NOOB - about to buy DS412+

[dougshell]

First off, let me say that this little GEM of a site has been a godsend. I have learned so much about the concept of NAS as well as some of the more important questions one has to identify and answer when shopping for a NAS device.

I have narrowed my needs, wants, and price range down to what i think leaves me looking at the DS412+.

I really wanted the DS1511+ which is nearly the same price on amazon, but the units are either used or refurbished and i really would like the comfort of the 3 year warranty from synology.

My NAS will serve two desktops one connected locally to the router and the other through a power-line adapter as well as one frequently used laptop connecting via a e2000 linksys router running tomato firmware. I have about 2TB of television shows that i maintain with sickbeard as well as sabnzbd for automatic collection which happens nearly every night, as well as about 2TB of HD movies (would be much larger but i simple do not have the storage space right now) The most demanding load the NAS will see will most likely be HD Bluray content being displayed on the desktop (to a Samsung UN55D8000) while the secondary desktop watches SD or HD television episodes. (I truly doubt both systems will ever stream HD bluray content but i guess that could change in the future)

So far i am looking at making my purchase via amazon because i have a 3x rewards card for amazon purchases and I already have 90 dollars in rewards points saved up.

I do have a couple of questions before i make my purchase...

1. I am getting 3x 3TB drives...either WD30EZRX (5400rpm) or Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 (7200rpm)

I know that the 7200rpm drive will not help much in the speed department because of the limitations of my gigabit connection, but i would like to know from a reliability stand point, which is the better deal. They are both 159.99USD

2. To use the link aggregation, do i simply need to plug both lan ports from the DS412+ into my router and the DSM takes care of the rest, or do i need more fancy equipment on my desktop such as dual nic cards. (i understand that the benefits of Dual link aggregation will be rarely utilized, if it is available without purchasing additional hardware i see no downside to setting it up)


3. I plan on eventually setting up a FTP server that either resides on or has access to the NAS for about 5-10 clients. They will not stream data from the NAS simply copy data from the NAS to there desktops. With this additionally user load, am i making the right decision in going with the 412+ over the 411, it is about a 200 dollars different (which i am comfortable spending)

And finally
4. The synology website states that it does not support the add on dx510 for storage upgrade, so is the esata port simply for external back up to a usb/esata drive.


I have tried to provide as much information as possible in hopes that not only with the questions be answered but also if i am totally off my rocker maybe someone has advice on a device that would better suite my needs.

1200-1300 is my price range.

Thank you very much.

 

[dougshell]

Bump...

So, i think i have decided on the DS1512+ instead. It is only 150 extra, adds an additional bay, expansion options, faster all around, and a bit more future proof.

But i guess all of my original questions apply.

Please any advice would be great.

 

[stevech]

See post #3 on thread
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=7275

might be helpful.

Your NAS size/cost seem maybe an overkill, but maybe 'cause I'm cheap.

 

[dougshell]

See post #3 on thread
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=7275

might be helpful.

Your NAS size/cost seem maybe an overkill, but maybe 'cause I'm cheap.

I suppose now that i really sit down and think of it, I really dont have much of a need for the expandability considering i can always add additional drives to my desktop. Maybe i will stick with the 412+...

Furthermore, I too usually buy western digital but i guess no matter which brand you buy, with the non-enterprise 3TB drives its a crap shoot either way.

I think my wife loves you. You have probably convinced me to not get the 1512+ as much as the overkill nerd in me wants too.

 

[stevech]

I'd worry about being an early adopter of 3TB drives.

For me, the DS212 is really an overkill. I have only a small number of HD videos. Everything else, including years of family digital photos, mostly sent by others in the family, plus my computer downloads and encrypted (via SafeHome) financials and 15 years of TurboTax - adds up to like 200GB. The videos add another 300 or so GB. And i have about 100GB of disk images from PCs in the house.

I used to, but no longer, rely upon on-line storage (that's another long story).

 

[dougshell]

Grrr...Every argument or point you make, my NAS becomes smaller and smaller.

I have a very vast collection of HD movies as well as HD television shows. Since my wife, room mate and I all have different taste in television shows, there are typically 5-6 shows being followed at any one time, and i am not the type that likes to delete things. Plus when friends come over its nice to have a large collection.

If the array was lost, i would not be out anything aside from time, as anything critical would be backed up to a 2tb external, so the risk of drive failure from the 3TB is not a deal breaker, but if you think it is truly something to avoid, maybe i need to look at getting 4x2TB vice 3x3TB.

I guess i just really wanted the expandablilty of the larger NAS, especially with more and more 3D films coming out, the upgrade to 48 and 60 fps in the film industry.

 

[seanmnaes]

I went back and forth between the 1512+ and the 412+ quite a bit myself. I ended up going with the 1512+. The price difference wasn't that much, it offers a lot more expandability, and you can expand the ram to 3 gigs. That's not really what sold me on it though. What sold me was that the 1512+ came with a regular IEC power cord and the 412+ had some goofy 4 pin thing. That was enough to push me over the edge.

Either one of these are far more NAS than anyone can really utilize in a home environment. At some point you just start wanting something a little bigger and a little faster. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Then again if hard drives ever get dirt cheap again, you could slap in 15 4tb drives and be the first kid on your block with 60TB of storage... Just saying!

-Sean

 

[dougshell]

I went back and forth between the 1512+ and the 412+ quite a bit myself. I ended up going with the 1512+. The price difference wasn't that much, it offers a lot more expandability, and you can expand the ram to 3 gigs. That's not really what sold me on it though. What sold me was that the 1512+ came with a regular IEC power cord and the 412+ had some goofy 4 pin thing. That was enough to push me over the edge.

Either one of these are far more NAS than anyone can really utilize in a home environment. At some point you just start wanting something a little bigger and a little faster. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Then again if hard drives ever get dirt cheap again, you could slap in 15 4tb drives and be the first kid on your block with 60TB of storage... Just saying!

-Sean

So I ended up sticking wtih the 1512+ for the aforementioned expandibility.

Plus since i got free shipping from amazon and used my rewards points it was about 100 less then it would have been. Also i went with 3 x 3TB drives from seagate.

 

[flocons]

2. To use the link aggregation, do i simply need to plug both lan ports from the DS412+ into my router and the DSM takes care of the rest, or do i need more fancy equipment on my desktop such as dual nic cards. (i understand that the benefits of Dual link aggregation will be rarely utilized, if it is available without purchasing additional hardware i see no downside to setting it up)

Hi Doug,

This might be a bit late to the party, but to use link aggregation, you will need to have a switch on the other end of your connection that supports not only "link aggregation", but the same type of link aggregation.

In a 2-workstation setup, you probably won't need it per se, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Cheers,

F.