Synology NAS (which model?)

[sulliweb]

So, I have a Drobo FS, had it for a few years now, and it's been running fine. I'm contemplating a move to a Synology NAS. No real reason other than it'll be time for an upgrade in a year or so and I've heard good things on here about them.

What model is recommended? I've got a 5-bay Drobo, and with the collection I have, I think I want to stick with a 5-bay NAS.

Anyone have something they'd recommend?

Thanks!

 

[Panch0]

All of the Synology devices run the same software, so it's really just a matter of how many bays you need.

Note that to get the same type of redundancy the Drobo is giving you, you will need to set up real RAID sets on a synology. That means that you'll want to have a set of matching drives, not just whatever you have lying around as you can use in a Drobo.

 

[smashie]

All of the Synology devices run the same software, so it's really just a matter of how many bays you need.

Note that to get the same type of redundancy the Drobo is giving you, you will need to set up real RAID sets on a synology. That means that you'll want to have a set of matching drives, not just whatever you have lying around as you can use in a Drobo.

I aslo have a Drobo which has 2 2TB drives inside. I have also been tempted

to upgrade to a Synology device but would i have to buy 2 more 2TB drives

or could i use the drives that i already use with the Drobo.

 

[Panch0]

you could use the drives you have. Actually ignore my last post about RAID. Synology has a relatively new feature called Synology Hybrid Drive which seems similar to Drobo's BeyondRAID.

See features here: http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS411slim&lang=us

In a 'real' RAID system, you generally want all of the drives to be a identical as possible (manufacture, size, model, firmware, etc...).

Drobo uses software to allow you to mix and match drives however you like. This is easy and convenient for the user, but it incurs a performance hit - this is why Drobos (Drobi?) are generally considered slow.

Looks like Synology has implemented a similar software layer to allow easy mix & match of drives as an option. Personally, I'll stick to manual set-up of matching drives...

 

[smashie]

you could use the drives you have. Actually ignore my last post about RAID. Synology has a relatively new feature called Synology Hybrid Drive which seems similar to Drobo's BeyondRAID.

See features here: http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS411slim&lang=us

In a 'real' RAID system, you generally want all of the drives to be a identical as possible (manufacture, size, model, firmware, etc...).

Drobo uses software to allow you to mix and match drives however you like. This is easy and convenient for the user, but it incurs a performance hit - this is why Drobos (Drobi?) are generally considered slow.

Looks like Synology has implemented a similar software layer to allow easy mix & match of drives as an option. Personally, I'll stick to manual set-up of matching drives...

Thanks, thats great, would i need to move the data off them and format them

before mounting them in the synology or could i leave all the data where it is

and just transfer them straight into the new device?

 

[Giuly]

All of the Synology devices run the same software, so it's really just a matter of how many bays you need.

Note that to get the same type of redundancy the Drobo is giving you, you will need to set up real RAID sets on a synology. That means that you'll want to have a set of matching drives, not just whatever you have lying around as you can use in a Drobo.

Yes, but the difference is in the hardware: CPU speed and RAM, which directly influence the transmission speed of the data. For 4-bay NAS', that looks something like this:
DS413j: 1.6GHz Single-Core, 512MB RAM. Upload 53MB/s, Download 108MB/s.

DS413: 1.06GHz Dual-Core, 1GB RAM. Upload 80MB/s, Download 111MB/s.

DS412+: 2.13GHz Dual-Core, 1GB RAM. Upload 109MB/s, Download 112MB/s; With link aggregation: Upload 182MB/s, Download 205MB/s.

But not that it would matter, because Synology only has one 5-bay NAS, and that's what was asked for: The DS1512+ (Yes, it's as fast or faster than the DS412+).

 

[maxosx]

After just over six years of completely reliable service from a Synology unit, I just upgraded to a DS 413. If this one is as reliable as the last I'll be very happy.


http://www.synology.com/products/spec.php?product_name=DS413&lang=us#p_submenu

 

[pmcdunnough]

So, I have a Drobo FS, had it for a few years now, and it's been running fine. I'm contemplating a move to a Synology NAS. No real reason other than it'll be time for an upgrade in a year or so and I've heard good things on here about them.

What model is recommended? I've got a 5-bay Drobo, and with the collection I have, I think I want to stick with a 5-bay NAS.

Anyone have something they'd recommend?

Thanks!

I had a Drobo FS. Worked fine. Moved about 6 months ago to a Synology 1512+ and later bought the matching DX510 esata expansion. I couldn't be happier having gone that route. Like Drobo the hardware feels like quality hardware. The NAS is way faster than the Drobo of course, and it works great with our mixed Mac/Windows/iDevice network. The Synology has a flexible Raid option which allows you to mix drives though it's not as easy as the Drobo approach which is very neat.

The expansion unit allows for automated backup of the main unit over esata. It's very fast, reliable and sits nicely on the main DS1512+. The combination is very quiet even with 10 drives!

I would certainly recommend the DS1512+ unit.

Philip

 

[robzr]

If you have a Mac thats always running, I'd strongly recommend considering DAS like a Promise Pegasus R4 or R6. The speed difference compared to a NAS is massive, even for network clients. AFPd on Linux is pretty weak, and there is something to be said about natively using HFS+. Using it to host TimeMachine backups would require a $20 purchase of OS X Server.

I haven't used Synology but I've used QNaps and I think the AFP sharing and Time Machine serving is (or at least was last time I tinkered with it about a year ago) pretty messy, it didn't make me pleased to rely on it.

Rob

 

[sulliweb]

Thanks for the advice. I've looked at the DS1512+, but there were some horror stories of the blinking blue light of death. Those seemed to be from a year or two ago, and even then, it was hard to tell in reviews how widespread a problem it was.