Looking for a NAS Solution

[Charken]

Hi, I am hoping someone can help me.

I have been looking at the NAS market for some time now with a view to buying something in the next month or so. This box will be used in a home environment. My main requirements are as follows and I have a question at the end.

RAID 5 - for redundancy & backup purposes. I also make DVD backup's for more permanent archives.
Photo Server - I have over 50GB of photos which I wish to share with family all over the world. I want to simply store them on the NAS and enable people to view them, with user authentication. So a nice front end with thumbnails and the option of downloading the full size picture for printing purposes, and slideshow facilities. No review seems to go into much detail here.
FTP - So I can copy files to and from it when I am away from home.
Bit Torrent - So I can manage any downloads when I am away from home.
HDD compatibility - I already own a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint so would ultimately like to add 2 or 3 more to make RAID 5 array, so compatibility with this drive is important as it will save me £76.
RAID Migration - If I buy one additional 1TB Samsung drive I could start with a mirrored array and migrate to RAID 5 when I purchase an additional drive at a later date.
Stream Movies - I will need to stream movies, both SD and HD content to a wired PC and a Wireless one.

From what I can see the Synology CS407e sits at the cheaper end and the Synology CS408 sits at the more expensive with the CS407 in the middle with various Thecus (inc N4100Pro) and QNAP products sitting in the middle. I would look to spend up to £500 (inc HDD) but if possible would like to keep costs as low as possible.

One question though is whether I should upgrade my ADSL Modem Router to a Gigabit Ethernet one or buy a separate one?

Please let me know your thoughts with regards to the best solution.

Kind Regards

CK

 

[bliko]

One question though is whether I should upgrade my ADSL Modem Router to a Gigabit Ethernet one or buy a separate one?

Do you mean: should you replace your modem router with a gigabit one, or buy a gigabit switch?
-If that's the question; then I'd buy a gigabit switch since it's slightly more flexible. You will have more ports + when you need to change your modem/router (i.e. for isp change) it's less hassle.
-Also if you are just using it for media and not moving large volumes of files to and from your nas on a regular basis then an upgrade to gigabit may not be worth it for you at the moment.

I prefer synology; I've had good experience with them + their gui is nicely polished. I've tried all of the cube stations and found them to preform very well.
I don't really like thecus; in my experience they are a bit buggy and are very rough arround the edges.
I have heard good thing about qnap nas, however haven't used one for a while.

The CS-407e will fufill all your requirements, the other cube stations have more memory/processing power which will unlikely be used in the scenarios you have stated.

 

[Charken]

Do you mean: should you replace your modem router with a gigabit one, or buy a gigabit switch?
-If that's the question; then I'd buy a gigabit switch since it's slightly more flexible. You will have more ports + when you need to change your modem/router (i.e. for isp change) it's less hassle.
-Also if you are just using it for media and not moving large volumes of files to and from your nas on a regular basis then an upgrade to gigabit may not be worth it for you at the moment.

I was looking at either option, i.e. upgrading my ADSL Modem Router to a gigabit one, but there aren't many on the market. Or simply buying a separate box, however that is another power supply in an already tangled mess of plugs and power supplies.

I had looked at the CS-407e and do like it but the 1TB Samsung drive isn't on the Synology HDD compatibility guide. I might drop them an email and ask them if it likely to be tested in due course.

Thanks, anyone got any suggestions?

 

[bliko]

If you're not using existing drives just buy compatible ones. If you are using existing drives take a look at:
http://www.synology.com/wiki/index....nded_List#Samsung_HD103UJ.2C_1000GB.2C_SATAII
Looks like the existing firmware sorts out hibernation issues with that particular drive.

As i said, if you want to go for gigabit then go for a separate box (Gigabit Switch), and tidy your wires!!!!!!!

Do you have some other specific requirements?