x86 a good idea?

[ldx00]

I have been reading around about NAS's for a while and x86 based NAS's obviously come out on top for speed reasons more than anything else, but some people seem to cite other benefits (software, compatibility?) as well, but not go into much more detail.

I just need to quantify what these benefits are and whether it is worth upgrading my choice, if the speed provided by non-x86 models is sufficient for my needs.

To give a more concrete example, the 410 and 411+ from Synology are the types of model/price ranges I am trying to compare.

Any help appreciated (I tried searching for x86 but it's too short!!)

 

[kamina]

I have been reading around about NAS's for a while and x86 based NAS's obviously come out on top for speed reasons more than anything else, but some people seem to cite other benefits (software, compatibility?) as well, but not go into much more detail.

I would imagine software compatibility would only be an issue if you wanted to start installing your own software on the server - for example make an SVN repository etc. With x86 you can compile and install most linux applications that don't have too much dependencies on the user interface libraries.

I just need to quantify what these benefits are and whether it is worth upgrading my choice, if the speed provided by non-x86 models is sufficient for my needs.

You'll really have to look at reviews for that. X86 based nas devices have great performance but some ppc or arm based nas devices get surprisingly close (especially the latest models). Depending on your need you might want to concentrate on benchmarks showing performance for folders of smaller files and not just look at speeds with single big files.

To give a more concrete example, the 410 and 411+ from Synology are the types of model/price ranges I am trying to compare.

Any help appreciated (I tried searching for x86 but it's too short!!)

You can use google to search for short terms, try something like:


x86 nas site:forums.smallnetbuilder.com

 

[ldx00]

Thanks kamina,

I think I've managed to convince myself that if I don't even know what sort of extra functionality I might need (on top of the great wealth of things already supported by the standard software and addons from the likes of Synology and QNAP), chances are I never will.

Thanks also for the advice on looking at the speeds for smaller file transfers. From what I have managed to find out so far based on this, it looks like a lot of those NAS speed numbers are with Jumbo frames enabled and optimised for larger files. Less powerful NAS's appear to suffer particularly with these small file transfers so looking into this should ensure that I get sufficient speed for smaller files. Fortunately both the NAS's that are currently top of my list appear to be powerful enough for my needs (max usage scenario, personal website with very little traffic and home media server serving video to 2 hosts and audio to one with possible surveillance feed in the future).

Thanks for the tip about google too!!

ldx