1) Ok, thank you!
2) I mean download speed and features like stop seeding after 2x ratio for example.
3) (new
) Is it possible to configure a third (single disk) drive over esata on the qnap and expect the same speed as on the internal drives, ie make it a 3 disk NAS in a year?
I'm having a hard time choosing between these two. From what I've read Synology appears to be the technology leader and QNAP plays catch up with the AJAX ui and iSCSI for example. Qnap 219 looks more like a serious server with the hot swappable drives and eSata, but Synology has the speed advantage. Noise seems to be comparable but in favour of Synology 209. Price is comparable at my local store.
Oh the horror of choice
Thank you for your help, it means a lot to me!
No offense but you are misinformed, QNAP was sooner with iSCSI support, NOT Synology, they followed QNAP months later. Please do some more research because between Syno and QNAP it's very clear that QNAP is the technology leader, to illustrate this here are just a couple of more things that Syno does NOT have but QNAP already has NOW!, today;
WebDAV, far more advanced iSCSI support, the ext4 file system, built-in dhcp server, wake-On-Lan, more application packages (QPKG), and now they are also the first with support for IP version 6! Qnap always pushes the technological envelope.
QNAP also has a LOT more NAS models to choose from so there is one for every budget and more room for growth. Try to find a 6 or 8 drive Syno? Oops, there is none. Or find a Syno based on Intel's x86 architecture? Sorry again, it does not exist! Or find a Syno nas that has a handy LCD display? Nope, not there. Or try to install Java on a Syno, ANY Syno! Oops, it's not available! :-(
Build quality also goes to Qnap, they use metal where Syno regularly uses plastic (e.g. casings, even drive trays!). Go read reviews. And like you already figured out yourself, QNAP offers hot-swappable drives (so you suffer no downtime) in many of their models whereas Syno reserves that feature for their top models only. What's up with that? And don't dismiss eSATA so easily, eSATA is very useful to have for extra (local) backup purposes --> attach an eSATA disk to your nas, backup your most important data, put the eSATA disk in a vault in another building: presto, 100% total data security. Lastly, it seems to be a major hassle to flash back to an older firmware with Syno ... not so with QNAP, easy as pie.
One other thing, if you can afford it go for the (intel based) Qnap TS-239, it's one of THE fastest and most feature-rich dual-bay NASes around, you won't regret buying the extra horsepower since it's so easy to use many of the extra features you will start using them in the long run and/or do several tasks at the same time.
my 2 cents