ReadyNas Pro vs. Synology 1010+

[realdeal]

I've decided to leave my Mediasmart EX485 behind and enter the world of NAS.

I am looking at either the ReadyNas or the 1010+ and leaning toward the 1010+.

My use will include mostly backing up my client computers, in particular my precious and irreplaceable home videos and photos. Second will be a little media streaming, just home movies, photos, etc., nothing too crazy.

Overall, I think my knowledge of computers is advanced however, in this department, I am below average.

What is the learning curve like of each of these servers' operating systems?

I know this is a dumb question, but will there be drive letters on these devices, like d:, e:, etc.?

Another dumb question I'm sure, but I can create a folder on the NAS that is accessible by all client computers, correct?

What if I wanted to restrict access to a particular folder on the NAS to only 2 of my 4 clients? Is this possible?

Each unit performs automated nightly back ups of the client computers, correct?

Lastly, which unit do you think I should choose? I plan on starting purchasing a diskless unit and adding 4 WD2001FASS 2TB drives.

Thanks!

 

[thiggins]

Learning curve is very quick. You can test drive the Synology admin interface here
http://www.synology.com/us/DSM3.0/index.php

There are no drive letters. You create volumes and shared folders. Folders can be public or require login.

Bundled backup software is usually included, but you may want to buy your own backup client if you don't like the feature set.

 

[claykin]

I've decided to leave my Mediasmart EX485 behind and enter the world of NAS.

I am looking at either the ReadyNas or the 1010+ and leaning toward the 1010+.



My use will include mostly backing up my client computers, in particular my precious and irreplaceable home videos and photos. Second will be a little media streaming, just home movies, photos, etc., nothing too crazy.

Overall, I think my knowledge of computers is advanced however, in this department, I am below average.

What is the learning curve like of each of these servers' operating systems?

Both run flavors of Linux. The good news is that you don't need to know Linux commands. Both are administered using a graphic user interface. Both are equally usable.

I know this is a dumb question, but will there be drive letters on these devices, like d:, e:, etc.?

NAS uses shares. These shares can be mapped to a drive letter if you wish. i.e. you can create a NAS share called backup then in Windows map it to letter "X" for example.

Another dumb question I'm sure, but I can create a folder on the NAS that is accessible by all client computers, correct?

absolutely. The proper terminology is a share. Think of a share as a top level folder.

What if I wanted to restrict access to a particular folder on the NAS to only 2 of my 4 clients? Is this possible?

Yes you can restrict shares to certain users. On the NAS you'll be creating user accounts and can assign accounts to all or some shares on the NAS. You can even give read only access to a share to a particular user if you wish.

Each unit performs automated nightly back ups of the client computers, correct?

Both NAS are capable of doing pull backups from a PC with no need to install additional software. The rub is that you have to share these folders on the PC first and open/locked files will always fail to copy.

A better solution is to use backup software installed on the PC to push the backups to the NAS. Both Synology and Netgear include backups apps, but neither is very good. You can find plenty of quality backup apps that work well with a NAS for cheap. A good example is Syncback SE or Pro.

Lastly, which unit do you think I should choose? I plan on starting purchasing a diskless unit and adding 4 WD2001FASS 2TB drives.
Thanks!

Either will serve you well. That said I'm in favor of the Readynas as I prefer their support options. The Readynas Pro line has a 5 year warranty. Synology is 3.

Either way please check the vendors disk compatibility list before you jump on those WD disks.

http://www.readynas.com/?cat=37
http://www.synology.com/us/products/compatibility.php

 

[ntm1275]

EDIT - Sorry Claykin beat me to it while I was typing

Synology DS1010+

I know this is a dumb question, but will there be drive letters on these devices, like d:, e:, etc.?

It doesn't automatically create drive letters, but you can manually 'map' folders on the synology to drive letters
or you can use the bundled Synology Assistant to 'map' drives

Another dumb question I'm sure, but I can create a folder on the NAS that is accessible by all client computers, correct?

What if I wanted to restrict access to a particular folder on the NAS to only 2 of my 4 clients? Is this possible?

You can create 'users', and these users can be assigned to specific folder or all the folders, it's up to you

What is the learning curve like of each of these servers' operating systems?

Not very much really, as each section does give you help Icon (?) which explains what it is for and what to do - but if you get stuck, I'm sure myself and others on this forum or Synology's official forum would be able to help you

 

[realdeal]

Thank you both so much for taking the time to provide me with such detailed answers to my questions!!

Happy Thanksgiving!