Dell R320 vs Supermicro vs Synology

[Markess]

Long time lurker, first time posting. Looking for advice for a "new" server for home use; mostly file storage & backups for several PCs, possibly some virtualization down the road.

A friend offered me one of the servers pulled in a refresh at their job. It will replace my aging home NAS (running Open Media Vault, formerly FreeNAS). I got several to choose from, but I've gotten it down to:

-- Dell PowerEdge R320: E5-2407 v2, 32GB RAM, single 350w Bronze PSU, just over 3 years old according to manufacture date.

-- Supermicro X9DBL-IF in a Supermicro SupperChassis: Same CPU and RAM as the Dell, single 480w Platinum PSU.

-- Synology Rackstation 815+: I'm not too knowledgeable on Synology, but it appears this will do what I want.

If anyone has recommendations or thoughts? I'm unfamiliar with Dell servers, so unsure if there's any pitfalls for the home, non-enterprise, user? I'm more familiar with Supermicro from my time with FreeNAS, but not this particular board/chassis. The Synology looks interesting, but I'm unsure about the proprietary OS.

Decisions, decisions. So, any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[StammesOpfer]

I would probably go for the Supermicro since they tend to be a little more open and standards compliant if you want to upgrade individual pieces later.

 

[BlueFox]

If all you really need is a file server with light virtualization capability, I would go Synology. If you don't need rackmount (not sure why you're after 1Us), just get a DS1517+. The Dell/Supermicro are really overkill. Synology's OS isn't proprietary (just Linux with a web frontend they developed). I find there's so much less time/effort involved in maintaining it.

This is coming from someone who used to have a 24 bay Supermicro at home and went with a higher end Synology instead (I still have a bunch of Supermicro gear in a datacenter though). Just not worth having the extra noise and power consumption for what you're after.

 

[Markess]

If all you really need is a file server with light virtualization capability, I would go Synology. If you don't need rackmount (not sure why you're after 1Us), just get a DS1517+. The Dell/Supermicro are really overkill. Synology's OS isn't proprietary (just Linux with a web frontend they developed). I find there's so much less time/effort involved in maintaining it.

Good points! I'm not really after 1Us, but this was offered to me for free. And I thought that for free, I'd live with the form factor and selection. If I were paying for this, I'm sure I'd be looking at something like a DS1517+ as you suggest.

In any case, I have a rather deep wall unit in my home office that I can easily put a 1U unit on top of (which is why my friend suggested giving me one of their servers in the first place). Its already got connectivity up there, as its where my current NAS is.

Thanks for the recommend, Synology seems like it might be a good solution for what I need without a lot of tinkering or configuration.

 

[Evan]

From a file serving point of view and simple the symbology has to be the easiest for sure. Close to zero maintenance.

 

[MiniKnight]

If you just want easy and great go Synology.

If you want rackmount and the ability to upgrade later go Supermicro

If you want to resell the free box and buy a Synology go Dell

 

[Marsh]

Supermicro X9DBL-IF

Supermicro X9DBL-IF system board form factor is ATX.
If you don't like rackmount 1u, re-case the system board to any computer case that you like.

Take the SM, run your favor virtualization OS , Storage OS or both .

 

[capn_pineapple]

If you want to resell the free box and buy a Synology go Dell

For KISS factor, this.

 

[Markess]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm glad I asked! I'm going to hang on to both the Synology and the Supermicro for now and see how they work for me. Part of the reason I got offered one of these was because I'd agreed to get the rest of the equipment lot ready for charity resale through a non-profit I volunteer at. I can have them both running for a week or two while I get the rest of the equipment tested and cleaned up.