Any advice on NAS systems for home use?

[KaJo]

Hello everyone!
I'm in the process of setting up a home archive system, and I'm considering investing in a NAS solution. What are some key factors to consider when choosing a NAS system for home use? I would be very grateful for any recommendations or experience with specific brands and models!

 

[Tech Junky]

Off the shelf you need to think ahead about how many bays you might need since they're not expandable once you buy the chassis.

I use a PC instead for the flexibility and direct storage access to the wan and higher speeds to the lan. Using a PC also opens the door to more storage options like U.3 which allows for higher capacity NVME drives at a lower cost per TB than M2 can provide. If you want higher speeds it's easier to slot a nic than replace a nas or be limited to captive nics.

 

[Dev_Mgr]

Are you looking for easy, or more inclined to self build?

If easy, I'd suggest to look at the Synology of QNAP offerings. Synology lags some on network port speeds (mostly at 1Gbit and nothing with 2.5Gbit (yet), unless you get a model with a 10Gbit port (expansion option, or native on some higher end models)), but I like their interface (personal opinion obviously).

 

[Tech Junky]

QNAP

Does have more nic options on some of their boxes. I used one of their 5g4t NICs for several years which was cheaper than a 5ge switch. Had one of their nas as well until I collapsed everything into a single box for better performance.

My point above was for longevity of the system to grow with time. You can do expansion units but they're $200 for 4 bays and bottlenecked by USB speeds to the main unit.

 

[louie1961]

In my opinion, if you want a turn key solution with the best apps, and a solid alternative to something like MS OneDrive, Google Drive, Drop Box, Nextcloud, etc. then Synology is hard to beat. Their hardware doesn't have the best specs as noted above, but their software sets the bar for NAS and self hosted cloud software. If you want more of a DIY option, I have a nice Terramaster unit that I installed TrueNAS scale on. Terramaster has really decent hardware, and IMO, really crappy software. That can be addressed by installing something like unraid, truenas or openmediavault onto their hardware (super easy to do actually). OR, if you want more DIY than that, you can build a NAS device from scratch.

Its hard to go wrong with a Synology though. How much storage space do you need and what else do you want to do with your NAS?

 

[KaJo]

Are you looking for easy, or more inclined to self build?

If easy, I'd suggest to look at the Synology of QNAP offerings. Synology lags some on network port speeds (mostly at 1Gbit and nothing with 2.5Gbit (yet), unless you get a model with a 10Gbit port (expansion option, or native on some higher end models)), but I like their interface (personal opinion obviously).

I'm looking for pre-built solution, and from what I've read, Synology seems to be the top choice. Thank you for your response!

 

[KaJo]

In my opinion, if you want a turn key solution with the best apps, and a solid alternative to something like MS OneDrive, Google Drive, Drop Box, Nextcloud, etc. then Synology is hard to beat. Their hardware doesn't have the best specs as noted above, but their software sets the bar for NAS and self hosted cloud software. If you want more of a DIY option, I have a nice Terramaster unit that I installed TrueNAS scale on. Terramaster has really decent hardware, and IMO, really crappy software. That can be addressed by installing something like unraid, truenas or openmediavault onto their hardware (super easy to do actually). OR, if you want more DIY than that, you can build a NAS device from scratch.

Its hard to go wrong with a Synology though. How much storage space do you need and what else do you want to do with your NAS?

Thanks for your reply! 3TB will be enough. I'm looking to store a range of videos and photos from my home archive, and making backup copies is part of the plan. I'm also keen on the idea of accessing these files from various devices, which means I won't have to keep them all on my smartphone for easy access. Additionally, I've read about the option of connecting the NAS to a TV, which isn't essential but definitely something I'd take advantage of. I also believe there might be some other possibilities that I'm not aware of yet.

 

[Tech Junky]

pre-built

They're all about the same when it comes down to what's inside. The OS is a preference though. The only thing I would look for besides bays would be a PCIE slot so you can upgrade the nic later on.

TV

With the OS on the nas you can stream from the nas using an app. Or if the TV is smart enough it might have the ability to do dlna streaming or access the nas. Codi or Plex though would make it more appealing from a GUI standpoint. Even if the TV isn't smart you can get dongles for them like Roku or Google.

 

[KaJo]

They're all about the same when it comes down to what's inside. The OS is a preference though. The only thing I would look for besides bays would be a PCIE slot so you can upgrade the nic later on.

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks a lot!