Synology DS410j vs ReadyNAS NV+?

[Lalato]

Synology DS410j vs QNAP TS-419P?

Hi gang,
I've been reading through the various threads and articles and I'm learning a lot. I've decided that I would like to tinker around with an NAS for my home network.

Through a gift certificate I won at work, I can either get myself a Synology DS410j or a Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ for more than 50% off. Lucky me!

At any rate here's what I need it to do...

2 Macbooks and one Dell laptop on the network. Primary machines are the two macs.

*Need it to be able to handle Time Machine backups
*Would like to host pictures and music on it. Lots of pics and music. I don't tend to have a lot of video so that's not so important to me, but it would be nice to have.
*Should have an easy way to backup to an external drive.

I know both of the devices noted can handle what I need... just wondering if one is significantly better than the other.

I should also note that the following are also available at a big discount via the gift certificate I won at work. If one of these would better suit my needs, please let me know.

Synology DS109
Synology DS110j
ReadyNAS Duo
HP EX490 MediaSmart Server
or basically anything else that happens to be sold on Overstock.com as that's where the gift cert is from.

Anyway, thanks for any tips you can provide.
--sam

 

[Lalato]

Unfortunately, I waited too long and the ReadyNAS NV+ is no longer in stock. Oh well. I'm still trying to figure out what's best for my home setup. After reading about so many people using these for media streaming I'm beginning to think that I might eventually get more into it. I don't have cable TV at home and I do most of my movie and tv watching on the internet or on DVD... so I suppose I could see myself storing some stuff on a NAS and viewing it directly from there.

Here are the options that I can afford with the help of my gift certificate...

• Synology DS410J or DS710+
• QNAP TS-419P or TS-210
• Netgear ReadyNAS Duo or NVX Pioneer Edition
• Thecus N0503
• LG N2R1D or N2B1D

I hope you don't mind, but I guess I'll use this thread as a way for me to walk through my decision process. Hopefully others will find it useful.

The main advantage of the 2 drive bay devices for me is that I can probably afford two of them and have both a production device (for media and other files) and a secondary device to serve as a backup target for the production device. The only 2 drive device where this is not true is the DS710+ which is priced near the top end of my range.

I like the Synology and QNAP firmware. Both look great... and the new release from Synology looks excellent. I've demoed both on their site. Unfortunately, none of the other ones had demos available that I could find so I can't say if one is better than another. If anyone knows of a demo page for any of the other devices please let me know.

I've looked up as much information about the various devices here on SmallNetBuilder as I can... and I've also scoured the internet for other reviews and tidbits. Here's what I've learned so far.

Synology DS410J... Generally speaking the reviews are positive, but some were disappointed by the DS410J's performance. I'm not sure if my needs will max out this devices capabilities. Initially I'm sure it will be enough, but it's still a concern in the back of my head.

Synology DS710+... As this device is so new, there aren't a lot of reviews of it available. The ones that I've found are positive. It's not at the tip top of performance, but it ranks well against others. The main drawback is the price considering it is only a 2 bay device. Granted it has some nice specs and it does have the expansion option. I'll take Tim's word that the connection between the expansion device and the DS710+ could be a bottleneck should one decide to go that route. The question for me is... would it still be better than a DS410J even with the bottleneck?

QNAP TS-419P... See the notes above for the DS410J. Except it is my understanding that the TS-419P has a faster processor and more memory. Performance-wise it appears to lag behind comparably equipped devices. That said, I'm not sure that it will make a difference for me.

QNAP TS-210... While performance might be an issue here, the main advantage is price. I could get two of these and have one to serve as a backup target for the first one. That's a pretty big plus because as I've heard others say on here... a single NAS is not a complete backup solution.

Netgear ReadyNAS Duo... See the notes above for the QNAP TS-210. The only thing to add here is that until the end of March, I believe NetGear is running a rebate program on these so there could potentially be added savings.

NetGear ReadyNAS NVX Pioneer Edition... This is the affordable version of the NVX series without stuff like iSCSI. It's still a bit pricey for what you get, but performance should be decent I guess. It's hard to find reviews that target this device specifically. It's at the very top end of my price range so it's not likely that I will go for it.

Thecus N0503... This seems like an interesting device. It takes 3 x 3.5 drives or 5 x 2.5 drives. I suspect it really depends on one's needs or what type of drives you happen to have around. I don't see a lot of reviews out there, but the ones I've found are positive... except to note that the web interface isn't that nice. One other not so good thing about Thecus is the lack of a dedicated online forum on their website. There are a couple of user run forums, but I'm not sure if Thecus employees actually post there or not.

LG N2R1D/N2B1D... I guess I'm only posting these here for completeness. I'm not sure I would take advantage of the DVD or Blu-Ray drive except perhaps to use it for ripping discs which based on the literature I've read isn't really an option with the drives so the main advantage is kind of not really there. Beyond that, these are priced well and as with other 2 bay devices, I could get two with the money I have (though two DVD drives is likely a bit of overkill). One other thing to note, LG doesn't appear to have a good dedicated forum for these devices.

Anyway, that's what I'm working with right now. I'll be coming to a decision soon. Right now I'm leaning toward the Synology DS410J, QNAP TS-419P, or a pair of ReadyNAS Duos. I do realize that all of the above noted the devices are likely to be overkill for my somewhat modest needs. But I do want something that can grow with me as I learn how to use the device to its fullest potential.

 

[convergent]

I can't answer all your questions, but I'll give you my 2 cents since I've had a ReadyNAS NV+ for a long time. You said they aren't available, but I just checked on Amazon and they are readily available for about $389... not sure what kind of discount you are getting, but that's a great price performer in my book for a solid 4 drive unit. That said, I bought my NV+ about 4 years ago before Infrant was bought by Netgear... so it is not exactly the latest and greatest (which is why I'm on this site shopping for a newer, bigger faster, NAS).

From what I've seen with the vendors you mentioned, Netgear, QNAP, and Synology all have pretty good support and active forums. When I bought mine years ago, Thecus was faster, but not as reliable and their support wasn't great. I think that is still the case with them. So buying from the other 3 is a pretty good bet.

Once you get the NAS setup and operational you aren't likely to be doing much with the admin control panel and such... everything should just take care of itself.

I have always done my backup on the NAS to a USB attached drive. This is painless and works great. The only downside is that sometimes (on the NV+ this is the case) you need to format the drive as ext3 because its much faster than formatting it in FAT or NTFS... MUCH faster. What that means is its then a royal pain to access the backup directly if you need it in a pinch since ext3 isn't easy to deal with on a Mac or Win machine. This is one thing that is driving me to QNAP, as they have licensed technology that allows them to get really fast NTFS on their USB / eSATA drives from what I understand. But I'm wrestling with whether to continue this approach, or have a separate NAS as my backup... thus affording me a hot backup. I will probably do a hybrid.

Depending on your needs, not everything needs to be backed up on the NAS. Obviously things like image libraries, home movies, data, etc... need to be backed up. Something like a Time Machine backup, however, really doesn't since the likelihood of the NAS and your computer both blowing up at the same time is remote, and in my case I clone my machine with a bootable backup too... so I already have 3 copies. So the USB drive attach for backup is pretty good and cheap, and it does give you the option of rotating the drives offsite if you want.

Not sure I helped your decision, but figured I'd pitch in my thoughts.

 

[Lalato]

Thanks for your insights, convergent. I really like the NV+... and if I didn't have this gift cert I would consider it. I'm secretly hoping that Overstock gets some more in the near future.

Let's put it this way, if I use the gift cert from Overstock, I'll pretty much be getting the device(s) for free. I'm not 100% sure on the hard drives as the selection on Overstock is somewhat limited. However, if what Overstock has is compatible (which I am researching right now) then I can get the whole setup for free or for very little out of my own pocket. It's a really big gift certificate. I won it in a contest. Yay me.

Thanks again,
--sam

 

[thecheeto]

I know this is not exactly what you are talking about, but hopefully I can share my experience and it might help you. I just bought a ReadyNAS Duo a couple of days ago. I was considering the QNAP TS-210 and the Synology DS210J as well. I went with the Netgear because I liked the idea of hotswapable drives. I put two 1TB drives in there now, but in a year when I need to replace them with two 2TB drives, I just take one 1TB out, put a 2TB in, wait for it to replicate and the repeat. Awesome!

And you are right, the $75 rebate offered by Netgear played a factor as well. Well, I got it, installed the drives and set it up. I was very disappointed by the setup wizard on the ReadyNAS! Buggy to say the least, it presented me with information that did not make sense, and did not give enough information for me to know I was selecting the right options. My frustrations continue, because at this point, I have been unable to download anything from the BitTorrent client. It loads the file from my PC fine, but just sits at 0%.

I have also been unsuccessful in getting access to the BT client from the outside world. This was one of the things I really wanted to be able to do with it. I did not want to have to be home to get a download started.

Anyway, I have been second guessing my purchase, mostly because of the user interface. I know this sounds trivial, but it has certainly not been as easy to get things configured the way I wanted it.

I am also a little annoyed that I only get 90 days of free tech support from Netgear (at least this is how I interpret their web site).

So long story, but I am really considering returning the NAS and going with something like the QNAP TS-219p. I know it is quite a bit more expensive, but that is really the first 2 bay QNAP that offers hot-swappable drives. On the Synology side, all of their home/SOHO models don't do hotswap.

One other issue I am having with the ReadyNAS is there appears to be an issue in supporting the new Advanced Format drives being offered by Western Digital. I had already bought two 1TB Western Digital Green drives, model WD10EARS. With the ReadyNAS, I keep getting IDE errors, and this has been reported by other Netgear users on their forums. Both QNAP and Sysnology specifically list support for these hard drives.

So, can anyone tell me if I should except a different (better) setup experience with a QNAP or Synology product?

 

[Lalato]

I don't know if you'll get a better experience overall, but based on my research both Synology and QNAP have good management suites. Synology's is usually touted as the best in class.

 

[Lalato]

I think I've narrowed it down to the Synology DS410J and the QNAP TS-419P. What I'm trying to decide is if the QNAP is really worth the extra $200... or if the extra features like eSATA, faster processor, more RAM, etc will largely go unused by me and the members of my household.

--sam

 

[Lalato]

Based on comments in the Synology forum, the DS410J doesn't get great performance marks. I don't see the same kinds of comments for the 419P on the QNAP forums.

Not sure if this should really sway me one way or the other, but I suppose that if I want to grow with a product, it would be better to buy the one that will work best for my needs now and in the future.

I really wish there were some better performing two bay or even single bay devices on the Overstock website, but the options are already slim so I'll take what I can get.

At this point I'm close to pulling the trigger on the 419P just for the added performance and options.

--sam

 

[Lalato]

And tonight I did finally pull the trigger. I bought a QNAP TS-419P... along with a single 2TB drive which is compatible. Now I just need to get a gigabit switch and I'll be a all set.

Thanks to all that have offered advice. I know that for now this device is overkill, but I hope it can grow with me as my needs change.

--sam

 

[Lalato]

The 419P was delivered this morning. Looks like I'll be tinkering with it when I get home tonight.

--sam

 

[fturtle0]

Hey Sam, how is the TS-419P working out? Have you gotten a chance to test its performance? I'm on a similar track and have it narrowed down between the TS-419P and ReadyNAS NV+. So far the TS-419P is looking ideal, though it's strange how relatively little flash memory it has (which could limit OS upgradability). I'm not sure that really matters much, though.

 

[Lalato]

I haven't had a chance to do extensive testing yet. It's been a busy week... and now I'm down with a severe cold. I hope this weekend will change that.

I will definitely post about my experiences here.

 

[Lalato]

And tonight was the first test of watching a movie from the 419P to my laptop via wireless. My old black macbook only has 802.11g. Both movies I watched tonight (Gattaca and Star Trek) played flawlessly. No hiccups, no stutters no problems.

On my list... iTunes server, backing up, figuring out torrents.

Based on my experience with the firmware thus far, I expect it to be fairly straightforward, but we'll see.

--sam

 

[Lalato]

Just a short update on Torrents. So far I've found this to be pretty easy. I haven't been a big Torrent user in the past. In fact, up until I got this device, I could count on one hand the number of times I had used a Torrent client.

So far I've only used it to grab episodes of TV shows that I somehow missed before they dropped off of Hulu (Stargate Universe, for example). You have to download the .torrent file on your computer and then upload that file to the QNAP's Download Station. Once that's done, it pretty much handles the rest.

Anyway, I'm sure that all the other NAS devices pretty much do it the same way so this isn't anything special to the QNAP. Just one more thing that's cool about having an NAS.

--sam