Can somebody pls help me determining if that is a good nas to buy and if that configuration is what I need for home server, photos etc
I am also intending to update the RAM to the maximum 32 GB as I believe that would help.
Any help appreciated.
I like Synology. I like their mgmt software. I don’t have this model. What you propose is a real “beast”. Add in the costs for all the disks you need, quite an investment. Ensure you purchase disks which are approved by Synology–see their website.
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Ok awesome thats what I am going for. Is that storage on the above unit good?
I’m pretty sure “storage”, e.g. disks, do not come with the purchase price. However, I don’t know. You should read the specs carefully. And whatever disks you buy, make sure they are specific models approved by Synology.
I have a four-bay with 4TB disks each. Running RAID5.
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My French is abysmal but the phrase that sticks out to me from the screen shot is “sans disque”.
I think it depends on what you’re after. You’ve said home server - what information are you serving? If it’s just files, then you may not need to upgrade the RAM a lot.
I have the DS224+ - a two bay device. I’ve upgraded the RAM with a 4GB stick for a total of 6GB.
It runs Plex to serve videos and a couple of Docker containers - the largest/most intensive one being Paperless-ngx, which acts as OCR and a database of PDF files. It also runs file sharing and acts as my always on Resilo Sync node. It does all that fine without hassle.
In fairness, I’ve only got a 1TB and 2TB SSD, with 5TB external drive attached, so it’s not using RAID or other more complicated file systems but this is sufficient for me.
How much data do you have and how much is it likely to grow? This will effect your sizing and how many drives you may require. This will be one of the main factors at play as to whether this is suitable.#
In terms of Synology itself, they’re reasonable - however, when this one is due an upgrade, I’m not sure I’ll go Synology again - other brands, like QNAP, are making some devices which I think would benefit me more - specifically ones that support 2.5GB ethernet, though I’m debating just making my own server, rather than off the shelf next time.
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Long time Synology user here. If you are new to Synology, the YouTube channels SpaceRex and WunderTech are very helpful. Both do reviews and tutorials.
The 1821+ is considered a great model and the one to get for a home user who wants 8 drives. The problem is Synology leaked the 1825+ 3 months ago. That said, it still has not shown up. It was on their website briefly and then it disappeared. (The last 2 digits are the year, so the 1821 is 4 years old almost.)
The 1821+ does not require Synology drives, that is usually their rack based models that do. They do have a list of recommended drives, but any of the big brands drives will work. I use Seagates Ironwolf drives. Some people say you don’t need to use NAS drives, but these things are spinning 24/7, so I figure it’s a safe choice. (I have my NAS set to sleep, but it never does, I have no idea what keeps it awake in the middle of the night). That said NAS drives are loud, so you will want to put the thing in a closet or out of the way.
The Synology NAS have great software, but the more I get into it, the more I learn that the CPU’s are their weak point. If you are going to get into a lot of HomeLab stuff, they might not be the best choice. I wanted to run a Roon server on it, but the hardware needed is well above what most Synology devices use.
Depending what you do, 32GB might be overkill too. On the other hand, if you get into running Docker packages, then it won’t be enough. My 423+ only has 6GB and it’s fine for a file server, which is what mine is mainly used for. Synlogy Drive is by far the prime use of mine.
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I only bought my 423+ a year ago and I love the software on it, but I often think about going with something else. Jason Snell uses a Mac Mini with an OWC RAID bay as a file server. Since BackBlaze will back up external drives, but not a NAS, it will back up his whole system. Backing up the DiskStation is probably my biggest concern. I back up 1TB of the important stuff with Synology C2, but to back up the whole thing would be too expensive for me (but I don’t really need backups of Time Machine files, so it’s not a huge issue). I love the idea of doing this in my head, but running an SMB file server from a Mac to my Windows PCs will not work as smoothly as Synology Drive does.
Ubiquiti just released their NAS and while the hardware is nothing special and their software is really basic, I do love my Unifi stuff and I would be able to have a NAS working under their services. Maybe once the software gets better.
QNAP’s software seems to be the rough spot for me. Their hardware is far better though.
If Synolgy updates there 423+ to a model with more memory and a 2.5 GbE port, I would probably just stick with them though. The 1 GB ethernet on the consumer level Synology NAS’s is a bit ridiculous at this point.
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I forgot (until I just went to update my Synology) why I was looking at moving away from Synology - to be greeted by this screen.
I think this shouldn’t effect my wife, as she uses the Photos app for viewing photos but I’m not 100% sure and I don’t want to lose Wife Approval Factor!
Video below covers what you need to know. IIRC, correctly it’s a non issue because your phone creates the thumbnails before it is uploads. I upgraded, but never looked to see if anything changed (edit: just checked, iPhone shots are all backedup and displaying as normal).
Only if you use their app from what I can see and I don’t - I use Photosync to upload. However, there is a helpdesk article that seems to suggest that there’s a setting in the iOS Photos app that will allow it to view the files fine on iOS still and as that’s all my wife uses, I should be fine.
I didn’t watch that video, but I saw this video from him which clears everything up.
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Synology is awesome.
Do you really need this big of a unit?
If so leave on drive unused as a “hot swap”
Do get a 2.5 or 10GB card!!!
And upgrade your switch to at least 2.5GB and use a usb c dongle with the higher speed.
I don’t do that because from my understanding the hot swap drive is stilling spinning, so you’re putting added wear a drive that isn’t being used. Unless 2 drives suddenly fail in my current setup, I figure I have time to get a replacement.
No it’s stationary.
But if you can reach the NAS easily to replace a failed drive you don’t need it.
For me it’s a crucial feature since installs are far away.
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