Synology DS211 or Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 2?

[mracko]

Well, after pondering it for the past year I am finally ready to take the leap and purchase a 2 x 1Tb disk NAS home system. We have 2 desktops, 1 laptop and 3 tablets right now. We are also cutting the cord and getting rid of satellite tv in favor of streaming our tv entertainment. We have music, photo, video and data files strewn all about and I would like to streamline all of this to one source while also backing it up to an external USB drive. I may even dabble in hosting a domain.

From what I have researched, so far, I had my choices narrowed down to 3 units; Qnap TS-219P, Synology DS211 diskless and the Netgear Ultra 2 RNDU2120. I think I have eliminated the Qnap, based on price and performance, compared to the Synology. Right now I lean toward the Synology over the Netgear. The things I like about the Synology: DSM management software, energy usage, Android Apps. The things I like about the Ultra 2 are it's construction/design, hot swappable drives, the processor and memory.

I can get either of these, with 2 HDD, for just over $400 (after a $50 rebate for the Ultra 2). My biggest question is; is Netgear's processor/memory and home NAS abilities that much better than Synology's to overcome Synology's DSM management software?

This has been a very tiring weekend, researching these products, as all three of these units have things I like. I am close to just throwing a dart at pictures to choose. Hopefully I have explained my thoughts clearly. I am curious to hear of any personal experiences with any of these units.

Thanks

 

[f41yaz]

Well, after pondering it for the past year I am finally ready to take the leap and purchase a 2 x 1Tb disk NAS home system. We have 2 desktops, 1 laptop and 3 tablets right now. We are also cutting the cord and getting rid of satellite tv in favor of streaming our tv entertainment. We have music, photo, video and data files strewn all about and I would like to streamline all of this to one source while also backing it up to an external USB drive. I may even dabble in hosting a domain.

From what I have researched, so far, I had my choices narrowed down to 3 units; Qnap TS-219P, Synology DS211 diskless and the Netgear Ultra 2 RNDU2120. I think I have eliminated the Qnap, based on price and performance, compared to the Synology. Right now I lean toward the Synology over the Netgear. The things I like about the Synology: DSM management software, energy usage, Android Apps. The things I like about the Ultra 2 are it's construction/design, hot swappable drives, the processor and memory.

I can get either of these, with 2 HDD, for just over $400 (after a $50 rebate for the Ultra 2). My biggest question is; is Netgear's processor/memory and home NAS abilities that much better than Synology's to overcome Synology's DSM management software?

This has been a very tiring weekend, researching these products, as all three of these units have things I like. I am close to just throwing a dart at pictures to choose. Hopefully I have explained my thoughts clearly. I am curious to hear of any personal experiences with any of these units.

Thanks

I am in the same position as you, would be great if you could let me know what you ended up going for.

im confsued either to get the ultra 2 or the ds212.

It would be a great help if you could guide me thanks

 

[claykin]

Ultra 2 uses a x64 Intel Atom CPU. Synology DS212 uses a Marvell ARM based CPU.

Real world performance of both units is excellent.

Personally, I prefer Readynas. Simply because they offer a stronger warranty, generally more reliable OS and great forum support.

Where Readynas falls short for some people is the feature set. No doubt Synology offers more features, but from my experience many of them are haphazardly implemented.

For instance they recently introduced "cloudstation" which offers file sync between PC's. Trouble with it is that it sends data unencrypted over the Internet. IMO, its worthless without reasonable login/data transfer encryption. Apparently, Synology doesn't agree.

 

[stevech]

If you do a try-before-you-buy via Synology's on-line demo, you may reach the same decision as I did.. Synology. DS211. DSM4.

 

[f41yaz]

If you do a try-before-you-buy via Synology's on-line demo, you may reach the same decision as I did.. Synology. DS211. DSM4.

the live demo does not load.

still really need help deciding for which NAS to go for.

what about the DS212?

the ultra 2 is for £185 (Intel-atom 1.8ghz, 1GB RAM)
the DS212 is for £230 (Marvell Kirkwood 1.6ghz, 256MB RAM) - £45 MORE

or shall i go for the DS212+ is for £260 (Marvell Kirkwood 2.0ghz, 512MB RAM) - £75 more than ultra.

confused...would be great if you could help.

when resarching i found out the DS212 has much better write and read performance than the Ultra 2..but the Ultra 2 has much more RAM and is cheaper...confused.

thanks

 

[claykin]

Ultra 2 r/w speed will saturate most desktop GigE controllers. The online tests you read showing 100MB/s speed are not easily reproducable using most desktop GigE controllers.