Synology 207+ vs ReadyNAS Duo - For file service

[ThatEvilGuy]

Hi everyone, new here

Basically, I'm looking for a NAS for file serving, I have a PC file server setup now, but it's taking too much space.

I've narrowed my search down to Synology 207+ and ReadyNAS Duo.

From what I understand from benchmarks these two are pretty much the same in terms of performance.

But what I'm most interested in are the features.... which of these NAS devices has more features and gizmos?

And compared to pc is file sharing performance going to be much worse? i.e. slower?

Which one is more future proof, in terms of drive support and size.


Thanks!

 

[claykin]

207+ is probably nearing end of life now that the 209+ is available. The Readynas Duo should be around for a while longer.

Neither of these models will be as fast as compared to sharing using a PC as the file server. For normal everyday use, they should be reasonable for fewer than 5-7 users.

When using these boxes as a simple file server, setup is relatively easy and reliabiltiy is generally high. Adding toys (streaming services and addons such as Photo Galleries) add complexity and potentially reduce reliability.

Right now I have two DUO units that both run the latest firmware and are being used solely as a simple file server of Office type files (no media, no bittorrent, no photos, etc). Everything is disabled on the box except for CIFS (windows protocol). However both of my units have memory leaks in the firmware and cause them to lockup or stall after a week or two. I've got Netgear looking into the issue now, but its quite disappointing.

 

[ThatEvilGuy]

Thanks for the reply Claykin,

I'm going to be the only user that'll be using the NAS. So, I guess the performance should ok? plus I'm going to be using it on 100mb network, so I think it won't even tap it's potential, since these NASs are gigabit.


I'm thinking of going with ReadyNAS but what you said about it locking up is worrying me frankly.



Here's my comparison of Readynas and Diskstation and some pros and cons of each...

RN - drive installation is easier
faster - transfers/io(based on reviews)
Scheduled Power On
hot swappable(none of synology are)
future expandeable(207 only 2tb max so far)
hide shares - i.e. hidden in network list
recycle bin has time/size options(DS only has a recycle bin)


DS - jbod, raid 1 raid 0 - irrelevant, I'll only use RAID1
domain support - won't be using this one either


Hitachi 1TB support - hit or miss for both
Readynas - recovery problems or something ext3, not sure though.


So I guess I'll be going with ReadyNAS.

 

[claykin]

Still no solution from Netgear to the memory leak issue in my Duo's. They have remoted into the Duo's and added a script to watch what is causing the memory to drop so low that the Duo begins turning off services.

So far the issue has not reoccurred. The only config change they had me make was to switch my Frontivew backups to my USB drive to use EXT3 instead of FAT32. Time will tell....