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Synology -> which one to buy?
- Thread starter vladgrig
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Just for regular use .. Stream photo watch listen movies/music, backups. Budget is up to 400 but can go up if really necessary . Need a good transfer speed, stable.
Thank u
I use a DS212j and it's fine for home use. A DS213 is also an excellent choice. Little difference except for speed.
I also use a DS212j 2-Bay NAS Server for home use. The 3TB drives are configured in a redundant RAID configuration which nicely provides disk error tolerance. It has plenty of speed for a home network of a half dozen machines, especially if its wireless.
If you want to do time machine backups, a Time Capsule (or a AEBS with USB drive) is much easier to set up and less error prone in the hands of an amateur.
If you want to do time machine backups, a Time Capsule (or a AEBS with USB drive) is much easier to set up and less error prone in the hands of an amateur.
FYI a new Synology DSM update came out today, among the fixes they improved the compatibility of file sharing via SMB/CIFS with Mac computers.
If you need a large amount of storage, get the DS413j. The DS413 and DS412+ are well above your budget, especially if you consider one additional hard drive.
If you're OK with up to 6-8TB, get the DS212j. The DS213 is not only faster as stated before, but also has shock-absorbing mounts for the hard drives, so it's more quiet as well. Not to mention that it looks better, too.
These will be sufficient for streaming videos and backing up. The + models would be overkill for your purposes.
As far as hard drives go, WD Red NAS-grade hard drives will be fine.
If you're OK with up to 6-8TB, get the DS212j. The DS213 is not only faster as stated before, but also has shock-absorbing mounts for the hard drives, so it's more quiet as well. Not to mention that it looks better, too.
These will be sufficient for streaming videos and backing up. The + models would be overkill for your purposes.
As far as hard drives go, WD Red NAS-grade hard drives will be fine.
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I have the air. I caught it on an Amazon deal for $199. The amount of different tasks you can do with these things make them a great product. The air is nice as you can use it as your router or join an existing network and make it a hot spot. I haven't messed with the wireless much, but I have setup web services, FTP, plex server, iTunes server, etc.
j is the budget variant, + is the pro variant. For home use, the j-models are absolutely sufficient. The upper models improve on the writing speed, but reading off the NAS is pretty much the same for the complete lineup.Thanks a lot !
I am confused wich one to buy.. I can afford 413 as well... decisions decisions decisions ....
What does +/j mean ?
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I was planning to get one. But then I built my own NAS with a Zino HD and 3TB hard drive. It's awesome and cheap. Time machine works great too.
I have the 413 and it rocks. It appeared to me that the problem with a simple two-drive solution is that you only get half the storage. Getting a 413 with four WD Red 3Tb drives gives me 9Gb storage with Raid 5, and it seems fine so far. Seriously quick, surprising number of interesting tricks you can play with it. Even if you're only going to load it with a couple of drives to start with, you have somewhere you can go.
To answer your earlier question first, the j variants tend to have non x86 processors which can limit you in the types of things you can do.
And to answer this question, the 413 does support plex but no transcoding so your videos will probably not play on your iphone.
Not with Plex. Plex on the iphone/ipad needs to transcode (convert) the media because of limited codec support (and the synology NAS doesn't transcode, unless you get to the $1000+ models)
There is no plex app for the apple TV at all.
However if you get an app such as Goodplayer, you can view almost any codec on your iphone/ipad. You dont even need plex, you can simply use the DLNA server synology offers. But the media will not be available remotely over the internet (plex can do this).
For the apple TV, you need to have a second generation device that is jailbroken to install apps that have the proper codecs. I use XBMC and it plays anything from my Synology through the synology DLNA server or even through the SMB share.
I know this is probably much more confusing than it should be and I apologize.
For your needs i recommend the ds213.
The DS212j supports the synology video station package (I'm sure they all do). Synology gives away a video player app (DS Video) for both iPad and iPhone (perhaps others) that works well. So you load your videos on the NAS, have the video station app index them, view with the iPad and airplay to the apple TV. Many here use it this way, there may be better more elegant ways, but video station and DS Video works well enough. As with all video servers, the hard part is categorizing and organizing you videos (I have about 200 clips and episodes), but you just select each video and categorize it.. and done.
I believe the DS212j media server and/or video station may do some transcode, but all my videos are QT or iTunes compatible, so I dunno and can't offer comment.
I believe the DS212j media server and/or video station may do some transcode, but all my videos are QT or iTunes compatible, so I dunno and can't offer comment.
Thank u!
Will call customer support to verify info about transcode and Plex.
Is it posible to check this info on official site? I tried but cud miss it.
The more I read the more I sm confused. Do I need unit with transcode? If yes, with what transcode number 1 or 2 for regular use to be able to watch movies?
Will call customer support to verify info about transcode and Plex.
Is it posible to check this info on official site? I tried but cud miss it.
The more I read the more I sm confused. Do I need unit with transcode? If yes, with what transcode number 1 or 2 for regular use to be able to watch movies?
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My honest advice would be to wait!
The new 2013 models are just around the corner. In fact they have been provided to journalists and reviewers to begin reviewing etc already! I have been offered the new units, but Ive just been too busy to review them at the moment!
Give it another month and you'll see the new units, with upgraded CPUs and features etc
The new 2013 models are just around the corner. In fact they have been provided to journalists and reviewers to begin reviewing etc already! I have been offered the new units, but Ive just been too busy to review them at the moment!
Give it another month and you'll see the new units, with upgraded CPUs and features etc