Installing/updating apps on NAS boxes

[Criller]

Hello,

I've been looking at the various NAS solutions available for home media streaming, file storage etc and there's one thing that I'm still unsure on.

Are there any "off the shelf" NAS boxes which allow you install/update apps without being reliant on the manufacturer releasing a firmware update?

I was reading a thread with regards to a problem somebody was having where his NAS box was running an older version of Twonky which was incompatible with his DLNA device. He would have to wait for a firmware update to resolve his issue. So to me it would appear that whilst NAS is great it can have limitations. I don’t want to set up a PC based NAS as I want to benefit from the lower power consumption of NAS.

I have Synology or QNAP within my sights once I’ve put my mind at rest with regards to the above.

I welcome your comments

Thanks

 

[thiggins]

If you depend on the NAS manufacturer's add-on system, then you may be dependent on their releasing updates to support add-on functions.

If the NAS provides root access and you use Linux tools to enhance the NAS, you might be free of having to depend on the manf for firmware updates.

But realize that once you start hacking the OS, you're on your own.

 

[corndog]

Of all the major players out there, it seems that QNAP has the most active plugin community, and the most available plugins for their NAS. Be careful though - let your NAS be a NAS - don't plug it up with so many services that it can't do what it is supposed to do. Remember - all that precious RAM in the NAS is supposed to act as a cache to keep the performance up. If you tie it all up in database servers, VoIP exchanges, bulletin boards, etc etc, you WILL impact basic NAS performance...