LaCie 5big NAS PRO

[kevo82]

I just bought a LaCie 5big NAS PRO. I had to chose between Drobo 5N and LaCie NAS PRO.

Both have SimplyRAID, (that allows you to use different size drives, or upgrade them in size and number), BUT LaCie also has RAID 0,1,5,6, 2x USB3, 2x USB2, and 2x Gigabit LAN (can be used in Dual Link aggregation IEEE 802.3ad for better speed).


Speeds tested in Simply RAID are similar, LaCie reached 100MB/s and Drobo 90MB/s. Both are good enough for video streaming.

Drobo has the advantage of a m-SATA port, and a battery (in case of a power drop).
LaCie has the advantage of multiple RAID options, remote access, torrent download, 2x Gigabit LAN and USB3.

Do you think that I made a good choice, buying the LaCie and not the Drobo?


I will post details after I will receive the LaCie.

 

[stevech]

Opinion alert: If you can return it, suggest you do so. And look at which Synology or QNAP to buy. Try their on-line demo web sites, and read reviews.

Also, IMO, Drobo is not a good choice.

The NAS and related LAN switches/routers, and perhaps a primary PC, should run on a common UPS. NAS built-in battery isn't a complete answer.

 

[kevo82]

Opinion alert: If you can return it, suggest you do so. And look at which Synology or QNAP to buy. Try their on-line demo web sites, and read reviews.

Also, IMO, Drobo is not a good choice.

The NAS and related LAN switches/routers, and perhaps a primary PC, should run on a common UPS. NAS built-in battery isn't a complete answer.

Thank you for your opinion. I wanted to know what is the better choice between LaCie and Drobo, because all others doesn't have what I need...SimplyRAID.

Synology has, but the similar NAS as performance is 1513+ that is 300$ more.

Drobo and LaCie are the only ones that have speeds around 100MB/s and use a RAID that allows hard drives of different sizes, and you can upgrade them with bigger ones.

But LaCie, also has classic RAIDS types, while Drobo doesn't.

LaCie was the cheapest one, and yet, the one with the most advanced features: dual link gigabit LAN and USB3.

I wouldn't pay more for Synology or Qnap, just because they have more features, when the only thing that I need is SimplyRAID, and speeds around 100MB/s. Maybe remote acces also, that Lacie has...Drobo didn't.

Thanks for the advice though.

 

[stevech]

Search user reviews on Newegg, Amazon, and this forum for LaCie - you'll find customers that returned/junked it because of bad soft/firmware.

Don't know your storage requirements, but a 2 drive NAS from Synology is what I decided on after lots of study on line. The DS212j is a good price point; Mine's a DS212, a bit more costly. With 2TB and 3TB drives affordable, few of us need more than that. My 2-drive is used as two separate volumes, two file systems, one backing up the other, and with a time backup so I can get any file version from months ago. I like the media server to service the Andoid phones and iPad in this house. And I use the AirPrint software so the iPad can print on my WiFi printer that is also used by PCs. And so on. Maybe you need more than 3TB of actual data storage. The DS212j is well under $200. My DS212 was a bit more, for a faster CPU. A a home users, I didn't see the need for more than 2 x 3TB, plus USB3 for full backup. Nor did I see the need for RAID5 instead of dual-volume backups.

QNAP has products similar to Synology but I and others say that Synology is ahead of them in the management software.

There's a reason Drobo doesn't show up on this user forum.
Drobo: You can buy better, but you can't spend less.

You might want to read these users' views
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo


But, hey, it's your choice of course.

 

[kevo82]

I agree with everything you said here.

But this is not valable for the 5big Nas Pro. The 5big Network2 it's junk...it reaches speed of 30MB/s, but 5big Nas Pro and 5big Thunderbolt have incredible reviews.

The 5big Nas Pro reaches speed of 100MB/s in RAID5 and 200MB/s in RAID0
The 5big Thunderbolt reaches speed of 785MB/s in RAID0.

I know that not one Synology that is under 800$ has this kind of performance.

Synology 1513+ and higher, are better than Lacie, but much more expensive, and have features that I don't really need.

About Qnap I don't know much.

I was interested in a 5 bay NAS, that has RAID 0,1,5 but also SimplyRAID, that has USB3, dual link Gigabit ethernet, is accesible remotely, and that has speeds around 100MB/s.

At least I am pleased to know that Drobo would have been a bad choice.

About Lacie, I will tell you more in a few days when I'll receive it.

 

[TonyH]

Thank you for your opinion. I wanted to know what is the better choice between LaCie and Drobo, because all others doesn't have what I need...SimplyRAID.

Synology has, but the similar NAS as performance is 1513+ that is 300$ more.

Drobo and LaCie are the only ones that have speeds around 100MB/s and use a RAID that allows hard drives of different sizes, and you can upgrade them with bigger ones.

But LaCie, also has classic RAIDS types, while Drobo doesn't.

LaCie was the cheapest one, and yet, the one with the most advanced features: dual link gigabit LAN and USB3.

I wouldn't pay more for Synology or Qnap, just because they have more features, when the only thing that I need is SimplyRAID, and speeds around 100MB/s. Maybe remote acces also, that Lacie has...Drobo didn't.

Thanks for the advice though.

Hi,
Simply Raid? Is that what Synology calls hybrid Raid? I did not know LaCie is in the NAS business. I don't even know what is their main business. I'll be interested to know about
their claimed speed in real life. What is LaCie's cpu? how much memory does it have?

 

[kevo82]

Hi,
Simply Raid? Is that what Synology calls hybrid Raid? I did not know LaCie is in the NAS business. I don't even know what is their main business. I'll be interested to know about
their claimed speed in real life. What is LaCie's cpu? how much memory does it have?

Are you joking right?

Yes, Synology also have HybridRAID, but give me a reason why should I pay 300$ more, for the 1513+ to have the same speed, the same features that I need?

Here you have the LaCie Nas Pro review, where you will see their claimed speed in real life, compared with Synology DS412+, Qnap TS669 and Thecus N4800.

Synology DS412+, that is a 4 bay unit, has the same CPU as LaCie, but has only 1GB RAM (LaCie has 4GB RAM), and costs 150$ more than LaCie.
In the review you will see that LaCie is beter in performance.

Here are the specs for LaCie.
It's better than Drobo 5N, Synology DS412+ and Qnap TS-569L.
All have less RAM, the same CPU, the same RAID, the same features and speeds.

Drobo is 50$ more, Synology (4 bays) is 150$ more and Qnap is 300$ more than LaCie.

 

[stevech]

How much storage do you NEED. Data storage, not RAID size.

 

[kevo82]

How much storage do you NEED. Data storage, not RAID size.

For now, 2x3TB, but I will reach 5x3TB fast, so I would say 10-15TB, so that after setting up RAID with 1 drive redundancy, I will have 12TB to use.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
Good luck and have fun with your new LaCie. Tell us how it works out. I am happy with my DS713+ with DX213. It's been running 100% since day one. If I need to, I can scale it upto 7 bay, 4TBx7 storage capacity. I upgraded memory on it.

 

[stevech]

It would be to OP's great benefit to give a look again at the consensus of opinions of buyers as on Newegg, Amazon and other sites, and also to widen the field of candidate products.

 

[TonyH]

Are you joking right?

Yes, Synology also have HybridRAID, but give me a reason why should I pay 300$ more, for the 1513+ to have the same speed, the same features that I need?
Hi,
Today no one pays for hardware. Features and apps. costs money plus good support and long product life cycle. One thing I know is LaCie Raid is very slow
to set up. Hybrid raid set up takes just minutes. Simpleraid? I heard it takes hours upto a day. It's only strong point is price which is often not a major determining factor when purchasing things.

 

[concerned]

Would be interested in hearing more about people's - particularly owners - opinions on the 5big NAS Pro. I recognise other products are better but the price is very hard to match.

lacie-nas.org says that 'support' for the 5big NAS Pro is in the mainline linux kernel (guessing this is just general Intel Atom support) - if anyone has replaced the stock NAS OS 3 with another linux distribution, would be very interested in hearing about that also.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
In today's market slapped together fancy hardware pieces is not main factor of buying decision. It is more likely apps, features, options, etc. readily available on it. One example, look at the Blackberry now going down the tube.

 

[kevo82]

Would be interested in hearing more about people's - particularly owners - opinions on the 5big NAS Pro. I recognise other products are better but the price is very hard to match.

lacie-nas.org says that 'support' for the 5big NAS Pro is in the mainline linux kernel (guessing this is just general Intel Atom support) - if anyone has replaced the stock NAS OS 3 with another linux distribution, would be very interested in hearing about that also.

Man, I can't believe how pleased I am with the 5big NAS PRO...It's perfect.

The speed is unbelievable, the interface is so simple and clean, and the fact that I can download torrents with it, and I don't have to stress my Mac Mini, is a big plus.

The set up took 30 minutes, the only problem that I met was that I couldn't acces the NAS remotely, because I had selected "automatic port forwarding ON". After I switch it OFF, and opened the port manually in my router, everything went perfect.

Meanwhile I installed Wuala on my parents house and they can acces my movies stored on the Lacie. The NAS appears on the "devices" list, in the Wuala account. It's super neat.
The only thing that I don't like, is that I have to acces it remotely either by web acces, either by using Wuala. I would have preffered Copy account (where I have 300GB), like Drobo has.

Synology may be able to do this also (trough web acces), but I am glad I didn't chose Drobo.

 

[concerned]

apps, features, options, etc.

I'm upgrading from a WD MyBook World Edition (single disk) so any features whatsoever are a huge upgrade for me.

I'm essentially choosing between something like this LaCie and just rolling my own in a u-nas case. This is why I ask about installing a different OS on the LaCie - if I could save myself the trouble of building a machine and just put some Linux distro onto the LaCie I'd be happy. If I was going to pay the money for something like a Synology, I'd rather just build my own and get better features, better control, etc.

Even if it doesn't support different operating systems, the 5big Pro seems like a box that will just sit there and shut up. If there are better options for this at the same price point, I'd love to hear about them.

 

[stevech]

Best NASes...
Synology
QNAP


Poll choices are naive

 

[Kris404]

I personally use and prefer Synology but have setup QNAP for work. Both are solid performers.

My 802.11ad LACP setup using Netgear GS108T:

2009-2010: DS508 (5 x 2TB WD Green)
2010-Present: DS509+ with DX5 (10 x 3TB WD Green)