you'd like and copy over the LAN to a backup disk.

Also which of these NAS units do you recommend. I need only about 1-1.5TB of usable space. Does that say I want 2 or 4 bays? I think 2, probably, with RAID1 based on your guidance (do I lose one of the disks to RAID1 or is there smart usage of disk space in the RAID1 implementation?)

Two should serve you well. 2TB disks are out now and we can only assume that larger disks will be coming. Cannot say for sure they will be approved for use on any NAS model, but I would think there will be options for larger disks in the future.

With RAID 1 you lose one disk for redundancy. If your disks are two different sizes, you lose the larger of the two so upgrading one disk in RAID 1 is not a good idea. Keep them matched.

Also I would like to be in the < $500 range for a diskless solution, ideally $500 for a 1TB solution, but willing to go a bit higher. So ReadyNAS NVX is out of my price range for instance.

What do you think of ReadyNAS NV+ vs. Synology 209+II vs Synology 209? The Synology 209 gives up only a little performance on larger file sizes and the eSATA port from what I can tell.

But I do want it to be somewhat future proof and keep this for a few years.

Thoughts? Suggestions on what to buy?

The $1M question. I'm a Readynas user so I would usually recommend the NV+. Why? Netgear support is very good, you get a 5 year warranty (3 year on Duo) and they have a great (arguably the best) user and tech supported forum for when you need help/advice. That said, the NV+ is getting a bit old and definitely does not look good on paper when compared to the newer offerings (from a performance standpoint). Can I ask you why you aren't looking at the Readynas DUO? the NV+ is 4 disk, the DUO is 2 disk. Same hardware and mostly the same functionality (minus things like Active Directory, VLAN, Snapshot). If you need AD, then I understand why you're looking at the NV+.

See Netgear's comparison chart here: http://www.readynas.com/?cat=49

The Synology 209 or 209+II are also capable NAS boxes. If I had to poke fun at the Synology 209 series boxes it would be that they 1) make it more difficult to install and replace the disks, 2) The built-in backup solution is not nearly as flexible as the Readynas, 3) no option to dismount external disks without logging into the Synology admin web interface and 4) The 2 year warranty and somewhat sketchy support they offer in the event you need service on your unit (in most cases they send you back to the reseller). And, in most cases they don't offer post warranty repair. If you have hardware failure post warranty, you are SOL. See here: http://www.synology.com/enu/term/index.php

I have similar gripes with the QNAP products except for #1, QNAP makes disk install and replacement very easy.

Finally, just thought you'd like to know that you can get a diskless NVX for under $800 with free shipping. Yes, its more expensive, but its a great NAS and has smokin fast transfer speeds. See here: www.eaegis.com

 

[ttran55]

Go for 4-bay NAS even if you don't think you need 4.
You can use two bays for Raid1 to store valuable files and the other two bays for non raid volumes.

 

[dhiraj100]

I couldn't find a link with compatible drives for the ReadyNAS Duo. What drive does the Duo ship with?

Also, you ask why not consider the ReadyNAS Duo. How about it's performance for writes/reads and copys compared with Synology? Thoughts?

 

[GGW]

Finally, just thought you'd like to know that you can get a diskless NVX for under $800 with free shipping. Yes, its more expensive, but its a great NAS and has smokin fast transfer speeds. See here: www.eaegis.com

I wish I'd known this a few days earlier, I would have gone for it. Netgear seems to charge an extremely high premium for their pre-installed drives which put them out of my reach. $789 + 4 1.5tb drives at $105 each is doable though. Bummer.

 

[dhiraj100]

Disk spindown can be an issue on ALL NAS products. Assuming your friend has followed the rules, his disk spindown should work:

1) Use manufacturer approved disks only
2) Typically have the latest firmware installed. In the case of the NV+ its V4.1.6.
3) Make sure journaling is disabled. If journaling is enabled the disk cannot spindown since there is activity every few seconds. (NOTE: Its also advisable to have a UPS attached and monitored by the NAS to avoid file system corruption during an abrupt power off event.)
4) Enable disk spindown in the admin menu of the NAS

The above goes for ANY NAS.





Using the built in backup utility you can selectively backup NAS shares, but not down to pick specific files within a share. So you'll want to methodically create shares based on what you want to backup.

If you use a PC/client based backup solution, then yes you can granularly backup whatever you'd like and copy over the LAN to a backup disk.




Two should serve you well. 2TB disks are out now and we can only assume that larger disks will be coming. Cannot say for sure they will be approved for use on any NAS model, but I would think there will be options for larger disks in the future.

With RAID 1 you lose one disk for redundancy. If your disks are two different sizes, you lose the larger of the two so upgrading one disk in RAID 1 is not a good idea. Keep them matched.



The $1M question. I'm a Readynas user so I would usually recommend the NV+. Why? Netgear support is very good, you get a 5 year warranty (3 year on Duo) and they have a great (arguably the best) user and tech supported forum for when you need help/advice. That said, the NV+ is getting a bit old and definitely does not look good on paper when compared to the newer offerings (from a performance standpoint). Can I ask you why you aren't looking at the Readynas DUO? the NV+ is 4 disk, the DUO is 2 disk. Same hardware and mostly the same functionality (minus things like Active Directory, VLAN, Snapshot). If you need AD, then I understand why you're looking at the NV+.

See Netgear's comparison chart here: http://www.readynas.com/?cat=49

The Synology 209 or 209+II are also capable NAS boxes. If I had to poke fun at the Synology 209 series boxes it would be that they 1) make it more difficult to install and replace the disks, 2) The built-in backup solution is not nearly as flexible as the Readynas, 3) no option to dismount external disks without logging into the Synology admin web interface and 4) The 2 year warranty and somewhat sketchy support they offer in the event you need service on your unit (in most cases they send you back to the reseller). And, in most cases they don't offer post warranty repair. If you have hardware failure post warranty, you are SOL. See here: http://www.synology.com/enu/term/index.php

I have similar gripes with the QNAP products except for #1, QNAP makes disk install and replacement very easy.



Finally, just thought you'd like to know that you can get a diskless NVX for under $800 with free shipping. Yes, its more expensive, but its a great NAS and has smokin fast transfer speeds. See here: www.eaegis.com

I guess my concern is that the Duo lags the Synology 209+II or 209 by a factor of 3-4X on performance, doesn't have eSATA port like the 209+II, and the photo hosting interface I hear is a bit more cumbersome than desired. That is why I was preferring the Synology over those particular models of Ready NAS. I am sure the NVX is significantly higher performance according to the charts. That said the price point on the Duo which is $350 with 1x 1TB drive is tempting.

 

[dhiraj100]

Also for those familiar with Synology, I would really appreciate some guidance on Synology 209 vs 209+II. From what I can tell other than small performance differences (with a small number of users), the only difference is the presence of eSATA on the 209+II, for a cost increase of $150. The diskless 209 is available for < $300. Advice?

 

[claykin]

I wish I'd known this a few days earlier, I would have gone for it. Netgear seems to charge an extremely high premium for their pre-installed drives which put them out of my reach. $789 + 4 1.5tb drives at $105 each is doable though. Bummer.

I chose to get the NVX with 2 x 1TB Seagate ES2 disks for $999 with free shipping. The ES2 disks are Enterprise and I'm an old school believer of its best to use Enterprise disks in a RAID environment. I think Netgear agrees since they ship the 2x1TB and 2x2TB NVX and Pro models with Enterprise disks.

 

[claykin]

Also for those familiar with Synology, I would really appreciate some guidance on Synology 209 vs 209+II. From what I can tell other than small performance differences (with a small number of users), the only difference is the presence of eSATA on the 209+II, for a cost increase of $150. The diskless 209 is available for < $300. Advice?

Did you read this review on smallnetbuilder? Tim compared the 209 and 209+II. This should answer all your questions on the difference between the two products.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-reviews/30944-synology-ds209-and-ds209ii-reviewed

You can also look @ the comparison doc on the Synology website.

http://www.synology.com/enu/products/compare_spec.php

They are very similar from a feature standpoint.

209+II has much faster CPU and 2x RAM
209+II has eSATA
209+II can have more user account and can handle more concurrent connections (but I highly doubt you'd even come close to the max of the 209)
209+II supports 4 additional IP cameras
209+II consumes a bit more power

 

[claykin]

For some reason the NV+ does not show on Tim's charts

The NV+ is only in the RAID5 charts. It's the only data I have for it.

 

[claykin]

I guess my concern is that the Duo lags the Synology 209+II or 209 by a factor of 3-4X on performance, doesn't have eSATA port like the 209+II, and the photo hosting interface I hear is a bit more cumbersome than desired. That is why I was preferring the Synology over those particular models of Ready NAS. I am sure the NVX is significantly higher performance according to the charts. That said the price point on the Duo which is $350 with 1x 1TB drive is tempting.

Like I mentioned in the previous reply, if you are not using Gigabit wired networking all these NAS boxes you are looking at will have similar performance. Your speeds will be limited to 10-12.5MB/s using 10/100 wired and even slower with wifi (even "N").

I have not played with Readynas Photo, but I've heard the opposite. People tell me its better than Synology's photo hosting solution. Hmmm, I guess its arguable.

Anyway, I say to just use a free Google Picassa web album, Photobucket, etc. for hosting photos and be done with it.

 

[dhiraj100]

Thanks. You raise a good point regarding network LAN performance. I have 4 computers on the network that would want to share, access and backup files. 3 of these are laptops so there are on WiFi N (DLINK 615). This has a 10/100Mbps 4 port switch and the 1 desktop I have connects to this using ethernet CAT5. So at the moment there is no Gigabit Ethernet. In addition though I run a Squeezebox (Logitech) Server and serve up music using Squeezebox receivers to multiple rooms also over the same Wireless network. This is my current setup.

What do you recommend based on this network. I might want to upgrade this at some point but the majority of the machines will be laptops and those and the music will be served wirelessly in any case. In this type of setup / application, what NAS do you suggest?

I would like I mentioned before like to be able to access the data remotely when I am travelling (data on the NAS drive).

Also is there a big value to having eSATA -- neither the Duo, NV+ or the 209 has eSATA.

You have the ReadyNAS NVX. Does this suggest you have a fully wired LAN with no use of Wireless?

 

[dhiraj100]

You can purchase the Duo with or without disks.

See here:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001MVIH24/?tag=snbforums-20

Here's the approved disk list

http://www.readynas.com/?page_id=82

I usually recommend the Seagate ES2 disks but its your call if you want to spend the few extra $$

Performance is pretty much the same as the NV+. For some reason the NV+ does not show on Tim's charts, but it is about the same as the Duo. See here:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/index.php?option=com_nas&Itemid=&chart=12

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/index.php?option=com_nas&Itemid=&chart=13

As you can see the Synology 209 and 209+II are much faster. The question is do you need it?

BTW, all this talk about performance but I don't think we ever talked about your LAN? Are you Gigabit? If so, you can take advantage of the faster speeds of the 209. If you are 10/100 or wifi, you'll max out at 10-12.5MB/s regardless of which NAS you use. In a 10/100 and wifi environment, the Duo, NV+ and 209 will have about the same performance.

Is the Seagate Barracuda ES2 you are referring to significantly better and will it make a difference on my LAN compared to the Western Digital Green SATA drives? It looks like the ES2 are $160 a pop for the 1TB on Amazon.

 

[claykin]

Is the Seagate Barracuda ES2 you are referring to significantly better and will it make a difference on my LAN compared to the Western Digital Green SATA drives? It looks like the ES2 are $160 a pop for the 1TB on Amazon.

Enterprise disks are typically built a bit better, with better quality components designed for longer term use. That does not mean its guaranteed to last longer, but it might and should.

Also, see here regarding error recovery algorithms and why not all desktop class disks are great choices for a RAID

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID#Drive_error_recovery_algorithms

 

[claykin]

Thanks. You raise a good point regarding network LAN performance. I have 4 computers on the network that would want to share, access and backup files. 3 of these are laptops so there are on WiFi N (DLINK 615). This has a 10/100Mbps 4 port switch and the 1 desktop I have connects to this using ethernet CAT5. So at the moment there is no Gigabit Ethernet. In addition though I run a Squeezebox (Logitech) Server and serve up music using Squeezebox receivers to multiple rooms also over the same Wireless network. This is my current setup.

What do you recommend based on this network. I might want to upgrade this at some point but the majority of the machines will be laptops and those and the music will be served wirelessly in any case. In this type of setup / application, what NAS do you suggest?

I think I've already guided you the best I can. Now, its up to you to pull the trigger.

I would like I mentioned before like to be able to access the data remotely when I am travelling (data on the NAS drive).

Already answered. Look at the Readynas Remote feature. Its fairly slick and keeps your network locked down and secure.

Also is there a big value to having eSATA -- neither the Duo, NV+ or the 209 has eSATA

.

Already answered. If you feel you need 2-3x speed for backups then you'll want eSATA.

You have the ReadyNAS NVX. Does this suggest you have a fully wired LAN with no use of Wireless?

I have Gigabit wired and Wifi. Obviously the Wifi clients run much slower.

 

[jamba_jamba]

SS-4200 with ZFS

I know that you are looking at ReadyNAS but if you are ready for some tinkering, you can try Intel SS-4200 and install ZFS. I have 4 1TB SATA drives and data shared over NFS, CIFS and iSCSI plus you get the benefits of snapshots with ZFS - all for under $500. You can view the details at http://bitsforbytes.blogspot.com/

 

[dhiraj100]

Is there a key set of advantages of SATA II vs SATA drive? And does it make sense to use SATA II drives for the home NAS?

Also on these NAS boxes like Synology and ReadyNAS can a consumer upgrade the RAM memory? How do we know the maximum RAM the system will support?

 

[Ultragc]

Same position here...

Great read!

I am in a similar position... trying to figure out which to buy. The differences for me are:

- I am use cat6 for my home network
- I want a 4 bay NAS for RAID-5 (for the protection)
- 2TB+ space

I am planning to use this device to store pictures, music, and stream rip movies to my PC/LCDs (Windows7 Media Center).

I have been looking at ReadyNAS series as my first choice but their pricing is too much for me. The latest "Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d Reviewed" looks good too but the performance/review seems to be average for this.

Any comments?

Thanks