DS220+ vs DS620slim

[coxhaus]

I am considering a new NAS as my DS120j with a 4TB disk and slow interface is starting to bother me. I plan to leave it running full time. I run my DS120j NAS for a day to do backups and then it turns itself off the next day. The 512 ram is slow with the new Dsm 7.11 OS in my opinion. I was thinking I could use the DS120j as a backup device. I want my NAS to be quiet. I fit in 4 TB disk right now, so my storage needs are not that great. I mainly store pictures and music converted by Jriver. I was thinking maybe I could start storing ISO of my music CDs if I had more space.

I was thinking the DS620 slim looks good. I could use two 4 TB SSDs. With SSDs I will not use RAID as I feel they are safe enough with backups. The DS620 seems like a small quiet NAS. It also supports a VM which is included with this NAS. I will add memory up to max on which ever one I buy. Memory is cheap now.

My other option is more conventional in using a DS220+ with 2 hard drives running mirrored. How noisy is 2 3.5" hard drives? I have 1 drive spinning in the DS120j and it is not too bad, but I don't know about 2.

I was thinking the SSDs will last longer if I am using them lightly whereas the hard drives will wear out just spinning. I assume the SSDs will last a long time not hitting them all the time.

What are your thoughts?

PS
I assume the Synology OS runs from the motherboard not the SSD and stays memory resident. I changed my laptop Windows page file to run out of memory instead of paging to my SSD. I have 64 gig of memory in my laptop. What I really did was tell Windows no page file so it would run out of memory. Windows has to have one tiny page file I think 8K to keep things straight. I have not run out of memory.

 

[Tech Junky]

Well, a NAS is kind of a waste of money when you consider they're good for only one use.

Why not just get an enclosure and put a drive into it and run your backups monthly that way? If you're serious about network storage though just get a SFF PC and throw the drives into that and you'll have more options / better performance and cheaper than any NAS off the shelf. SFF PC options usually run ~$150 with most NAS boxes starting at $200+.

With the SFF PC you can upgrade the NIC to make it faster on the network / swap drives as needed / port it to a bigger case if you decide more dries is a better idea. You could expand it with a DAS over USB ./ TB if you don't want to rebuild it into a bigger case.

I run 5 x 3.5" drives in my box and never hear them with ambient noise. If you're listening for them I suppose you could listen to the chatter but, they sit about 6 feet away and there's usually white noise or media playing in the background. Even my laptop fans drown out any potential noise pollution.

Anyway all you need is a SFF PC + Linux + drives and you're all set. If you wanted to keep it on 24/7 you could and have rsync jobs setup to backup as often or as little as you want. There are other OS pre-packaged for dummies that make it feel like a NAS but, it's all the same underlying OS just a different skin geared towards only NAS controls.

 

[coxhaus]

I am not going to run and support any Microsoft servers. I did for years. I even ran Microsoft Home server with 8 hot swap drives boy was that noisy. My server rack is off and I am going to sell it. So, your solution is a bad idea. And I know what 5 drives sound like, no way. I run a laptop with 8 cores, 16 threads and 2 M.2 interface drives, no spinning drives. My laptop moves around so using a USB drive would not work.

Back to the NAS idea

 

[Tech Junky]

Microsoft

Who said anything about MSFT?

 

[Tech Junky]

I'm running WD reds and they're nothing like legacy drives when it comes to noise.

 

[coxhaus]

If you are not going to contribute to the NAS idea go away. Thanks.

 

[coxhaus]

Also, I need to mention my wife bought a MAC laptop and it would be nice for Apple support. I know not much about Apples other than I can network them.

 

[Tech Junky]

NAS or not all you need is a nic/drives/smb.

If you want to buy a NAS off the shelf then just do it. If you don't like the noise then turn down your hearing aid or go SSD.

 

[coxhaus]

I guess it is off to reddit.

Some people don't take clues. They have no idea about power usage. NAS use about 15 watts. They post crap on a Synology thread.

 

[Tech Junky]

@10 W's per drive you're already over 20W. NAS CPU might use another 25W to run the device itself.

 

[L&LD]

I would not trust my data to SSDs in a NAS which are also not in RAID 1, 5, or better.

Get 2x (or more) 10TB WD RED drives and leave them running. HDDs die not just from use, but from time too (unless, sealed, in a box, etc.).

I would also suggest getting a 4+ drive bay NAS instead of any 2 bay NAS. Use one of the bays for an SSD cache (and the whole array will be quieter too).

@Tech Junky, no HDD uses 10W (continuously). Particularly when it is just idling.

 

[coxhaus]

@10 W's per drive you're already over 20W. NAS CPU might use another 25W to run the device itself.

You are running really old stuff. And my old 3.5 inch drives only used 7 watts when accessing them less just spinning. I am sure the new ones are better.

I have seen a Synology utube where they have a watt meter on a DS220+ with two 16 TB drives and it using around 15 watts.

 

[coxhaus]

I would not trust my data to SSDs in a NAS which are also not in RAID 1, 5, or better.

Get 2x (or more) 10TB WD RED drives and leave them running. HDDs die not just from use, but from time too (unless, sealed, in a box, etc.).

I would also suggest getting a 4+ drive bay NAS instead of any 2 bay NAS. Use one of the bays for an SSD cache (and the whole array will be quieter too).

@Tech Junky, no HDD uses 10W (continuously). Particularly when it is just idling.

So, the cache will quiet the drives? If you are using RAID5 all the drives write at the same time as all the drives except one will write a stripe and the last drive writes the parity but all at the same time. I would assume the cache does elevated writes so it syncs to where the heads are on the platter and it keeps the heads from moving a lot which increases access times on the spinning drives of course the cache speeds up writes and reads across the net. You would see a benefit on reads if it read by multiple people. I would think writes need to be written to the spinning drive before they can be re-read.

My server room has turned into my granddaughter's room. I can't have noise in the closet.

 

[L&LD]

How the cache works depends on the NAS model/brand you decide on. With QNAP NAS', the drives are audible, but not noisy. With an SSD cache, even less so.

 

[coxhaus]

I just saw this advertised on this site.

Seagate 14TB Exos X16 7200 rpm SATA III 3.5" ST14000NM001G B&H (bhphotovideo.com)

Black Friday may bring some really good deals.

 

[Clark Griswald]

Amazon Link currently has the above linked drive for $14 less for a possibly better BF sale price.
My 4-WD Red 10TB (DS-918+) are not notably loud.

 

[coxhaus]

Amazon Link currently has the above linked drive for $14 less for a possibly better BF sale price.
My 4-WD Red 10TB (DS-918+) are not notably loud.

Do you run RAID 5 or RAID 10?

And Oh, are your drives 5400 or 7200?

 

[Clark Griswald]

Synology SHR (two separate backups with one off site)
WD RED 10TB 5400
Currently you can buy Exos 18TB $319, which was the Amazon Day sale price of my hdd back in '18. I'm watching the larger drives for a 2-bay Synology NAS to jump into Home Cameras and Surveillance Station 9.

 

[coxhaus]

Synology SHR (two separate backups with one off site)
WD RED 10TB 5400
Currently you can buy Exos 18TB $319, which was the Amazon Day sale price of my hdd back in '18. I'm watching the larger drives for a 2-bay Synology NAS to jump into Home Cameras and Surveillance Station 9.

Your link for 18TB drives is for 7200 rpm drives. They are noisier than 5400 rpm drives. I have decided I am not going to go 7200 rpm drives. The rest I am still thinking about.

What cameras do you use with your Synology NAS? Do you like them?

 

[Clark Griswald]

No cameras currently set to my NAS. I had issues with Dahua cameras. I'm currently waiting to have Synology's own cameras get released, and read the reviews.
I checked my previous link to those 18TB HDDs and the cost is now $299