Which Synology NAS to Buy

[AppleDApp]

I currently have just over 1tb of data. I want to get a Synology NAS to store all my media (pictures, videos, music) I also want to use the synology NAS to backup 2 macs (future iMac and current MBP) with time machine.

I also currently have three 2tb drives and I could probably get two more 1 tb drives.

Price is not a concern for the moment.

I like the the expandability of DS1511+ and the DS712+ and they should both offer enough storage for the next few years.


So my options are:

Get the DS712+ and the expansion unit to have the DS712 + full and two of the 5 slots used on the expansion unit.

Get the DS1511+ and put all my drives in, if ever I need more I'll get the expansion unit.

Any suggestions?

 

[Macman45]

I used to use Synology stuff, and it's good. I've since reverted to a 3TB TC, but still have the NAS stuff.

I think I'd buy the enclosure as you need it....Seem to have plenty of slack there now.

I'm backing up 3 macs to the 3 TB TC...Also use an external HDD for stuff That's doubly critical.

 

[AppleDApp]

I used to use Synology stuff, and it's good. I've since reverted to a 3TB TC, but still have the NAS stuff.

I think I'd buy the enclosure as you need it....Seem to have plenty of slack there now.

I'm backing up 3 macs to the 3 TB TC...Also use an external HDD for stuff That's doubly critical.

What are you suggesting?

 

[Macman45]

This....


Get the DS712+ and the expansion unit to have the DS712 + full and two of the 5 slots used on the expansion unit.


I doubt you will need more, even with three macs....those parse files are quite small....I do a lot of video work, have an extensive phot library, but three TB is going to last me a while.

 

[nydennis]

The DS411+II is also a good option with 4 bays in it. You can add an expansion unit as well. I have the DS411+ and couldn't be happier with it.

Update- I did some research and while when I bought my DS411+ Synology claimed that an Expansion would work they are now not promising it will work for some while working for others. If this is the case I would skip DS411 if you are looking for expansions. The DS411+ originally said it was compatible with the DX5 expansion unit.

 

[monsieurpaul]

What I would do if I were you:

- DS712+ with 2 x 2 To. Each physical disk in "basic" configuration with at least 1 volume for your data and 2 volumes dedicated to Time Machine (one for each of your Mac).

- External enclosure (USB or eSATA) with 1 x 2 To +/- 2 x 1 To for back up.

 

[AppleDApp]

This....


Get the DS712+ and the expansion unit to have the DS712 + full and two of the 5 slots used on the expansion unit.


I doubt you will need more, even with three macs....those parse files are quite small....I do a lot of video work, have an extensive phot library, but three TB is going to last me a while.

I'm leaning towards that right now.

What I would do if I were you:

- DS712+ with 2 x 2 To. Each physical disk in "basic" configuration with at least 1 volume for your data and 2 volumes dedicated to Time Machine (one for each of your Mac).

- External enclosure (USB or eSATA) with 1 x 2 To +/- 2 x 1 To for back up.

Why one drive for each mac? both my macs have 500gb drives at this moment it seems like it would be a waste of two 2tb drives. can't I backup both macs on a single 1tb or 2tb drive?

 

[Ifti]

I use a DS1511+ with 5x2TB drives in RAID5, which gives me just over 7TB space. It's worked perfect with my MacBook Pro and all my iDevices. I can also stream movies from it on not only my Apple equipment, but on the 360 and PS3 etc, as well as XBMC on the ATV2.
Can't recommend it enough. Never missed a beat.

Take a look at my YouTube channel (link in sig) as I've put up a number of videos on the Synology DS1511+, not just in regards to the hardware, but also looking at software, adding external eSATA drives, backing up rhe NAS, and so on.

 

[monsieurpaul]

Why one drive for each mac? both my macs have 500gb drives at this moment it seems like it would be a waste of two 2tb drives. can't I backup both macs on a single 1tb or 2tb drive?

It's not a drive, it's a volume. A drive is a physical thing (the Hard drive per se), a volume is a "virtual" allocation of storage space.

I can create several volumes on the same drive. For example, on one of a my 2 To Drive, I created a 500 GB Volume (for Time Machine) and a 1500 GB for others things. This way I know my Time Machine back up won't grow bigger than 500 Gb (I could do it another way, by creating an user limited to Time Machine and allocating a quota).

On the other hand, a volume can be bigger than a drive. Using a JBOD or RAID 0 configuration with my 2 drives I could create a unique volume of 4 To. The problem is that if one of the disk fails, I lose all the volume.

And that's an important point: RAID IS NOT FOR BACK UP.

RAID gives you drive redundancy (just one drive in this kind of setup) = if one of your drive fails, you can replace it without rebuilding the whole file system for all the others drive, but:
- If the NAS fails, you lose your data;
- If you get a virus or a corrupt file system, you lose your data;
- If you mistakenly erase some folders, you lose your data.

Of course, RAID is not bad, and RAID with back up is better than no RAID with back up, but if you can't have both (Drives are pretty expensive right now) you should choose back up over RAID.

 

[AppleDApp]

And that's an important point: RAID IS NOT FOR BACK UP.

RAID gives you drive redundancy (just one drive in this kind of setup) = if one of your drive fails, you can replace it without rebuilding the whole file system for all the others drive, but:
- If the NAS fails, you lose your data;
- If you get a virus or a corrupt file system, you lose your data;
- If you mistakenly erase some folders, you lose your data.

Of course, RAID is not bad, and RAID with back up is better than no RAID with back up, but if you can't have both (Drives are pretty expensive right now) you should choose back up over RAID.

So I'm thinking of doing this

1tb volume for the two macs about 3tb for media and the last drive set for backup. Would this work?

 

[monsieurpaul]

So I'm thinking of doing this

1tb volume for the two macs about 3tb for media and the last drive set for backup. Would this work?

Yes, definitely. You can create just one volume for TM and have 2 TM back ups on it. However I don't know how the 2 TM back ups will react when your volume will be full.

In addition, if you want a 3 To volume you'll have to configure your NAS with the 2 drives from the beginning. that may be a problem if some of your drives have already a lot of data.

One of the reasons I used Basic configuration is that I have been able to setup my NAS one drive at a time: put Drive 1 in NAS, format it, copy data from Drive 2 to Drive 1, put Drive 2 in NAS and format it.

 

[AppleDApp]

Yes, definitely. You can create just one volume for TM and have 2 TM back ups on it. However I don't know how the 2 TM back ups will react when your volume will be full.

Well it should just ask me to delete older backups that's what happen with my current external drive.

In addition, if you want a 3 To volume you'll have to configure your NAS with the 2 drives from the beginning. that may be a problem if some of your drives have already a lot of data.

All my data is currently stored on another external drive and my MBP itself.

So two 2tb drives are ready to be formatted the other I already use for TM but can be reformatted.

One of the reasons I used Basic configuration is that I have been able to setup my NAS one drive at a time: put Drive 1 in NAS, format it, copy data from Drive 2 to Drive 1, put Drive 2 in NAS and format it.

I don't think I'll need this in my case.

EDIT: purchasing the DS712+ and the DX510 expansion unit costs 991.37$ +tax
whereas the DS1511+ is 799$+ tax it just seems right to get the DS1511+.