Need fast quiet NAS @ $600

[jerryk]

Need fast quiet NAS

Hi,

I just purchased a ReadyNAS NVX Pioneer and love the performance but can't tolerate the fan noise. Does someone else have a unit that performs similarly, but that is quieter?

I would like to keep the price under $700 but I can go a bit higher.

Thanks,

Jerry

 

[claykin]

My NVX doesn't make much noise at all. If I hammer it for a while sometimes the fan may spin up a bit and add some noise, but 95% of the time the fan runs @ 1875rpm and is fairly quiet. Not totally quiet, but far from annoying. And my NVX is sitting 5 feet from my head at ear level.

Log in to Frontview and click STATUS > HEALTH. What speed is your fan running at? Try clicking the recalibrate button and see if that helps.

 

[jerryk]

My NVX doesn't make much noise at all. If I hammer it for a while sometimes the fan may spin up a bit and add some noise, but 95% of the time the fan runs @ 1875rpm and is fairly quiet. Not totally quiet, but far from annoying. And my NVX is sitting 5 feet from my head at ear level.

Log in to Frontview and click STATUS > HEALTH. What speed is your fan running at? Try clicking the recalibrate button and see if that helps.

My fan was spinning at about 1800 RPM. Very annoying. I have 3 systems under my desk and I can hear this NVX over these systems.

Opps, after re-calibration the fan is at 2061 RPM and is even noisier. I am sending this thing back to NewEgg. Anyone have a alternative?

FWIW, after using the fan control script My DNS-323 is nearly silent except for when the disk spinning up or after it heats up from heavy usage.

However, since 90%+ of the time I will not be accessing the disks I expect the NAS to be pretty quiet when it is idle and the disks have spun down. Heck, my Tivo is constantly accessing it's drives and is nearly silent.

Jerry

 

[thiggins]

QNAPs and Synologies are generally pretty quiet.

 

[claykin]

QNAPs and Synologies are generally pretty quiet.

Noticeably quieter than the NVX? QNAP's spec sheet indicates their 4 bay units are noisier than the NVX.

Noise is such a subjective measurement. There's no standard for measurement which makes it nearly impossible to compare unless you have them side by side. Best for someone to setup a lab and real world measure all using the same methodology.

 

[thiggins]

Noticeably quieter than the NVX? QNAP's spec sheet indicates their 4 bay units are noisier than the NVX.

Yep. Using my patent-pending SNB golden-ear process.

Seriously, I considered getting an inexpensive sound meter to measure noise level. But SPL readings don't tell the whole story (nor does my golden ear, for that matter). What's ok for one person is going to bug the hell out of another.

In general, regardless of manufacturer ratings, I have found QNAP and Synology units to be pretty quiet. And I agree that the NETGEARs tend to be noisy, at least to my ear. Of course, the more drives you have, the higher the noise level is going go be.

 

[jerryk]

Yep. Using my patent-pending SNB golden-ear process.

Seriously, I considered getting an inexpensive sound meter to measure noise level. But SPL readings don't tell the whole story (nor does my golden ear, for that matter). What's ok for one person is going to bug the hell out of another.

In general, regardless of manufacturer ratings, I have found QNAP and Synology units to be pretty quiet. And I agree that the NETGEARs tend to be noisy, at least to my ear. Of course, the more drives you have, the higher the noise level is going go be.

Thanks for having a golden ear! I will take a look at the QNAP and Synology products. Any particular units I should consider? I would like 4 drives that auto shutdown, and of course, good performance.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for having a golden ear! I will take a look at the QNAP and Synology products. Any particular units I should consider? I would like 4 drives that auto shutdown, and of course, good performance.

Both manufacturers support all features across their product lines. So you can choose based on cost / performance and preference.
Be sure to check out the online demos of the admin interfaces.

 

[claykin]

Between the two I prefer Synology GUI and featureset.

Let us know which you decide on and if its quiet to your ears.

 

[jerryk]

Thanks guys.

I am going to do one more test. I have a ReadyNas NV+ at my office. I think I will bring the NVX into work and see how it compares. The noise specs are the same. Perhaps the new unit has a bad fan.

One interesting think I noticed is the airflow is reversed on the NV+. That it is draws in from the back and exhaust out the front.

To bad Netgear does not use a slow turning bigger fan. My system uses 120 mm fan turning at 800 RPM is darn near silent and the temps are never more than a few degrees over ambient.

 

[sylvainp]

i'm at the process to upgrade my NV+ to a faster NAS so I end up with 2 NAS 4 drives bay and 2 NAS with 6 drive bay.

4 drive bay
Netgear NVX
Qnap TS-459 Pro

6 drive bay
Netgear Pro Business
Qnap TS-659 Pro


The Qnap are faster than the Netgear (well on charts)
Nicer GUI interface
Seem to be quieter
ESATA and more USB
1 year warranty
Support well the link below
No vertical RAID Expand (As X-RAID2 or SHR)


Netgear
Nice box
Good speed
GUI is pretty normal
no ESATA
5 years warranty
support is good (for me with the NV+, one drive failure and got it replace)
X-RAID2 with vertical expand

I was thinking about to buy the TS-659 Pro for a more features and futur expandability (more drives) but after reading Qnap forum about problem with their RAID and also very slow or non support.

Now I think i'll go for a Netgear Pro Business

Here the link for Qnap forum. Be patient their is 19 pages for the problem !

http://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=14246

PS: So before you spend your hard earn money on a Qnap NAS you better to take time and read the link above. Me after reading
this it let me a very dissapointing feeling about the reliability of Qnap NAS. And take in consideration also the Qnap only have 1 year warranty.

 

[jerryk]

I really like the NVS except the noise. It is blazingly fast and XRAID-2 expansion with different sized disks is very cool. Damn the noise.

 

[sylvainp]

I really like the NVS except the noise. It is blazingly fast and XRAID-2 expansion with different sized disks is very cool. Damn the noise.

Maybe you could change the FAN for a Noctua ? Keep the old one in case you have to send the unit to Netgear.

My NV+ was turning around 2050 RPM and the airflow was from the front to the rear of the unit. This is strange that your NV+ is reversed ?

It is supposed to cool off the drive first. So the intake is at the Front and exhaust at the back of the unit.

 

[claykin]

Maybe you could change the FAN for a Noctua ? Keep the old one in case you have to send the unit to Netgear.

My NV+ was turning around 2050 RPM and the airflow was from the front to the rear of the unit. This is strange that your NV+ is reversed ?

It is supposed to cool off the drive first. So the intake is at the Front and exhaust at the back of the unit.

Netgear had a service action notice a couple years back advising people with NV/NV+ in certain serial # ranges to take some steps to better cool the power supply. One of the options was to reverse the cooling fan. See here

http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=35224&hilit=nv+fan+reverse

 

[claykin]

Sorry to hear about your QNAP experiences. Reasons like the one you posted is exactly why I stick with Netgear. The Readynas isn't perfect, but something as serious as the issue posted would not go 19 pages in a forum thread without involvement/resolution/workaround from Netgear.

The 1 year QNAP warranty and the way they handle repairs/exchanges is also a little unsettling.

Synology on the other hand stepped up their game in mid 2008 and increased warranties and began offering North American repair/exchange service. I believe all current Synology models have a 3 year or 5 year warranty. I don't visit their forum site as often as Netgear, so I can't really comment on how well they are following up on user issues.

BTW, the OP NVX Pioneer has a 3 year warranty. Readynas Business Edition models have a 5 year warranty.

i'm at the process to upgrade my NV+ to a faster NAS so I end up with 2 NAS 4 drives bay and 2 NAS with 6 drive bay.

4 drive bay
Netgear NVX
Qnap TS-459 Pro

6 drive bay
Netgear Pro Business
Qnap TS-659 Pro


The Qnap are faster than the Netgear (well on charts)
Nicer GUI interface
Seem to be quieter
ESATA and more USB
1 year warranty
Support well the link below
No vertical RAID Expand (As X-RAID2 or SHR)


Netgear
Nice box
Good speed
GUI is pretty normal
no ESATA
5 years warranty
support is good (for me with the NV+, one drive failure and got it replace)
X-RAID2 with vertical expand

I was thinking about to buy the TS-659 Pro for a more features and futur expandability (more drives) but after reading Qnap forum about problem with their RAID and also very slow or non support.

Now I think i'll go for a Netgear Pro Business

Here the link for Qnap forum. Be patient their is 19 pages for the problem !

http://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=14246

PS: So before you spend your hard earn money on a Qnap NAS you better to take time and read the link above. Me after reading
this it let me a very dissapointing feeling about the reliability of Qnap NAS. And take in consideration also the Qnap only have 1 year warranty.

 

[ahpsi]

noise levels

I may be missing something obvious but is simply relocating the NAS out of the question? I couldn't tell you how loud my NVX is as it lives in a rack in my basement. I did have my 1100 in my kitchen for a while and THAT's a noisy NAS (two out of three of the monitored fans over 4400 RPMs) so I moved it into the rack also.

Just a thought.

 

[jerryk]

I may be missing something obvious but is simply relocating the NAS out of the question? I couldn't tell you how loud my NVX is as it lives in a rack in my basement. I did have my 1100 in my kitchen for a while and THAT's a noisy NAS (two out of three of the monitored fans over 4400 RPMs) so I moved it into the rack also.

Just a thought.

Relocation is not a real option. I have all my computers in my office and need to keep it that way.

 

[jerryk]

Update. I found a place in my office that works. The biggest change occurred when I moved the unit off a desktop to under a desk. I am going to add some acoustic foam to the underside of the desk and I suspect that with that the unit will be almost silent.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Jerry