Synology DS412+ vs QNAP TS-459 Pro II

[1234568]

I am looking to buy an all-in-one, easy to manage NAS unit. Here is a list of my requirements:

• Space For 4 Drives
  Initially I will have 2x 2TB drives, mirrored via RAID 1 to provide redundancy.
  In the future I want to be able to expand this by another 2x 2TB drives, also mirrored via RAID 1.
  I am undecided about whether SATA III is necessary or not.

• USB 3.0 Connectivity

• Wireless Support
  As I move about a lot I cannot guarantee the NAS will always be next to the router. Consequently, I want wireless connectivity as well.

• Plex Support
  As well as streaming I want to be able to achieve 1080p video transcoding. I plan to rely on Plex to access all my media within my home.

• Remote Media Streaming
  To access media outside the home I want online media streaming via a simple, clear web interface.

• Access of files via a mapped network drive
  I want to be able to do this both through my home network and via remote access. This way I can avoid using websites as much as possible.

• Automatic syncing of folders for offline access
  For example, Cloud Station by Synology

Based on these requirments I have narrowed my options down to two...

• Synology DS412+
• QNAP TS-459 Pro II

If I had to summarise where I stand at the moment I feel that the QNAP unit has superior hardware (except the CPU), while the Synology unit with DSM 4.0 offers superior software. I am really struggling to choose between the two. First of all, could anyone answer these questions:

1. The QNAP drive offers SATA-III, while the Synology drive does not. Will I notice a difference in performance?
2. What is the QNAP alternative to Cloud Station, offered by Synology?
3. Has anyone had any experience with Plex on these units. The Plex site states it needs 2.4 Ghz dual core to transcode 1080p video. I am not sure they will be powerful enough.

 

[stevech]

both vendors do that list except transcoding. To do that well is cost prohibitive.

(I wouldn't choose to use a NAS which connects to a LAN via its own WiFi, i.e, a NAS as a WiFi client - that defeats the purpose of having a fast and secure NAS.) If you MUST, a cheap WiFi bridge will make any NAS wireless.

When I shopped, the only affordable-to-me NAS with USB3 was Synology's DS212 (I didn't need/want a 4 drive NAS).

 

[1234568]

Thank you for the answer. Not being able to successfully transcode video is a deal breaker for me so I am glad I asked for advice. I may have to keep my desktop as a media server instead. As I say, thank you for the advice!

 

[travisco_nabisco]

Since transcoding is a non-negotiable for you, you might be best to consider a DIY option. If you head into the DIY forum they can probably help you spec out something that will meet your needs and still be more power efficient than your desktop.

Basically a decent enclosure with room for the hard drives, an i5 processor, and other miscellaneous bits should do the job.

 

[1234568]

I did consider this. The thing that put me off was the software side of things. Synology DSM 4.0 looked like a really smooth, easy to use bit of code. If I go the DIY path I cant help but feel it would seem clumsy.

To gain Plex support I am limited to Ubuntu, Unraid and RPM based distributions (Fedora/CentOS). What software would you recommend? I will look at the DIY section too!

Thanks btw!

 

[stevech]

My conclusion in the DIY space was that the Synology/QNAP software is so very much better, easier, etc, that DIY made no sense. I setup two DIY NASes.

Transcoding as you know takes a LOT of CPU speed and I'll claim that the best software for this is on Windows, not Linux. I wouldn't want that CPU with all its power consumption running 24/7.

 

[1234568]

Yeh I agree completely. One of the biggest appeals to me was the DSM software that came with Synology. I think I will re-work my desktop and Win 7 into my solution. Thank you everyone.

 

[donk]

interested in your transcoding solution

Hi - i'm asking a lot of the same questions you are. Did you come up with a plan for your solution?

Is the only transcoding solution a dedicated DIY server/NAS?

 

[stevech]

can you do transcoding in batches on a real PC, rather on a NAS?

 

[1234568]

Sadly there was no perfect solution but I managed to meet all my goals, just about. The problem I found with all the off-the-shelf NAS drives was that in order to get one powerful enough to transcode 1080p video you have to cough up a small fortune.

In the end I went for a custom built i7 setup with 4x 2Tb drives in raid 10. Sofware wise I installed Win7, with Plex Media Server to offer DLNA streaming throughout the house. I cannot rate Plex highly enough! I then installed Windows Live Mesh so that I can access all the files on that system from anywhere in the world.

As I say it's not perfect but it achieves most my goals. Hope this helps.

 

[stevech]

If that machine runs 24/7, Al Gore will come after you for carbon credits.

 

[kitus]

[*]What is the QNAP alternative to Cloud Station, offered by Synology?
[/LIST]

Can anybody respond to this question?

thanks

 

[stevech]

On this web page
http://www.qnap.com/single_page.php?sn=148&lang=en-us

there are two feature categories that likely answer your question.
You can also likely download the software user manual and read about their DDNS and remote acccess/streaming DLNA.

You can use your own DDNS too, such as dyndns.org.
I use Hover.com so I get my own domain name.