Drobo, Synology, ?

[netdefilr]

Hello all,

I'm having a problem deciding on a NAS for home.
Here is what I use on a daily basis:
Backed up BluRay -- moving, copying, streaming to media center
MP3's
Documents
Mac's Time Machine
I stream to my Media center over Gigabit
Extracting files
VMware ESXi storage for VM's whether its iscsi or nfs? (preference iscsi)

I like the ease of use of the Drobo, but I've read the performance isn't that great.
Synology has a DS411j which looks good. But doesn't have the any size hard drive ability from what I've read. And apparently it doesn't have enough memory to perform other apps.
Then there's Freenas. Which when configured properly could be better than both, just the size and the ease isn't there.

Right now I'm using a Windows XP VM and my main workstation at home is a MAC. It tends to have connection issues and it's speed isn't exactly there. I just don't want to dish out $500+ if there's an overlooked reason to go with one device or the other. Maybe there's a better product out there?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[GregN]

You can do iSCSI shared, but you'll have to use VMFS on the machines you want to share your NAS with ( You can also break it up a bit, NFS for some volumes, and a few LUNs for iSCSI all from the same NAS )

Synology is easier then rolling your own, FreeNAS or Nexenta with Napp-it for a DIY project

 

[stevech]

Hello all,

I'm having a problem deciding on a NAS for home.
Here is what I use on a daily basis:
Backed up BluRay -- moving, copying, streaming to media center
MP3's
Documents
Mac's Time Machine
I stream to my Media center over Gigabit
Extracting files
VMware ESXi storage for VM's whether its iscsi or nfs? (preference iscsi)

I like the ease of use of the Drobo, but I've read the performance isn't that great.
Synology has a DS411j which looks good. But doesn't have the any size hard drive ability from what I've read. And apparently it doesn't have enough memory to perform other apps.
Then there's Freenas. Which when configured properly could be better than both, just the size and the ease isn't there.

Right now I'm using a Windows XP VM and my main workstation at home is a MAC. It tends to have connection issues and it's speed isn't exactly there. I just don't want to dish out $500+ if there's an overlooked reason to go with one device or the other. Maybe there's a better product out there?

Thanks,
Tim

Sounds like you are technically competent. Perhaps a Synology is best for the applications you list. Given you have to have an external backup of the contents of the NAS (RAID is not a backup), you might consider fewer drives, less cost. FreeNAS lacks the awareness and simple to configure for DLNA and your apps. Drobo, to me, is overpriced all to heck, esp. if you are somewhat tech-savvy.

 

[netdefilr]

What about different size drives and manufacturers? I think drobo can handle this but not the synology ds411. I was thinking about the ds411j but it has low memory, which seems
to be a compliant about this device.

Also, while I have an IT background. I don't necessarily want to admin this all the time. I'm looking to set it up and maybe have to visit the config page every now and again.
Something that also is feature rich, where I don't get it and it's lacking some feature that makes me regret the purchase (because of the nas's holding a high price tag.)

 

[syno.franklin]

What about different size drives and manufacturers? I think drobo can handle this but not the synology ds411.

Hi netdefilr,

All DiskStations are capable of using different sized disks as their storage pool with the Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR). Using a SHR Volume will maximize your redundant storage pool of various sized disks. So you can start with 1TB disks today, and upgrade to 2TB or 3TB disks later on in the future - and the SHR will attempt to maximize all that capacity and give that storage array 1-disk redundancy.

Best benefit with the SHR (in your case, 4-disk with 1-disk redundancy) is that as you're upgrading disks, new storage will be available after changing two disks to larger capacity. Whereas with Classic RAID, all four disks will need to be swapped out before storage is accessible.

Hope this clarifies things for you.
If you have any further questions about the DiskStation, please contact our Pre-Sales team on-line via our Pre-Sales Inquiry Form or via telephone at 1.425.818.1587, option 4, between M-F 9A-5P, UTC-7 USA PDT for further assistance.

Have a good day.

 

[netdefilr]

Should I consider any other NAS out there? Or feature wise it sounds like the Synology DS411 might be the way to go.

 

[stevech]

Probably a Synology vs. QNAP flyoff. The latter tends to slightly more costly and SOHO-oriented vs. media serving. Reports say neither has rapid phone call tech support response (but who does?).

 

[syno.franklin]

Reports say neither has rapid phone call tech support response.

Hi stevech

Synology offers phone support for basic questions, such as is the DiskStation on or off, how to map a drive, or questions of the like. For more advanced questions, these questions will be fielded through our email ticketing system. In either case, our support contact info and support hours are

M-F, 9A-5P, UTC-7 USA PDT
1.425.296.3177
Synology Online Support Form

Also, our user feedback on the DiskStation and our Technical Support is available at our User Comments Page

Thanks, and have a good day.