WD Red or WD Purple? For NAS and IP camera backup at the same time

[Wutikorn]

Hi, I'm going to buy diskless WD DL2100. I will use this for NAS and also I will have 1 IP camera which may be 720P or 1080P For NAS, there might be at most 5 people accessing it at the same time with at most 2 people streaming 1080P video.. I wonder if I should get WD Red or WD Purple for this case as there are both the same price. However, I have only 1 IP camera to backup.

 

[stevech]

Be sure to shop before buying anything. Especially WD NASes.

 

[Wutikorn]

What do you mean by "to shop"?

 

[L&LD]

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Understanding-the-WD-Rainbow-674/


I would recommend the 3TB RED.

 

[sfx2000]

IF you haven't bought the WD DL2100, check out Synology and QNAP - I know QNAP does offer a 4 camera free license for their DVR app - I think Synology does as well...

 

[System Error Message]

WD purple is advertised for videos while red is advertised for network. However i think the difference is just in the firmware as i suspect the hardwares are exactly the same. Hardware features like rotational speed, dynamic speeds, CPU and ram between both drives are most likely the same.

 

[Wutikorn]

IF you haven't bought the WD DL2100, check out Synology and QNAP - I know QNAP does offer a 4 camera free license for their DVR app - I think Synology does as well...

Why is QNAP better? Is it more reliable, faster or both? Also, I need mobile app and access to NAS from outside like WD My Cloud. I barely had time to search, but I will. So does QNAP offer the same thing?

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Understanding-the-WD-Rainbow-674/


I would recommend the 3TB RED.

Thanks!

WD purple is advertised for videos while red is advertised for network. However i think the difference is just in the firmware as i suspect the hardwares are exactly the same. Hardware features like rotational speed, dynamic speeds, CPU and ram between both drives are most likely the same.

So do you mean that it does not matter, just get a cheaper one in my case?

 

[System Error Message]

yup but also check the hardware such as CPU, RAM and hardware features that the drives have. Firmware wise they may make little difference. Hard drives have RAM(often called cache or buffer) and CPU

 

[L&LD]

I would say it does matter. Get the right one for the job. Cheaper isn't a criteria. (They are not equal).

 

[sfx2000]

Why is QNAP better? Is it more reliable, faster or both? Also, I need mobile app and access to NAS from outside like WD My Cloud. I barely had time to search, but I will. So does QNAP offer the same thing?

QNAP has cloud/app access, as does Synology (and many others)...

 

[System Error Message]

All hard drives are actually the same hardware wise, they only have minor differences in hardware features usually implemented by the firmware. Its one reason why WD locked their firmwares so you couldnt buy a WD green and make it as good as a WD red for 24/7 or to modify some settings so they go together well in RAID since they want you to spend more money on their RAID drives. Some drives like the WD black had faster CPUs but im not sure if it is the same anymore.

So between the WD red and WD purple, the purple's firwmare is geared towards large files while RED is geared towards multi tasking and multiple files. Both their 24/7 operational design is really just from a few firmware settings.

 

[Wutikorn]

QNAP has cloud/app access, as does Synology (and many others)...

Is QNAP a lot better than WD DL2100? I saw QNAP ts 251 at about the same price, but not sure which one is better. Does QNAP NAS has interface through HDMI?

I would say it does matter. Get the right one for the job. Cheaper isn't a criteria. (They are not equal).

All hard drives are actually the same hardware wise, they only have minor differences in hardware features usually implemented by the firmware. Its one reason why WD locked their firmwares so you couldnt buy a WD green and make it as good as a WD red for 24/7 or to modify some settings so they go together well in RAID since they want you to spend more money on their RAID drives. Some drives like the WD black had faster CPUs but im not sure if it is the same anymore.
I didn't know that it's mainly about firmware differences.

So between the WD red and WD purple, the purple's firwmare is geared towards large files while RED is geared towards multi tasking and multiple files. Both their 24/7 operational design is really just from a few firmware settings.

So I think WD RED will be better for me.

 

[sfx2000]

Is QNAP a lot better than WD DL2100? I saw QNAP ts 251 at about the same price, but not sure which one is better. Does QNAP NAS has interface through HDMI?

Certain QNAP models have HDMI...

Is one "better" than any other - depends on needs - what I can offer is that companies like Synology and QNAP do NAS as their primary business line, and they're very well regarded vendors with good 3rd Party software support thru their "app stores".

 

[Wutikorn]

Certain QNAP models have HDMI...

Is one "better" than any other - depends on needs - what I can offer is that companies like Synology and QNAP do NAS as their primary business line, and they're very well regarded vendors with good 3rd Party software support thru their "app stores".

Why QNAP TS-251's RAM is so expensive? I want it to be 8GB, 2x4GB, from what found it will cost me more than $100. Is there an alternative?

 

[L&LD]

Why QNAP TS-251's RAM is so expensive? I want it to be 8GB, 2x4GB, from what found it will cost me more than $100. Is there an alternative?

Yes, you can try to save money by using your own ram. But you'll save little (over the length of ownership) and you may even spend more in shipping/fuel to find ram that is stable and compatible too.

A few years ago ram could be had for almost $10 per 4GB. Too bad they're gone.

 

[sfx2000]

Why QNAP TS-251's RAM is so expensive? I want it to be 8GB, 2x4GB, from what found it will cost me more than $100. Is there an alternative?

Third Party RAM - Crucial is what I used...

 

[System Error Message]

At one point RAM was cheap but they increased in price on purpose just like with hard drives. Now SSDs are a valid choice instead of hard drives because of this.

I just dont like how AMD GPUs are now expensive because people are mining currency with them. With that high of the demand the GPU prices do increase but AMD doesnt get any extra.

 

[sfx2000]

At one point RAM was cheap but they increased in price on purpose just like with hard drives. Now SSDs are a valid choice instead of hard drives because of this.

QNAP memory options are priced very high - even more than what Apple charges for commodity memory...

Getting off topic - starting to see more Bitcoin GPU miners being decommissioned and made available on the Lists of Craig - probably because the blockchains and value have gotten to the point where it's no longer productive to use AMD GPU's - which is a win for folks looking for a nice gaming card...

 

[System Error Message]

I hope QNAP isnt using a whitelist. Definitely should avoid generic RAM. There is a lot of overpriced generic RAM sold for apple products though. As long as the specs are compatible get good RAM like crucial, g.skill, corsair and non budget kingston. Samsung do make good RAM too.

While generic and budget RAM dont exactly pass, desktop users dont notice it because they dont keep their rigs up for more than a day. Put that RAM into something that operates 24/7 and you will have problems.

 

[sfx2000]

I hope QNAP isnt using a whitelist

They don't...