Factors affecting Performance - CPU/RAM/Flash Needs

[tonyg]

Struggling on selection of a NAS device and I'm a bit unclear on how much of a beast the NAS needs to be. Most of the discussion is on throughput and matching up with your network etc.

I want backup data, stream hd video and audio, etc.
At what point does a Marvell 1.2/1.6GHz 128MB/256MB NAS struggle and you would want an Atom 512MB/GB NAS?

Can I have 2 active hd video streams without issue? 3 streams?
Also serving a couple audio streams at the same time?
What if a couple applications are running as well ... web server, ftp, torrent, etc?

Seems that as these devices come with more and more functionality that you would need more cpu and ram.

At what point would you be dissatisfied with, for example, the ds211j or the ds211 and want to go with the ds710+?

How do the cpu/ram needs change for number of users, active video streams, active applications/processes?

Thanks
Tony

 

[ntm1275]

The CPU tends to give you the raw speed performance, where as the more RAM you have allows you to do more things at the same time (more services running)

My very old Synology DS106e (256Mhz CPU, 32MB RAM) can do all the things you asked, but it struggles if say downloading and streaming at the same time

Any NAS with an 800Mhz CPU and 128MB RAM should easily be able to download and stream at the same time

What the faster CPU's tend to do is allow you to transfer files from PC to NAS, or NAS to PC faster than a slower CPU

 

[Jesse B]

The atoms will stream hi-def video with relative ease, but if you plan on doing on-the-fly transcoding, it's gonna be hurtin'.