NAS Choice Hell!!

[ericlrees]

Hello all,

I hope everyone had a great New Years!

I've been researching a new NAS for the last several days and I'm turning myself inside out trying to decide. The more I research, the more I get myself perplexed as to which is the best way to spend my monies. I think the two things that are most important to me are reliability, as I will have my entire life saved on this (pictures, music, movies, porn; the usual stuff) and noise level since it will be sitting in the living room next to my new Dell Zino HD (Merry Christmas to me!). Obviously speed is of a concern, but not as much since I don’t see myself streaming any 1080p stuff off it (but you never know down the road, so I don’t want a slouch either).

And I should also mention I’m planning on putting 4 x 2 TB Western Digital Green drives running a RAID 5 configuration, while hardwiring it into my Linksys WRT610N (Gig connection).

At this point I’m looking at 5 different options, all listed below. I’ve included links to some of the articles I’ve been reading (though not all). At the current moment I think I’m leaning towards the QNAP and the Synology, while ruling out the Netgear (because I hear it’s fairly loud). The Thecus and Promise are sitting on the fence.

Any who, I’d love your input on this. It’s always nice to have the communities insight.

QNAP TS-419P - http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=127
NO AMAZON REVIEWS
NO NEW EGG REVIEWS
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1132/1/
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/2989/qnap_ts_419p_four_bay_turbo_nas_server/index.html

Synology DS409 - http://www.synology.com/us/products/DS409/index.php
http://www.amazon.com/Synology-Stat...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=Synology_DS409-_-22-108-021-_-CustomerReview
http://www.techspot.com/review/169-synology-ds409p/
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30838&Itemid=75


Promise NS4600 - http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?product_id=211
http://www.amazon.com/Smartstor-NS4...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16822328003
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/networking/display/promise-smartstor-ns4600.html
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30877/75/


Thecus N4100PRO - http://www.thecus.com/products_over.php?cid=10&pid=77
http://www.amazon.com/Bay-Nas-Amd-P...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...26&cm_re=Thecus-_-22-102-026-_-CustomerReview
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30612/75/
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/networking/display/thecus-n4100pro.html

Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ - http://www.netgear.com/Products/Storage/ReadyNASNVPlus.aspx
http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-Ready...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._re=netgear_nas-_-22-122-010-_-CustomerReview
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/29829/75/
http://review.techworld.com/nas/531/infrant-readynas-nv/

Thank you and regards,

Eric

 

[thiggins]

You're probably leaning in the right direction.

 

[ericlrees]

Thanks for the encouragement thiggins. I’m going to take it a step further and email the companies directly and ask them to help “sell me”. See who really will help me deiced on their product.

 

[claykin]

If I can throw in my 2 cents, I see you have your heart set on the 2TB WD Green drives. Just make sure that whichever NAS you select, that particular model drive is on their AVL (approved/compatible list). You cannot throw in any drive you want and expect reliability. Stick with drives that are tested and approved by the OEM.

Oh, the QNAP and Synology are probably your best choices. Just beware of warranty and after sales service. Poke around and make sure you are happy with the vendors service options.

 

[ericlrees]

Hi Claykin. That's more like 3 cents, because you bring up a VERY good point, warranty! I really hadn't put that into the equation and I should since this is going to be holding all of my stuff.

I just shot off an email to both QNAP and Synology this afternoon (basically a modified version of what I posted here, custom to each vendor). I will let you know what they come back with and I will throw these points into the discussions with them.

 

[thiggins]

I just shot off an email to both QNAP and Synology this afternoon (basically a modified version of what I posted here, custom to each vendor). I will let you know what they come back with and I will throw these points into the discussions with them.

Each vendor is going to tell you that they have the best product.

Look at warranty length and responses and attitudes in the vendors' Forums and judge for yourself.

 

[louisw]

So.. What did you end up deciding and why?

 

[claykin]

OP is probably still waiting on a reply from QNAP or Synology.

 

[ericlrees]

I ended up purchasing the Synology DS1010+. I made my decision on a few factors. First the fact that Synology was the only company to actually send me a reply when I inquired about their products. The person that contacted me back (Franklin) was very friendly and helpful. Second, after some thinking I deiced that I could actually use a 5 bay NAS (originally looking at the 4 bay versions). Seeing how the DS1010+ has the Atom processor and more RAM then it’s predecessor, it seemed like a logical upgrade. Third this review helped put my mind at ease about it: http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=2832&highlight=DS1010+review

So I’ve had my NAS for about a week and I’ll say that I’m very happy with my choice (it’s loaded with 5 x 2 TB Western Digital green drives). Of course I have my grips about a few minor things (didn’t really think I would miss not having an LCD in front, but I actually do now), but over all, it’s a great product and would definitely recommend it.