Synology 216J vs FreeNAS with Celeron build

[sfjohansson]

Hi Guys,
I've finally gotten tired of plugin in and plugin out external usb drives for backups/file storage and decided to invest in a NAS.

Mainly I'm going to use it for backups (Time Machine) and file storage...but I guess having extra computing power could be fun..even run a media server.

At first I was thinking of Synology DS216+ but then opted to start cheaper with the DS216J.
I noticed that I could put together a 4 bay own build for about the same price using this motherboard and case.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/gig...n3150-16ghz-soc-ddr3-ddr3l-so-dimm-intel-hd-g

https://www.servercase.co.uk/shop/s...ers/enclosures/desktop-nas-enclosure-sc-n400/

For Drives I've picked a pair of WD 3TB Red.

What do guys think..will I notice any difference and would it be worth the hassle?

Cheers,

Stefan

 

[sfx2000]

DIY can be an impressive value - FreeNAS and NAS4Free offer compelling solutions...

What you get going with a NAS vendor like Synology or QNAP is support and QA testing of the solutions they offer - and for some, that's a plus.

 

[sfjohansson]

Yeah, I thats why I was considering Synology in the first place .. I'm a game developer and felt that it could be good to give my brain a little bit of a break and not trying to go overly technical on everything and be a practical for once... =O

But if choosing an entry level unit like the 216j... if that would remind me everyday through its performance that I did exactly that...then it's probably not a good idea and the "DIY" options could be the way to go.

Although if... let's say int my scenario..where I just have one user that stores/accesses files on the NAS and if the limiting factor is the network speed rather than an underpowered NAS unit..then I guess it's fine to be lazy and just roll with the convenience of a trusted brand like Synology.

 

[sfx2000]

The NAS vendors do the "hard stuff" as part of their development, even with entry level units... that's what they do, and again, they have the support teams to back it up...

As a fellow dev - I get it - but this is stuff we can let others do, eh? Esp. if they do a good job at it.

Then we can return to the tasks at hand... do you want to tightly manage a server, or do you want to write code, and do fun things?

 

[sfjohansson]

hehe yeah...of course I need to keep on doing what I should be be doing but it seems like a basic freeNAS setup is pretty straightforward... so I'm leaning towards letting performance decide.

So it's all about if the DSJ216J can saturate LAN transfer speeds for a single client copying over an odd folder or backing up a computer (not at the same ) time ...then I'd be happy to pick up the Synology and just get on with my stuff and let them do theirs.

But If need to buy the top of the line unit to get decent performance then I'd be inclined to go for the freeNAS option where I seem to get a lot for sub $200 (not drives included)

 

[sfx2000]

a simple samba server is pretty easy to set up - even with lvm2 and mdadm - takes a couple hours of effort to build out... but then if it blows up, it falls back to you to fix it

 

[sfjohansson]

Just pulled the trigger on a Synology DS216+ on amazon warehouse deals, £199 pounds instead of £260. It might not be as powerful as an intel based FreeNAS....but better than the 216J at least..and hopefully less headache than fiddling with my own.

slight edit here...just checked the specs and it is an intel based box with the Celeron N3050. So yeah pretty much what my home build would have been apart form that it is a 2 bay unit instead of 4.

I'm still intrigued by the idea of building my own but the deal seemed good enough to just go for it... so in will be interesting to see how well it "serves" me...

 

[sfx2000]

They're nice little units... study up on the DSM while it's in transit - lots of interesting stuff under the hood (Docker for one...)

 

[sfjohansson]

Yeah certainly will...pretty excited now...seems like I got both convenience and performance for a great price!