QNAP TS-1685 vs Synology DS3617xs Battle of the NAS Behemoths!

[msvirtualguy]

Hi all. So long story short, I had my mind made up the new QNAP TS-1685 and I actually pulled the trigger on the QNAP-TS-1685-D1521-16G at Amazon then cancelled the order because I'm thinking maybe this isn't the right NAS. Looking at the prices, these are an investment both around the $2800 mark and this has to last me for a long, long time. I know some of you may say build and AIO, honestly moving away from that model as time to manage needs to be minimal. I broke down my primary needs and wants in the order of importance and hopefully you guys can help me here because it's really a toss up at this point:

1. Fast File Storage supporting near 10Gb throughput for large Video File transfers to backup my VLOG'ing videos and to serve as the family's main repository for everything media related, home videos, pics, music etc. snaps would be nice and simple backup integration to a cloud service would be awesome to archive and send most important data PICs etc to offsite storage. I will be using Veeam to backup PC's to this device and Comtrade to backup my Nutanix Community Edition VM's. You'll hear more about that soon when we go live.

2. Video Survellience Storage: I'd like to remove the Hikvision NVR to remove another device I have to manage. It's more about consolidation at this point so this would be a device that would need to be replaced via a NAS NVR feature. I would also like the ability to point the NVR storage to a separate Storage Volume/group of disks outside of the File storage above.

3. SSD Caching minimally, and SSD tiering, optionally.

4. Some sort of integrated virtual stack to run a small subset of infrastructure workloads like replacing the physical Domain Controller that I have running on a NUC. Has served me well, but removing another physical device would help again with consolidating.

5. Apps. Would like useful, modern application set for specific functions that maybe I didn't think about. Would like Cloud like storage function to access from anywhere if needed.

Here's a breakdown of the PROs/CONs as I see it for both NAS:

QNAP
PROS CONS
Fast Xeon D Expensive (expandability like RAM is expensive) Integrated 10Gb EXT4 FileSystem (Not Modern)
Simple GUI/Toolset NVR Application is beta
Expandability (m.2 and 16 Drives) Availability (Low to no stock for 16GB version)
128GB RAM support
SSD/M.2 Cache and SSD/M.2 Tiering


Synology
PROS CONS
Fast Xeon D Low memory due to motherboard placement (48GB MAX)
Cheaper by about $150 Only 12 Drive Bays total, no M.2
More Availability No integrated 10Gb have to buy 10Gb NIC separately
Tried and True OS No SSD Tiering
Simple GUI/Toolset NVR Application does not support latest Browsers (IE11)
SSD Cache
Modern Filessytem Support BTRFS..etc

Feel free to chime in here. I want to pull the trigger before the weekend, if possible. That 48GB RAM is really a shame for the Synology seeing as how the Xeon D platform supports 128GB RAM. That's really making me lean towards QNAP, though the Software is making me lean towards Synology plus all the folks that love theirs as well.

 

[MiniKnight]

You're kindof a "power user" so I think you can get by with QNAP easily and use the better features.

Or you decide it's just backup and basics and leave as-is.

 

[T_Minus]

While I haven't used any higher end QNAP I did own ~$900 Synolgoy for a couple years and it was awesome!
With that said, before I went DIY route I was looking at the QNAP units myself! More power, more expandable and some say more stable.

For #2 video surveillance I had a bunch of cheap cameras that ate up CPU and went to Ubiquiti cameras that the camera handles it, now the camera storage is JUST storage no "cam software" to process the incoming streams then record, maybe keep that in mind if you're planning on using it for more than just the actual file storage and are considering the built-in video processing synology uses.

 

[capn_pineapple]

I have both a qnap and a synology. Support for the synology is way better, as is the community. The QNAP is an absolute pig of a device (mine's an older one which has hit EOL this year).

That said, for what you're doing, both will do fine. I'd personally go with the synology just because the user experience and support.

 

[William]

I drool over both, but the QNAP TS-1685 takes the cake, would love one.

I do agree with capn_pineapple about the user interface and support.

 

[msvirtualguy]

I didn't see the support model, QNAP's 2 years vs Synology 5. That could be the nail in the coffin cause i'd hate to buy a $3k NAS after two years something happens, it's useless. I'm gonna sleep on it. Thanks for the input fellas.

 

[William]

Well I meant user and Synology support if you have questions/problems.

Good point on warranty tho.

 

[i386]

If you need more than 12 drives and don't mind more noise look at the rackmount nas from qnap & synnology, some newer models even support (open)zfs.

 

[msvirtualguy]

Well I meant user and Synology support if you have questions/problems.

Good point on warranty tho.

I know..just saw that warranty as well though. WTF. 2 years on a $3000 NAS? Really?

If you need more than 12 drives and don't mind more noise look at the rackmount nas from qnap & synnology, some newer models even support (open)zfs.

Moving away from Rackmount gear at this point. Minimizing footprint/noise is key now.

 

[msvirtualguy]

I stand corrected, it's actually a 5yr Warranty on the TS-1685 as it's considered Enterprise. Hmmm...leaning towards that now. Now I have to find one in stock.

 

[Patrick]

Having used both brands, I would say either will likely be fine.

I used Synology for years and we had a QNAP in the lab for some time as well.

If the QNAP has a better warranty, and it has more expandability, I may go with that.

If you decided that you wanted to save some money now in the hope of getting another NAS in a few years, then I think you will like the Synology.

I will note that you tend to regularly cycle gear.

 

[msvirtualguy]

I will note that you tend to regularly cycle gear.

Hey now!!!!...It is true..but to give you an idea, the NAS I have now was the original EMC PX4-300d which i've had for years even though I had FreeNAS along the way, the PX4 was always there for some function or another.

I think it will be the QNAP, just having issues finding stock.

 

[Peanuthead]

I would hand tight for a moment and see what drops in the next 30 days. Synology keeps releasing one here and there. Although this year they seem to have release the enterprise stuff first. At the price of a DS36XX you can get two DS1817+.

 

[John Burns]

If you're not opposed to used rackmount, I have a 12 bay qnap ts-1279u rp that I've decided to sell in the coming week. I bought it used and it works fine, just slightly to loud for me. It's also populated with 10 4tb seagate enterprise drives and 2 intel ssd as cache.

TS-1279U-RP :: QNAP

 

[msvirtualguy]

If you're not opposed to used rackmount, I have a 12 bay qnap ts-1279u rp that I've decided to sell in the coming week. I bought it used and it works fine, just slightly to loud for me.

Hi, thanks for the offer but rackmount and loud is out.

 

[msvirtualguy]

Ok..ordered the TS-1685-D1521-32G-US from Newegg..cheapest I could find with no tax and free 2-3 day shipping in stock.



The plan is to start with the 32GB RAM then expand over time when ECC RDIMM DDR4 memory get's to prices within reasonable sanity levels.

I have 6 x 4TB Seagate NAS Drives to start. I'll be phasing them out with 10TB Iron Wolfs over time as well. For Caching, i'm going to use 2 x Intel S3700s 200GB in a Mirror. For SSD Tiering, i'll be leveraging 4 x Samsung 853 DC 480 SSDs. And for NVR storage, i'll have 4 x 1TB Seagate 2.5" SSD/HDD Hybrids in a RAID5. I think that will be a good start. Hopefully, have enough RAM to run at least one VM for now for Domain/DNS services so I can remove the physical NUC that's running Domain/DNS services now..and a migration to Windows Server 2016 as well.

I'll keep the PX4-300d for backups until I choose a cloud service that suits my needs and Spectrum gets off their asses and upgrades my Internet that they been promising for a year to get my upload beyond the measly 6Mb they are providing.

@Patrick, if you want to use this for review before I put in production, please let me know. I'm game and in no hurry really.

 

[Netwerkz101]

+1 for the underdog!!
Looking forward to your findings on this unit!

 

[William]

So the TS1635 has an ARM Cortex-A15 Quad Core 1.7GHz.
Is that one going to be a dog performance wise ?
I was looking at this one.
Amazon.com: Qnap TS-1635-8G-US Cost-Effective, High-Capacity Quad-Core 16-Bay Business NAS: Electronics

There is even a used one for $1,093.50.

I would most likely never do all the heavy duty stuff you would use you for.

 

[msvirtualguy]

@William I stayed away from the TS-1635 for various reasons, performance was one, I will be running encryption so that was important and the ARM get's crushed in that scenario, a lot of the apps aren't compatible, etc.

On another note, the TS-1685 arrived. Gonna do an unboxing video after work and post it to my channel. Not going to set it up until @Patrick let's me know he wants a formal review of this bad boy.

Plus I still have file cleanup, especially my music, duplicates...garbage etc from current NAS that needs to continue.

 

[T_Minus]

That thing is a seriously awesome NAS

Let us know the sound levels, heat coming out, power usage, etc please