Mac Pro and NAS

[Mac Husky]

Asking in a Synology-Forum you get recommendations for Synology and in a QNAP-Community there are supporters for QNAP-NAS - of course. That´s why I wan´t to ask for it here.

Going fo a NAS the next time I am thinking about a Synology DS409+ (http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS409+/index.php) vs a QNAP TS-439 Pro (http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=110).

What kind of experiences do you guys have in general with Synology and/or QNAP connected to a Mac and maybe even in special with the mentioned candidates abough.

Appreciative for every input you can give to help deciding between the two of them.

[jessica.]

I cannot help you on the drives as I use a Buffalo station NAS. It's purely a NAS and not being used as a RAID setup. I find it to be just great. It auto-connects once any of my Macs are woken up, it takes about 30 seconds to actually mount. It's pretty fast and useful.

Bottom line is you don't really need to care so much about the brand of the box it's the hard drives inside you want to pay attention to.

[nasabaer]

Sorry - wrong... you HAVE to take care of the "Box" you purchase.
With the wrong you may only get abour 20mb/sec Read/Write.

If you got your hands on the right one (i have a qnap 239Pro) you get about
50mb/sec. writing and about 70-80mb / sec while reading data.

thats a huge difference if you have to move a few gigabytes :D

nearly all today availiable 500 giga to 1terrabyte hard drives are much faster than the nas box itself could send/receive.

[OllyW]

Take a look at SmallNetBuilder (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/85/93/).

There's loads of NAS tests and guides and a good forum.

And nasabaer is right, the NAS box has a greater influence on performance than the drives inside (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/29936/79/).

[kasimodem]

Going fo a NAS the next time I am thinking about a Synology DS409+ (http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS409+/index.php) vs a QNAP TS-439 Pro (http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=110).

I had a Synology 407 and the RAID5 crashed after 3 monthes, I don't mean the product is bad, maybe I had a bad hard drive model, just it crashed, no luck. I tried to get help, but Synology is localised in Taiwan so the only solution was to send them my box at my charge with no garantee of success in restoring my datas, which I didn't.
I tried some basic solutions they gave me by mail but no luck, data were lost.
The morale is that the product seems good but far from perfect, and trying to get help from the other side of the world is really difficult. I'll try QNAP next time.

Other thing I noticed, the Mac computers are really quiet machines (even the Mac Pro), but such NAS make an awful noise when you work near it, and watching a movie or television with such noise is really anoying.

That's why I wait for the upcoming 2.5" models which will be available this summer from Synology and QNAP.

[jessica.]

That is real interesting. Considering the source where I learned about using a NAS box instead of a standard HDD ... I am surprised. I learn something new everyday. Thanks.

[Mac Husky]

Other thing I noticed, the Mac computers are really quiet machines (even the Mac Pro), but such NAS make an awful noise when you work near it, and watching a movie or television with such noise is really anoying.
Never would place the NAS into my working area or the TV, of course.
It´s planned to be positioned into the cellar.

nearly all today availiable 500 giga to 1terrabyte hard drives are much faster than the nas box itself could send/receive.
Right. I planned to put WD Caviar Greens into the NAS.
Or the new Samsung EcoGreen F2 (http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/productmodel.do?group=72&type=61&subtype=78&model_cd=441&ppmi=1170). Not sure yet.
The Synology NAS e.g. works best with the WD (hibernation problems with different others). I have no data for the Samsung so far.

[Tesselator]

I listened that there's free NAS software so if you have an old PC sitting around that has 4 bays then your NAS box is free and the PC+Free Soft solution is very fast. You might need a el'cheap-o $85 LCD for maintenance is all - besides the storage drives I mean. :)



Heck, you could even play Quake III Arena on it while it wasn't too busy serving files... :D

[Tesselator]

... oops double post...

[Flash SWT]

Check out the Netgear ReadyNAS line as well: www.readynas.com

.

[nanofrog]

If anyone's interested in higher throughputs and the ability to DIY, you might want to consider AoE (ATA over Ethernet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATA_over_Ethernet)) or even iSCSI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISCSI).

There are also ready made solutions as well, though they can get expensive.

[mpshay]

How complicated would it be to use iSCSI to connect a DROBO Pro to a 2009 Mac Pro? Is it as easy as plugging in the CAT 6 cable to the 2nd ethernet port on the Mac Pro?

[dacreativeguy]

A guy at work bought one of these for his Mini and is really happy.

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-SS4200E-Storage-Retrospect-Software/dp/B00113U42O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1245341042&sr=8-2

[thepawn]

Asking in a Synology-Forum you get recommendations for Synology and in a QNAP-Community there are supporters for QNAP-NAS - of course. That´s why I wan´t to ask for it here.

Going fo a NAS the next time I am thinking about a Synology DS409+ (http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS409+/index.php) vs a QNAP TS-439 Pro (http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=110).

What kind of experiences do you guys have in general with Synology and/or QNAP connected to a Mac and maybe even in special with the mentioned candidates abough.

Appreciative for every input you can give to help deciding between the two of them.

You have pretty much listed the best two on the market right now for RAID performance. I've been wondering the same myself as I decide on one of those vs a JBOD raid connected to my Mac Pro and just leaving it on all the time.

My research, the Synology interface "looked prettier", but QNAP seems to have more of a support community.

[avaloncourt]

Check out the Netgear ReadyNAS line as well: www.readynas.com


This is what I have and it works great. I'm very glad I purchased this particular NAS.

[Mac Husky]

My research, the Synology interface "looked prettier", but QNAP seems to have more of a support community.
There is a new Web Interface coming (or already there?) for the QNAP.
In Germany there is a very good Community for Synology as well (klick for examples (http://www.synology.com/enu/community/index.php)).

We had a big test of NAS´ in a german paper this month.
Both are tested and have very good references.
Both are the leading and best tested NAS´ so far.
And both are to expensive :D

[stormtroopar]

This is what I have and it works great. I'm very glad I purchased this particular NAS.

I am using one of this too, with Mac and PC together. With the latest firmware update, the ReadyNas works Great with Time Machine! Overall works really well and fast.

[Mac Husky]

I am using one of this too, with Mac and PC together. With the latest firmware update, the ReadyNas works Great with Time Machine! Overall works really well and fast.
Take care using Time Machine with a NAS.
Crashes have been reported with loosing all data on the NAS.

It works well for a couple of week/months and suddenly
the HHDs are not recognized anymore. No way to be solved so far.

[stormtroopar]

Take care using Time Machine with a NAS.
Crashes have been reported with loosing all data on the NAS.

It works well for a couple of week/months and suddenly
the HHDs are not recognized anymore. No way to be solved so far.

Wow, really? that sounds scary... Is this with all NAS or just the readyNas?

Do people see this issue also with Time capsule as well? I have used it for 2 - 3 months and so far so good, works pretty great... So if what you are saying is true, is Time machine a reliable way for backup storage?

Thanks.

[Mac Husky]

I will look for the report tomorrow again.
I think it was told for NAS in general.
And only for NAS.

Time Machine works well with internal and external HDDs so far.

[thepawn]

Wow, really? that sounds scary... Is this with all NAS or just the readyNas?

Do people see this issue also with Time capsule as well? I have used it for 2 - 3 months and so far so good, works pretty great... So if what you are saying is true, is Time machine a reliable way for backup storage?

Thanks.

My folks Time Capsule has been running without issues for months...my brother's as well. ( I told them to get it to keep backups simple )

[Mac Husky]

I did not find the original article concerning problems with time machine and NAS. It was printed in the paper "Macwelt" in 2009. They mentioned, that Time Machine is sometimes a little bit difficult to set up using a NAS for a backup, but working well. But they warned that sudden announcements of failure have occured in the past. No medium was found any longer. Backup vanished. No way to get it back. So one should not feel to secure with a Time Machine backup on a NAS.