Well from my other post we have a few people on each side. Guess I'll run a poll and see what wins. Whatever wins by the end of the week that is what I guess I will buy. I'm looking for a NAS to store my media on to stream to a HTPC. Right now it seems like i'm in the area of 1TB and i'm unclear as to how fast that would fill up.
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Synology, Drobo, TC, other?
- Thread starter Rocco83
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I've got a DroboPro (8x2TB), DroboS (5x2TB), and a 2nd gen FW800 (4x2TB). Aside from a few idiotic moves by me moving them while they were transferring data making them spend a day or two rebuilding their library, I've had no issues.
I voted for the DS411J. I just purchased it and it should arrive on wednesday according to UPS....
I am going out of my mind. I have done a ton of research and still cannot come to a conclusion as to which storage solution I want. I have completely decided against the Synology, But I am now stuck between the Drobo, a Qnap TS-219P+, and actually the 3TB TC. I figure for the price of the Drobo or Qnap I would still be coming in priced lower if I stepped up to the 3TB TC. That would also mean I could cut out the price of an extra router..
Don't get the the 3tb TC why would you pay 200$ for an extra tb? You could get the 2tb tc and an external drive for cheaper. Also why did you decide to look away from synology?
Yes I am going to go with the 2TB and an external. I went away from Synology because the deeper I dig I find more and more negatives over the positives so I am going to look at Drobo and Qnap down the road when I have the money for something much bigger.
I've been reading up on both devices for 4+ hours each day, I know the horror stories of both as well as the praises. I'm no longer looking at Synology though.
The Drobo you listed is Direct Attached isn't it? Seem out of place with the others.
I have a Drobo - the 2nd gen I think, just after FW800 was added. I had problems with it when I had it hanging of off a Time Capsule via USB and was trying to encode directly to it from HandBrake from two computers at once. Kept overdriving the USB and dropping the Drobo, which is a pretty ugly failure. Now I use it as my backup device Direct connect via FW800. It's been running fine in that capacity for a couple of years now. It would be fine for streaming media, just not so good as a scratch disk.
I now have a Synology NAS, which I really like, but since I'm heavily invested in iTunes, I don't think a NAS is really the best option for me. I'm not really able to take advantage of all of the NAS features, since I need a computer running iTunes anyway. Maybe I'll start using those features for things outside of media sharing.
I look at the Time Capsule as a backup target, not as a NAS. You can use it as network storage, but is it really good at that? I don't think so, but YMMV...
Direct Attached storage is simpler and less expensive than NAS. You can still create a share from the DAS through the OS if you need to be able to access the same media from multiple computers.
From you post, I can't figure out your priorities. The advantage of Drobo is that it removes all of the complexity of RAID - if you have a SATA drive, you can plug it in and the Drobo will figure out how to make the best use of it. NAS devices add complexity and features. If you just want to make a network share available, a NAS device like a Synology or QNAP is much more than you need. Maybe you should be looking at DROBO vs. other external Direct Attached RAID enclosures instead.
I'm not voting as I have all 3 of the devices you listed but I don't think ANY of them are perfect solutions. The one I *want* to work is the Synology, but it has complexity that I haven't found the energy to resolve yet.
I have a Drobo - the 2nd gen I think, just after FW800 was added. I had problems with it when I had it hanging of off a Time Capsule via USB and was trying to encode directly to it from HandBrake from two computers at once. Kept overdriving the USB and dropping the Drobo, which is a pretty ugly failure. Now I use it as my backup device Direct connect via FW800. It's been running fine in that capacity for a couple of years now. It would be fine for streaming media, just not so good as a scratch disk.
I now have a Synology NAS, which I really like, but since I'm heavily invested in iTunes, I don't think a NAS is really the best option for me. I'm not really able to take advantage of all of the NAS features, since I need a computer running iTunes anyway. Maybe I'll start using those features for things outside of media sharing.
I look at the Time Capsule as a backup target, not as a NAS. You can use it as network storage, but is it really good at that? I don't think so, but YMMV...
Direct Attached storage is simpler and less expensive than NAS. You can still create a share from the DAS through the OS if you need to be able to access the same media from multiple computers.
From you post, I can't figure out your priorities. The advantage of Drobo is that it removes all of the complexity of RAID - if you have a SATA drive, you can plug it in and the Drobo will figure out how to make the best use of it. NAS devices add complexity and features. If you just want to make a network share available, a NAS device like a Synology or QNAP is much more than you need. Maybe you should be looking at DROBO vs. other external Direct Attached RAID enclosures instead.
I'm not voting as I have all 3 of the devices you listed but I don't think ANY of them are perfect solutions. The one I *want* to work is the Synology, but it has complexity that I haven't found the energy to resolve yet.
The Drobo 2nd Gen via FW800 for me. Hasn't skipped a beat in 3 years, though the sleep feature is a pain sometimes. Just upgraded two drives from 1.5Tb to 2Tb each, and though it took next to forever to assimilate them, its a happy camper again. Will upgrade the last 2 1.5Tb drives to 3Tb drives once the firmware fix is out to support 3Tb drives.
What made you decide against Synology? Im interested as I have one already, had it for a few years now and its never failed me once, plus it gives huge support for things like itunes, media server (which i use with my aptv2 - seemless), remote downloads, streaming to iphone/ipad etc...
Griff
Synology is hard to beat
I am not sure where your negative impression of Synology comes from, but their reputation is among the best and I can only confirm this. The reviews I have read were all excellent. In fact, I am so much satisfied with my Syno NAS and their service that I've been considering moving up the Synology NAS range. In terms of bug fixes and reliability, they even beat Apple, sometimes by a wide margin. And no, I don't work for them.
Similarly to what you have read about Synology, I have yet to read anything positive about Drobo. All reviews I have come across lament the sub-par performance for a particular price point, which is why I never gave them a chance. I have tried the low-end 2-disk Dlinks and Netgears and returned them after a few days due to slow albeit seemingly normal performance for that particular price range. All this was part of the reason why I decided to spend a little more on a more powerful NAS with faster CPU and write/read rates, and indeed, speeds are now 2x - 3x from what I got before -- using an out-of-the-box configuration.
My Synology DS410 (4-disk) runs 24/7 and is absolutely reliable, but this really is the minimum requirement for any NAS. What makes Synology truly great -- and I think most fellow users would agree with that -- is the constant evolution of its operating system. It's the only product I own that keeps getting more and more functions added to it -- for free. Its operating system (Disk Station Manager) is updated regularly. Check out the DSM page on their website. A few weeks back, they added VPN Server capabilities, so I can run my own VPN without having to run my Macs 24/7. Of course, it supports iTunes (and if I remember correctly they are working on an implementation of Airplay), Time Machine (worked perfectly out-of-the-box under SL and they are now working on an update for Lion due to Apple's changes in protocols). I also use its Squeezeserver software. There's more.
Don't loose too much time over the hardware side of things -- there's not much magic happening there and I don't see much difference across manufacturers. Pick your CPU/speed and price point. But take time studying the NAS operating system, and what you get for your money. This is where the difference is.
I am not sure where your negative impression of Synology comes from, but their reputation is among the best and I can only confirm this. The reviews I have read were all excellent. In fact, I am so much satisfied with my Syno NAS and their service that I've been considering moving up the Synology NAS range. In terms of bug fixes and reliability, they even beat Apple, sometimes by a wide margin. And no, I don't work for them.
Similarly to what you have read about Synology, I have yet to read anything positive about Drobo. All reviews I have come across lament the sub-par performance for a particular price point, which is why I never gave them a chance. I have tried the low-end 2-disk Dlinks and Netgears and returned them after a few days due to slow albeit seemingly normal performance for that particular price range. All this was part of the reason why I decided to spend a little more on a more powerful NAS with faster CPU and write/read rates, and indeed, speeds are now 2x - 3x from what I got before -- using an out-of-the-box configuration.
My Synology DS410 (4-disk) runs 24/7 and is absolutely reliable, but this really is the minimum requirement for any NAS. What makes Synology truly great -- and I think most fellow users would agree with that -- is the constant evolution of its operating system. It's the only product I own that keeps getting more and more functions added to it -- for free. Its operating system (Disk Station Manager) is updated regularly. Check out the DSM page on their website. A few weeks back, they added VPN Server capabilities, so I can run my own VPN without having to run my Macs 24/7. Of course, it supports iTunes (and if I remember correctly they are working on an implementation of Airplay), Time Machine (worked perfectly out-of-the-box under SL and they are now working on an update for Lion due to Apple's changes in protocols). I also use its Squeezeserver software. There's more.
Don't loose too much time over the hardware side of things -- there's not much magic happening there and I don't see much difference across manufacturers. Pick your CPU/speed and price point. But take time studying the NAS operating system, and what you get for your money. This is where the difference is.
I read reviews from many different sites and I found more negative than positive about Synology. That does not mean that the people writing the reviews knew how to properly use the NAS and it was not what they wanted. The NAS could work perfectly like you said, but that is not the overwhelming response I have read from the reviews.
The Synology is loaded with features yes. Features I care to have? Not at all. I would not mind the iTunes server, but I can get that on about anything else. Outside of the iTunes server and Time Machine backup I simply need something to store my movies and songs. Which I have for under half the price. I'm going to start shopping for my next storage system soon and hopefully will have a ceiling of $1000 for that so maybe a bigger Synology will be able to do it for me, we shall see.
How long have you had this? Any issues, ie hot drives, noisy? Emailed OWC awhile back about this unit. I didn't care for raid and was told they were building another for JBOD setup. Still hasn't happened. Do you know if your disks spin down from the energy setting? Any issues waking up?
My aTV2 is wired to my network and I use xbmc to stream media from my NAS using SMB sources.
I have a Drobo S attached by firewire to my Mac Mini sitting under my TV. To be honest, I think that it is the best setup because, as far as I can tell, the ultimate ease of use can't be duplicated with another setup.
The Mac Mini is a home server running Plex, so it shares all my media with the rest of the house (and my iPhones via the interwebs). An added benefit of having a computer at home is that I can do all my downloading remotely using sabnzbd+. Everything is automated so that it automatically shows up in Plex.
From what I gather, you can retain the same functionality using a Synology NAS and a jailbroken AppleTV. The problem is that the AppleTV is not guaranteed to play high bitrate files, and the NAS may not have enough computing power to transcode on the fly if that happens. Moreover, Plex is in it's infancy on Synology NAS' as well as on the AppleTV. Bugs are somewhat commonplace, I've read. You don't have to use Plex, XBMC on the AppleTV is supposedly pretty decent, but then you don't have the benefits of a Plex media server.
My Mac Mini + Drobo has been rock solid at displaying any and all of my media to any source I have.
The Mac Mini is a home server running Plex, so it shares all my media with the rest of the house (and my iPhones via the interwebs). An added benefit of having a computer at home is that I can do all my downloading remotely using sabnzbd+. Everything is automated so that it automatically shows up in Plex.
From what I gather, you can retain the same functionality using a Synology NAS and a jailbroken AppleTV. The problem is that the AppleTV is not guaranteed to play high bitrate files, and the NAS may not have enough computing power to transcode on the fly if that happens. Moreover, Plex is in it's infancy on Synology NAS' as well as on the AppleTV. Bugs are somewhat commonplace, I've read. You don't have to use Plex, XBMC on the AppleTV is supposedly pretty decent, but then you don't have the benefits of a Plex media server.
My Mac Mini + Drobo has been rock solid at displaying any and all of my media to any source I have.
This topic is something I've been keeping in the back of my head for the last year. Some of you guys are saying the Drobo is fast, but the Ars Technica article I read claims the opposite, that the author experienced and read about the Drobo being slow. What evidence do you guys have to support the Drobo being fast? Is it fast with just reading files?
Look at the Part 2 link below, on page 2, in paragraph 3 to see where he states that the Drobo is, "incredibly slow." I'm posting links to both Parts of the article for anyone interested.
The Drobo FS in-depth, Part 1: what it is, how it works
The Drobo FS in-depth, Part 2: day-to-day use
Look at the Part 2 link below, on page 2, in paragraph 3 to see where he states that the Drobo is, "incredibly slow." I'm posting links to both Parts of the article for anyone interested.
The Drobo FS in-depth, Part 1: what it is, how it works
The Drobo FS in-depth, Part 2: day-to-day use
Much of what I read also said the speeds were slow, but the people I spoke to said it would be fine for a media storage solution. The speed is what initially turned me off. I am still completely unsure as to which will be my next storage solution. I actually have a few others to look at now.
I own a Drobo 2nd gen firewire, a DroboPro, and a Synology 1511+ with DX510. I think they're ok. I don't know if I could recommend one over the other.
Drobo biggest cons
noisy
slow
noisy
fs decay (eventually DW won't be able to fix filesystem till you empty and reformat)
noisy
when you lose data, you LOSE data
Synology biggest cons
no BeyondRAID
have to create a finite iSCSI partition if you want anything resembling an external drive vs NAS drive (for Trash Can and Backblaze, etc)
no BeyondRAID
no BeyondRAID
no BeyondRAID
Drobo biggest cons
noisy
slow
noisy
fs decay (eventually DW won't be able to fix filesystem till you empty and reformat)
noisy
when you lose data, you LOSE data
Synology biggest cons
no BeyondRAID
have to create a finite iSCSI partition if you want anything resembling an external drive vs NAS drive (for Trash Can and Backblaze, etc)
no BeyondRAID
no BeyondRAID
no BeyondRAID