Best/Most Compatible NAS for a Mac setup?

[zhenya]

With respect to hard disks, which ones would you recommend?
Would it be better to use 7200rpm or would 5400rpm drives suffice?

If noise is an issue, definitely go for 5400rpm, and even better - do some reviews of what are currently the quietest drives available. There are huge differences between different drives, so this is worth doing. Google 'Silent PC' and you will find forums devoted to just this topic. Is it not possible, since this device will be on the network, to put it somewhere more out of the way? That is one of the great advantages of a NAS.

Why not build your own NAS? This approach is a bit more work to start with, but in the end you will get a very powerful server for less $$.

I went to my local computer recycle place and bagged a high-end(for its time) Pentium 4 workstation with 2gigs of ram for $0.

Then I got a couple of 2TB HDDs for ~$80 each. Installed Windows Home Server. I don't remember if I needed a windows PC to set it up. I just hooked up a regular monitor and keyboard to it.

Its been running rock solid for over 4 months now. I access it from my MBP, my Windows HTPC and my windows Laptop, over both wired and wireless connections. It can easily handle multiple 1080P streams with no trouble. Absolutely no problems so far. You don't really need to manage it much after initial setup. But you can do so very easily on a mac.

I also set it up as a print server. I installed utorrent for downloading. I even setup a live transcoding/streaming Airvideo server on it, so I can watch my movies on my iPad or iPhone. Mind you, this is being transcoded live!

For just $160, it was a very sweet deal for a 4TB WHS.

A couple of years ago I would have agreed with you - but nowadays, for most people who just need a basic file server without a tremendous amount of storage - it's not worth the effort. Setup is a bit of a hassle. That P4 SUCKS power, so for a device that is on 24/7, you will send all of your savings over the next couple of years to the power company. I think you forgot to add the $120 or so that a WHS license runs, so you've just narrowed the gap between a home built unit and an off-the shelf one with a warranty all the further...

 

[Chic0]

If noise is an issue, definitely go for 5400rpm, and even better - do some reviews of what are currently the quietest drives available. There are huge differences between different drives, so this is worth doing. Google 'Silent PC' and you will find forums devoted to just this topic. Is it not possible, since this device will be on the network, to put it somewhere more out of the way? That is one of the great advantages of a NAS.

I'm a bit limited when it comes to where i can place NAS. I live in an aprtment. My phone line socket is just behind my AV stand. This means my modem and AEBS sit on floor beneath my stand.

As the NAS will be connected to router via ethernet, I am fairly limited as to where i Can put it. I'd rather not have it on show around AV equipment, so I am thinking of getting a long enough ethernet and placing it in corner of room behind dining table.

I also have a mezzanine level too, so I think eventually, I would like to stick it up there. I'd need a really long ethernet cable for that though

Thanks for the Silent PC site. I've had a look. Actually quite shocked that there's an actual site for something like that to be honest, but very helpful nonetheless.

I was eyeing up the Samsung EcoGreen F4EG 2TB anyway, but wasn't 100% sure. After reading their review, I'll definitely be going for it now. It is the most power efficient of the 2TB drives and the noise emission is spot on too.

Update : Decided i'm going to go for the imminent DS211 release. According to smallnetbuilder forum, it will be released on 15th Nov. I'll put my order in for beginning Dec.

Cheers for the info guys!

 

[SidBala]

A couple of years ago I would have agreed with you - but nowadays, for most people who just need a basic file server without a tremendous amount of storage - it's not worth the effort. Setup is a bit of a hassle. That P4 SUCKS power, so for a device that is on 24/7, you will send all of your savings over the next couple of years to the power company. I think you forgot to add the $120 or so that a WHS license runs, so you've just narrowed the gap between a home built unit and an off-the shelf one with a warranty all the further...

I guess you are right. Main reason why I built is because I wanted to build one myself. And I already had a Windows Home Server license lying around. So that didn't cost me anything.

 

[Chic0]

Quick question.
Just having a look on Dabs.com and it appears there are two variants of the Synology DS211...........the DS211 and DS211J

When comparing the specs, the only difference I can see is the amount of RAM...... 128mb (DS211) vs 256mb (DS211J). There is also an extra USB port on the DS211, but I don't think I'll miss that.

http://www.dabs.com/Product/Compare?CompareList=77BS,77BV&CategoryId=11272&q=synology ds211

My question is do you think I would be able to really notice the performance of the cheaper DS211J? My main use of this NAS for now will be streaming movies to PS3/Macs and backups.

Will the DS211J be able to stream movies properly without stuttering etc? I know this probably kinda depends on what drives I use, but any info would be great.

The DS211J is £70 less than the DS211.

Thanks

 

[zhenya]

Quick question.
Just having a look on Dabs.com and it appears there are two variants of the Synology DS211...........the DS211 and DS211J

When comparing the specs, the only difference I can see is the amount of RAM...... 128mb (DS211) vs 256mb (DS211J). There is also an extra USB port on the DS211, but I don't think I'll miss that.

http://www.dabs.com/Product/Compare?CompareList=77BS,77BV&CategoryId=11272&q=synology ds211

My question is do you think I would be able to really notice the performance of the cheaper DS211J? My main use of this NAS for now will be streaming movies to PS3/Macs and backups.

Will the DS211J be able to stream movies properly without stuttering etc? I know this probably kinda depends on what drives I use, but any info would be great.

The DS211J is £70 less than the DS211.

Thanks

You should be able to look around and find reviews of both models with results from transfer speed tests. In general, the more advanced models with more RAM and better processors will have much faster transfer speeds - at least on the models that use RAID 5 - I'm not sure if that holds up with the 2-bay models.

Either way, they should be able to stream movies no problem - even a slow drive transfers at 20-30 MegaBytes per second - even extremely high bitrate movies are no more than 50 Megabits per second - which is about 6 MegaBytes/sec. (This is, of course, assuming you are connected by Ethernet - preferably gigabit - otherwise you are going to be limited by the capacity of your wireless connection).

 

[Chic0]

You should be able to look around and find reviews of both models with results from transfer speed tests. In general, the more advanced models with more RAM and better processors will have much faster transfer speeds - at least on the models that use RAID 5 - I'm not sure if that holds up with the 2-bay models.

Either way, they should be able to stream movies no problem - even a slow drive transfers at 20-30 MegaBytes per second - even extremely high bitrate movies are no more than 50 Megabits per second - which is about 6 MegaBytes/sec. (This is, of course, assuming you are connected by Ethernet - preferably gigabit - otherwise you are going to be limited by the capacity of your wireless connection).

Yes I will be connecting the NAS to AEBS by Ethernet. I think it is Gigabit connection.

 

[danny_w]

I haven't looked at the specs for the 211 vs. 211j but I would think they are the same as 210 vs. 210j. The "j" in the model number is the home or economy version of the NAS with less ram and a slightly slower processor. The transfer rate of the 210 is considerably faster than that of the 210j, but for home use with only a few connections you will most likely never notice the difference, which is why I went with the cheaper "j" model. I have had no issues with streaming that I can attribute to the NAS, and file copies are fast enough for my use. YMMV of course.

 

[Chic0]

I haven't looked at the specs for the 211 vs. 211j but I would think they are the same as 210 vs. 210j. The "j" in the model number is the home or economy version of the NAS with less ram and a slightly slower processor. The transfer rate of the 210 is considerably faster than that of the 210j, but for home use with only a few connections you will most likely never notice the difference, which is why I went with the cheaper "j" model. I have had no issues with streaming that I can attribute to the NAS, and file copies are fast enough for my use. YMMV of course.

Thanks for the info.
Yep the 211J is definitely the one for me.
Just been reading up about the Disk Station manager software. Can't wait to get my hands on this bit of kit.

 

[andogrando]

I'm kind of in the same situation, and I'm leaning towards Windows Home Server. I do have a couple of questions although..
Will TimeMachine backup to WHS without too much hassle? This would have been nice! I also wonder if I can connect the WHS server to a PPTP VPN-connection.

Was considering FreeNAS, but figured it had way too small VPN-compability.

Thanks!

 

[Chic0]

Just placed my order at Dabs.

1 x Synology DS211J
2 x Samsung EcoGreen F4EG 2TB

Dabs are just waiting for stock of the NAS, so hopefully I shouldn’t have to wait too long.

1. Just a question about disk formatting. I will be using the NAS for data storage, streaming to Mac+PS3 and also Time Machine backups. Have you guys formatted drive with MacOS Journaled as I think TimeMachine can only see MacOS Journaled drives, but I’m not sure.

2. This might be a stupid question, in fact it probably is, but will my missus’ Windows 7 netbook be able to access the content too even if the disk is formatted as MacOS Journaled?

3. For the RAID setup, does it just do this automatically once I insert the second drive or will I have to set this up during first time configuration?

 

[zhenya]

Just placed my order at Dabs.

1 x Synology DS211J
2 x Samsung EcoGreen F4EG 2TB

Dabs are just waiting for stock of the NAS, so hopefully I shouldn’t have to wait too long.

1. Just a question about disk formatting. I will be using the NAS for data storage, streaming to Mac+PS3 and also Time Machine backups. Have you guys formatted drive with MacOS Journaled as I think TimeMachine can only see MacOS Journaled drives, but I’m not sure.

2. This might be a stupid question, in fact it probably is, but will my missus’ Windows 7 netbook be able to access the content too even if the disk is formatted as MacOS Journaled?

3. For the RAID setup, does it just do this automatically once I insert the second drive or will I have to set this up during first time configuration?

Congrats man! Hope you enjoy it. I am currently trying to restrain myself from ordering the DS411+ I'd like to replace my old home-built NAS with.

It sounds like the current methods to backup Time Machine to a Synology device are to either create a user account with a quota (some people report having problems with this) or to create an iSCSI volume that is 'plugged into' by the Mac(s) backing up. This has a couple of advantages - 1) it is a native format that Time Machine likes. 2) The volume is a defined size so that Time Machine can't use all available space - yet the iSCSI volume can be dynamically enlarged in the future if necessary. 3) You can use whatever file system you like for the NAS as a whole (probably EXT3?)

Since the file sharing is handled by SAMBA, any client can access the device, regardless of the format of the NAS drive.

I would imagine part of the Synology setup is to determine how you want to use the drives - probably choosing from either RAID 1 or RAID 0.

 

[Chic0]

Congrats man! Hope you enjoy it. I am currently trying to restrain myself from ordering the DS411+ I'd like to replace my old home-built NAS with.

It sounds like the current methods to backup Time Machine to a Synology device are to either create a user account with a quota (some people report having problems with this) or to create an iSCSI volume that is 'plugged into' by the Mac(s) backing up. This has a couple of advantages - 1) it is a native format that Time Machine likes. 2) The volume is a defined size so that Time Machine can't use all available space - yet the iSCSI volume can be dynamically enlarged in the future if necessary. 3) You can use whatever file system you like for the NAS as a whole (probably EXT3?)

Since the file sharing is handled by SAMBA, any client can access the device, regardless of the format of the NAS drive.

I would imagine part of the Synology setup is to determine how you want to use the drives - probably choosing from either RAID 1 or RAID 0.

I had never heard of ISCSI, EXT3 or SAMBA before. Wikipedia just enlightened me though.

ISCSI sounds just about right for time machine backups though.

Just read the specs for the 411+ and it's an absolute beast!
If you need it, get it bought!

 

[danny_w]

I had never heard of ISCSI, EXT3 or SAMBA before. Wikipedia just enlightened me though.

ISCSI sounds just about right for time machine backups though.

Just read the specs for the 411+ and it's an absolute beast!
If you need it, get it bought!

It has been a while since I setup my DS210j but as I recall Synology has a Time Machine setup in the software that configures it to automatically work with Time Machine and makes the NAS (actually a "special" volume on the NAS) automatically show up as a TM target under Mac OSX. Let the NAS format the disks itself, which will be EXT3 format. All translations are done by the NAS.

 

[Chic0]

It has been a while since I setup my DS210j but as I recall Synology has a Time Machine setup in the software that configures it to automatically work with Time Machine and makes the NAS (actually a "special" volume on the NAS) automatically show up as a TM target under Mac OSX. Let the NAS format the disks itself, which will be EXT3 format. All translations are done by the NAS.

cool. Even better
Yeah do remember seeing something about Time Machine on their website and that you select it from drop down list. Didn't realise it does the rest for you though, so that's great!

Really looking forward to getting this now. I was hoping to get it by this weekend as I have time to set it up. If not, it will be a few weeks before I'm home and get chance to do it. Oh well.....

 

[Bye Bye Baby]

Can really recommend the Drobo. Great at streaming, even if its file transfer is not the snappiest as it has to move the data around a lot.

But streaming 1080p content is fine.

 

[ansetou]

Guys, i'm trying to pull the trigger on this too. since I'm not that tech savvy, let me try to confirm what I read so far.

My Goals:
1. Have RAID 1 protection on all files.
2. Dedicated TimeMachine space (expandable)
3. Shared storage for both Mac and PC access (music, video, docs)

Setup:
Hardware: Synology Inc. DS211j
Access: Ethernet

Questions:
Disk setup: Looks like DS211j has built-in support for TimeMachine. But how does it share the same disks for other OS access? can someone please give me an idea of how the disks are partitioned and formatted? I know FAT32 is common between MS and Apple but it has a size limitation of 4GB. So what format should I use for video storage?

Can I restore my entire Macbook Air from a TimeMachine backup on this device.
Given that I only have 100BaseT ethernet, does faster hard disk give me any significant improvement in performance. What's the optimal RPM I should pick, 4200/5400/7200/10000. Ultimately, what kind of throughput each HD can give me.

Thanks.

 

[jhkaplan]

Guys, i'm trying to pull the trigger on this too. since I'm not that tech savvy, let me try to confirm what I read so far.

My Goals:
1. Have RAID 1 protection on all files.
2. Dedicated TimeMachine space (expandable)
3. Shared storage for both Mac and PC access (music, video, docs)

Setup:
Hardware: Synology Inc. DS211j
Access: Ethernet

Questions:
Disk setup: Looks like DS211j has built-in support for TimeMachine. But how does it share the same disks for other OS access? can someone please give me an idea of how the disks are partitioned and formatted? I know FAT32 is common between MS and Apple but it has a size limitation of 4GB. So what format should I use for video storage?

Can I restore my entire Macbook Air from a TimeMachine backup on this device.
Given that I only have 100BaseT ethernet, does faster hard disk give me any significant improvement in performance. What's the optimal RPM I should pick, 4200/5400/7200/10000. Ultimately, what kind of throughput each HD can give me.

Thanks.

Bumping for you. I'm looking at the DS211j now and would like to know all of this.

 

[toro1966]

Can this be configured in a mac? What I mean is that when I looked at all of the reviews for the item, they show a Windows configuration utility. Can I put the setup disk in a mac and configure it from there or is windows required? Thanks!

 

[danny_w]

Can this be configured in a mac? What I mean is that when I looked at all of the reviews for the item, they show a Windows configuration utility. Can I put the setup disk in a mac and configure it from there or is windows required? Thanks!

I have a Synology DS210j and yes it does come with a Mac utility on the disc that will find the NAS and allow you to connect to it. After that all configuration is done via a browser window.

 

[kojach]

2tb Drive Compatibility

+1 for the Netgear NV+

Bought it and immediately put x4 2TB drives in it. Extremely happy with how is performs. F

Which drives did you put into it?

I have a NV+ but have been hesitant to purchase drives, either since they're too pricey, or not on the compatibility list.

I was looking at 2Tb Samsung Spinpoint F4's (HD204UI).

Called NetGear and they said the drives are compatible, but can potentially hang/freeze - why I'm assuming they aren't on the Compatibility List.

Had bad experiences with Hitachi (laptop) drives, and don't hear great things about WD Green or Seagate drives either, so...

Where do I go from here?

Also I want to try best as I can to not buy a drive that I cannot just plug into the ReadyNAS and have it just work without needing to install some ridiculous Windows emulators in order to upgrade drive firmware.

Any ideas?

 

[ActionableMango]

can someone please give me an idea of how the disks are partitioned and formatted? I know FAT32 is common between MS and Apple but it has a size limitation of 4GB. So what format should I use for video storage?

Internal drives can only be formatted by the device to EXT3.
http://www.synology.com/support/faq_show.php?q_id=309&lang=enu

 

[nightfly13]

Does the DS211j stream video to Apple TV 2?

I'm still researching this question, but it seems like 'iTunes Server' is basically for serving audio - although the throughput is there for video, but I guess Apple TV 2 wants a 'real' iTunes server (ie. a PC or Mac) not a NAS? This will probably decide whether I buy this NAS or not. Input appreciated.

 

[zhenya]

I'm still researching this question, but it seems like 'iTunes Server' is basically for serving audio - although the throughput is there for video, but I guess Apple TV 2 wants a 'real' iTunes server (ie. a PC or Mac) not a NAS? This will probably decide whether I buy this NAS or not. Input appreciated.

I don't use an iTunes server, but I can tell you that using a NAS with iTunes works fine. iTunes doesn't care where you store your media - or even whether it is all stored in the same place. For example, my music library is stored on my iMac, but all video content is stored on my NAS. The AppleTV doesn't know the difference.

 

[bluap84]

This is meant to be a good one:

click meeeee

 

[thermopyle]

I don't use an iTunes server, but I can tell you that using a NAS with iTunes works fine. iTunes doesn't care where you store your media - or even whether it is all stored in the same place. For example, my music library is stored on my iMac, but all video content is stored on my NAS. The AppleTV doesn't know the difference.

You misunderstood what he was asking. He was asking if the iTunes server in a NAS that comes with it can serve video files natively, which it cannot. Sure, if you have a computer turned on you can point the iTunes application on that computer to using the files on the NAS, but you DO need the computer. You can't use the ATV2 to watch videos by pointing it directly at the NAS unless you've jailbroken the ATV2 and are using XMBC.

Basically the iTunes server of a NAS is for audio only. There has not yet been a NAS iTunes server developed that will serve video independently.