Author Topic: NAS Recommendations? (Read 71735 times)

Renegade · « **on:** October 06, 2011, 03:43 AM »

Can anyone recommend any cheap NAS?

I don't care about features. I only want lots of space. Storage. Nothing more. RAID is good.

It only needs to be able to be accessible via Windows Explorer and OS X Finder. Just normal, plain Jane, vanilla storage.

Min. 8 TB or 4 TB with expansion options. Doesn't matter much. I don't need more than 12 TB though. 8 TB is lots for now.

steeladept · « **Reply #1 on:** October 06, 2011, 05:22 AM »

From what I hear, the Synology offerings are pretty good. Your requirements seem pretty basic, so most any *should* work for you as long as they are a decent brand. From personal experience though? Go elsewhere - never used/setup a NAS myself.

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #2 on:** October 06, 2011, 05:27 AM »

ReadyNAS RND4000

Renegade · « **Reply #3 on:** October 06, 2011, 05:37 AM »

@steeladept - Thanks. I was looking at them, and they seemed pretty good from what I saw.

@lotusrootstarch - Thanks. That was the one that I was looking to buy. I didn't see any Synology NAS available locally, and that one seemed decently priced compared to many others. Have you used it or can I ask why you recommend it?

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #4 on:** October 06, 2011, 05:47 AM »

I recommend it because it's cheap ($299).

I have 4 of these at home (8TB each, WD Green 2TB x 4) in addition to the my original 4 TeraStation Pro IIs (8TB each), and use them heavily on daily basis.

I run RAID 0 on all NAS and I can tell you that for me price is the only difference that makes...

4wd · « **Reply #5 on:** October 06, 2011, 06:17 AM »

I didn't see any Synology NAS available locally, ....
-Renegade (October 06, 2011, 05:37 AM)

Repeat after me: "I must remember to try StaticIce before I type these things."

UMart - 16kms straight down the freeway.

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #6 on:** October 06, 2011, 06:21 AM »

Repeat after me: "I must remember to try StaticIce before I type these things."

UMart - 16kms straight down the freeway.

-4wd (October 06, 2011, 06:17 AM)

Hehe, I'm not sure his current location is in .AU.

Edit: however he's location on member map suggests that he's 10km away from where I live!

4wd · « **Reply #7 on:** October 06, 2011, 06:29 AM »

Hehe, I'm not sure his current location is in .AU.
-lotusrootstarch (October 06, 2011, 06:21 AM)

You're right, I did assume he was still in Toorak....still, no excuse for not checking StaticIce

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #8 on:** October 06, 2011, 06:34 AM »

* lotusrootstarch catches tram route 8 from St. Kilda to kick some butt in Toorak.

4wd · « **Reply #9 on:** October 06, 2011, 06:39 AM »

* 4wd uses humungous trebuchet to kick butt in Toorak from Mt Dandenong. (Saves fuel.)

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #10 on:** October 06, 2011, 06:52 AM »

FYI: I got my READNAS'es from MSY: http://www.msy.com.au/

Renegade · « **Reply #11 on:** October 06, 2011, 08:29 AM »

FYI: I got my READNAS'es from MSY: http://www.msy.com.au/
-lotusrootstarch (October 06, 2011, 06:52 AM)

That's the thing -- I pretty much do all of my tech shopping there. If it's not at MSY, it doesn't exist for me. I've just been shocked beyond belief at the utterly insane prices of things at other stores that I've seen. Take MSY's price, and double it or more sometimes. I needed some RAM last week... sheesh... I just about s**t my droors when I compared Dick Smith's prices to MSY.

I really don't know many stores around either. Everyone I've talked to says MSY is the best by far. (Just reporting -- I really don't know.)

Is anything else worth looking at?

As for StaticIce -- first I've heard of it. I'll have a look... but I don't know any of the stores, and I'm hesitant to buy anything online here.

e.g. If I buy a book in Australia, I might get it in a few weeks (2 to 8 from what I've seen), or I can buy from the US, and get the book in a few days!?! (This has significantly scared me off from attempting to buy anything online domestically.)

I've had horrible experiences with the postal system here as well (well, postal systems in general -- good with couriers like FedEx and DHL though), again making me somewhat gun shy to risk a $300+ piece of electronic equipment that I'd like to use immediately... Going into a retail store is just far more comforting. e.g. Malvern MSY, or maybe Clayton MSY if Malvern is out of stock.

Is Umart only online? Are the locations they list retail stores as well, or just warehouses? Seems like they have a pickup policy, but... -- Normally I would skip over a site like that -- It looks like I did the design work for it. That was an insult.

I only ever took MSY seriously because I had several personal recommendations for it from people that I trust. (Their site design is even worse than I could possibly do.) Really bad sites just scare me off...

Anyways -- Personal recommendations from people here for good places to shop at either in retail or online domestically?

Edit:

I'd just stepped out and was reading some news on my phone... Speak of the devil:

http://m.smh.com.au/...-20111005-1l9lg.html

The issue of companies jacking up prices in Australia has been raised in Federal Parliament in recent months, and in August the Productivity Commission inquiry into the retail industry identified significant price discrepancies between Australia and overseas as a key driver for consumers shopping on overseas websites.

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #12 on:** October 06, 2011, 09:59 AM »

MSY are not retail stores in any traditional sense, instead they are warehouse outlets with limited and intermittently available customer advising/consulting. It's an outrage to pay twice the amount at more popular tech stores for the reason that they offer essentially the same product and level of service. I will not buy at one of these stores unless it passes four levels of price comparisons:

1. International eBay
2. Domestic eBay
3. Reputable non-eBay online shopping sites (such as COTD, TopBuy, CrazySales, etc.)
4. MSY or the stores next to MSY.

I don't remember the last time I bought anything from Dick Smith, JB-HiFi, or any similar tech retail stores.

In this case I suggest that you just ring MSY up to check and reserve stock and pick them up. Last weekend I checked every piece of info available to me before finally deciding to empty MSY's 4-bay NAS stock at Mitcham branch.

For a brand-new ReadyNAS RV+ RND4000, MSY could have charged you somewhere like $340 and have it still appear as the best option on the market.

40hz · « **Reply #13 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:00 AM »

How about Tonido?

I've done a few of these for small clients who want to set up a quick project collaboration server and they fit the bill quite nicely. Price is right too!

It's more than you're looking for, but you do get remote access (plus a whole lot more) as part of the deal. And if you spring for their inexpensive and optional TonidoPlug as your server it's green too!

Note: They have new "plug" (Tonido2) coming out soon and it looks like the old one is no longer being offered so you may have to wait (or shop around) if you want one.

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #14 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:04 AM »

Tonido is not a NAS...

40hz · « **Reply #15 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:08 AM »

^It provides NAS functionalities. Plug any USB drive (or drive bay) into the USB and you're on your way. And you can also mount the Tonido hosted drive on another machine if you want to.

Renegade · « **Reply #16 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:19 AM »

Hmmm... Tonido...

I have a few old boxes stashed away that I *could* stick drives into, but I just don't want to draw 350 W or 400 W or 450 W or whatever when I can draw 30 or 50 W. It's a power issue there... I'm already drawing a sick amount of power...

Would it be worth it to set up an old box? I have a 3.2 GHz single core box stuffed away that might not be too bad...

I'm not really much of a hardware guy there.

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #17 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:23 AM »

No... a NAS like RND4000 is solidly built, compact and designed to run 24/7 reliably and (power) efficiently, whereas for your old boxes, no matter how much efforts you spend on them, will be neither.

Renegade · « **Reply #18 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:26 AM »

No... a NAS like RND4000 is solidly built, compact and designed to run 24/7 reliably and (power) efficiently, whereas for your old boxes, no matter how much efforts you spend on them, will be neither.
-lotusrootstarch (October 06, 2011, 10:23 AM)

Yeah... I didn't think so. I think I'm pretty much sold on the RND4000 there.

Hey... Aren't you up kind of late?

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #19 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:28 AM »

Yeah, well I don't expect myself doing any actual work tomorrow (TGIF!) so doesnt matter.

40hz · « **Reply #20 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:30 AM »

@Ren- Dont really need to be "super up" on hardware anymore.

Most of what's out there is good stuff. So all that remains is getting a solution you can work with. FWIW I'm currently in favor of using 2.5" laptop-type drives for small personal servers. They're really rugged since they're designed to be moved around and they use a lot less power. take them out if a cramped laptop case and their thermal characteristics also improve drastically. There's some manufacturers (forget which and can't do a search since I'm at a client site) that have put together some really sweet multibay swappable enclosures for these little guys.

And +1 about power too. My electric bill really is obscene too. Getting my e-footprint smaller is a big priority for me next year.

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #21 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:34 AM »

^2.5" drives are currently too costly per GB and most NAS appliances are not designed to load these drives, but hey they are much "greener" for sure.

40hz · « **Reply #22 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:45 AM »

^Guess it depends on where you are. I just bought a 1TB (not on sale) for $99 USD. Maybe not as cheap as the big drives. But not really all that much more expensive in total dollars either. I'd also rather have two or three smaller drives right now than one of those 3TB monsters for no other reason than not wanting too much kept in one basket. Even with RAID or good backups. at least not until some real-world long-term reliability stats become available.

Renegade · « **Reply #23 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:51 AM »

^2.5" drives are currently too costly per GB and most NAS appliances are not designed to load these drives, but hey they are much "greener" for sure.
-lotusrootstarch (October 06, 2011, 10:34 AM)

That's what I was thinking. 3.5" drives are still far better value. For the power issue... not too sure... It needs to be measured on a TB basis.

lotusrootstarch · « **Reply #24 on:** October 06, 2011, 10:54 AM »

4 x 2TB 3.5" seems to the most cost-efficient configuration IMHO. RND4000 will not support 3TB drives atm.

NAS = $299
HDDs = 4 * $82 = $328

There you go a complete NAS for AUD $627.

And don't forget to get an 8-port Gigabit switch there if you don't have one already. TP-Link one sells for $44.