NAS for home use.

[intoxiktu]

Hi SNB Community,



I'm looking for a entry level NAS that I can use as a media server in my home. Came here to ask some questions because I've read some reviews about various NAS-es, and I was concerned I can't find one that will do everything I need.

First of all, the NAS will be connected to an ASUS AC68U, and I need it to wirelessly stream 1080p blue-ray movies (and music but this is not hardware demanding) without a hiccup on my Samsung 55F7000 TV.
Secondly, need a simple and user friendly torrent client for it.
And lastly, I need it to be fast in media rescanning and stable (the ac68u has a media server option, but it isn't stable enough, frequent drops and takes a long time to refresh media from the USB HDD)

I don't need the Back-up features, so the NAS will act only as an media server/storage device for the home entertainment system, and won't need data safety because everything important (important music/photos) stored on it, are already backed up on something else. So, a 1 drive-bay NAS is sufficient.

I've narrowed it down to WD My cloud 2tb (but no stable torrent client solution for it, plus i heard it has a lot of bugs - so this is my last choice - it's on this list because it's easy to use), QNAP TS112p (but no ideas on how it acts as a media server) and Synology DS112j (the same as QNAP).

Could you provide me with a solution?



Thank you and BRGDS.

 

[thiggins]

Successful wireless streaming of uncompressed Blu-rays depends more on the wireless connection performance than the NAS. Wireless performance depends on many factors, including range and surrounding wireless networks.

I would try your streaming from a computer first to ensure that the wireless works.

Both QNAP and Synology have DLNA/UPnP media servers as well as add-ins for a wide range of torrent clients.

DLNA rescan speed depends a lot on the size of your library. More processor power in the NAS will help. I don't use this feature, so can't provide any input.

 

[intoxiktu]

It can be done, tried from the attached usb hdd on the wireless router.

Actually, i was more interested in 1080p mkv files (about 30-40 gb, which my tv supports, and these are the most demanding), and various files...

Thank you for the input, and appreciate all the help i can get. I'd like to make a wise investment, and that's why I don't try the hit and miss approach with NAS-es. This tech is new to me, I'm used to old school rack servers with wired connections.

 

[thiggins]

HD streaming isn't difficult for most all of today's NASes. The fact that the router with attached USB drive handles it fine is a good demonstration. I tested the RT-AC68U file copy performance at around 28 MB/s (224 Mbps). Blu-ray throughput peaks at low-to-mid 40 Mbps.

So you could go with a Marvell-powered QNAP or Synology. Use the NAS Ranker and filter for two bays and SoC-1 class.

 

[intoxiktu]

Is a 2 bay NAS necessary?

 

[thiggins]

It provides a bit more protection from disk failure via RAID 1. But no, it's not necessary. Be sure you back up the NAS, however. Drives do fail. Also put the NAS on a UPS.

 

[travisco_nabisco]

I have a Synology 212j that performs what you are describing. I stream to a LG TV and have quite a strong wireless connection to the TV.
Most of my videos are 720p but I do have some 1080p mkv files that work without too much trouble.

There are two issues I have identified with this setup.
1. If you try to use the NAS to do anything else while watching a high bit-rate video, the video stream will drop, and my TV has to reidentify the DLNA server.
2. Fast forwarding, rewinding, and pausing can cause the TV to drop the DLNA connection and sometimes.

I don't know if these issues have more to do with the TV or the NAS, but that is my experience so far.

Overall though, I am extremely happy with the Synology experience, though if you have the money, it might be worth getting something with a bit faster processor.

 

[thiggins]

There are two issues I have identified with this setup.
1. If you try to use the NAS to do anything else while watching a high bit-rate video, the video stream will drop, and my TV has to reidentify the DLNA server.
2. Fast forwarding, rewinding, and pausing can cause the TV to drop the DLNA connection and sometimes.

Good input.
#1 is probably due to competing process priorities in the NAS. You certainly don't want to be rescanning your media library while streaming.

#2 is probably the wireless. "Trick" modes can spike bandwidth pretty high and some wireless adapter / router connections may get confused and drop the connection.

 

[intoxiktu]

Good to know, after your inputs I've eliminated WD My Cloud, and narrowed it down to Synology DS112j and QNAP TS112p leaning more on the latter one, due to it's 1.6ghz CPU. QNAP TS121 would be another contender but it's more than double the price than the TS112p in my country. Would it be worth the investment?

More opinions would be better...
Thank you!

 

[stevech]

Opinion: CPU speed isn't as critical as you'd think, in a NAS that does mostly data in/out transfers on the LAN.

The CPU hogs are things like photo thumbnail generation - and the $50 difference in CPU speeds in Synology/QNAP won't cure this - thumbnails should be generated (one time en mass) on a PC.

I've been quite happy with the DS212 but haven't worked with QNAP. IT was runner-up in my selection process.

 

[intoxiktu]

I realize CPU speed isn't critical unless there is some transcoding involved... and these NAS-es don't have the horse power to do that. I only was looking for the best value researching that the synology was 3$ cheaper than qnap, but underpowered (being the J series).

So, advice? From what i'm seeing, everybody praises Synology...

QNAP TS 112P Vs Synology 112j

 

[stevech]

I realize CPU speed isn't critical unless there is some transcoding involved... and these NAS-es don't have the horse power to do that. I only was looking for the best value researching that the synology was 3$ cheaper than qnap, but underpowered (being the J series).

So, advice? From what i'm seeing, everybody praises Synology...

QNAP TS 112P Vs Synology 112j

Have you compared features that you'd use? And tried both vendor's demos on-line, to see which you prefer? Synology just released DSM5 software if you haven't looked at it.

 

[intoxiktu]

Did that already, was one of the first things I did. Both interfaces are user friendly and have almost the same apps/utilities. QTS 4.1 Beta and DSM 5 are very similar. Still haven't decided...

Never thought this would be such a hard decision...

 

[stevech]

yes, I wound up with the Synology vs. QNAP debate after looking at all products in the price window.

Another thing... spend a little time scanning the user forums of each vendor. Know well that happy customers don't post much, so the forums are quite biased. Just human nature. But you can get a sense of customers who avoid beta and are not early adopters of new software releases (that's me). And the forum volumes of posts, etc. imply size of user base.

I got a sense that Synology was well ahead of QNAP in consumer user base, and their OS and user interface was ahead. I suspect that the gap has narrowed. I was also impressed with Synology support answering a small number of phone calls/emails I made to clarify use of a function. Not just tier 1 Bangalore Peggy. But of course, I had no cause to try the same with QNAP; maybe it's OK too.