Help choosing Synology NAS and internal disks

[blaven]

I am Trying to set up a NAS. I have about 1TB of music and video right now, but will have more in the future.

 

I currently have minimal video content, and don't intend to purchase too much stuff anyway - I am more of a rent and watch once kind of guy.

 

I intend, in the future, to have a dedicated component to act as a media server such as a NAIM, CAPS, Linn etc. For now I will use my MacBook Pro and Pure Music.

 

I only have so much money to spend, and figure it might be better to spend any extra money on the DAC, but also want some sense of future-proofing for the NAS, as it is an expensive investment.

 

So, with that being said:

 

I am looking at a Synology 213+ with 2 2TB WD Green internal drives.

 

 

1. I am wondering if should choose something with more processing power--Synology 713+? Or is that overkill for my needs??
   
2. Is the 413+ better (would give me more future storage, and more processing power, but costs more than the aforementioned 713+, and not sure I need all that memory (by the time I do, the NAS will probably be outdated anyway)
   
3. Would my money be perhaps better spent on a better Internal Hard Drive such as WD Red 3TB or Black 4TB??
   

 

 

I know enough to know that I dont know what I need, and seek guidance please.

 

Thanks, in advance.

[lkong]

for nas use wb red and green are better than black for less power consumption and reliability. red was said to be designed for nas purpose but id wait a little until the firmware evolves.

[kennyb123]

You may want to post this in the Disk Storage forum. Also check out the 'NAS - Drive selection' thread in that forum for some great advice on drives.

 

I don't use the media server so I can't offer much help on processing power. My DS413 is simply a file server that serves up my iTunes library. It does that very well.

 

The one thing I'd suggest is that you go with a 4 bay NAS to give you room for expansion. I purchased the 212j, a 2 bay model, this summer thinking I could get a few years from it. I was wrong. I was able to move the two drives from the 212j into the 413 and then add a third.

[jmhays]

The one thing I'd suggest is that you go with a 4 bay NAS to give you room for expansion. I purchased the 212j, a 2 bay model, this summer thinking I could get a few years from it. I was wrong. I was able to move the two drives from the 212j into the 413 and then add a third.

 

+1!

I was in the same situation, I started with a small 4 bay NetGear NAS and within one year had sold that and moved up to a 5 bay DS1511+ with an additional 5 bay unit attached by eSATA. I have since bought a second 5 bay DX510 so I now have 15 different drives hosting my data. While your data growth may not be as large as mine (since you have no plans to keep movies), my point is never understimate your storage growth and make sure you have an easy, inexpensive plan for your growth.

 

I would suggest that you go with the 4 bay unit as a minimum. If you plan on using RAID for redundancy, that will use most of one full drive, leaving you about 3 full drives to hold your data. Stay with the 2TB drives now, but watch the prices of the 3TB drives incase there is a special or they drop when you are ready to buy. Then, if you buy the 2TB drives, use the 4TB drives as your expansion option. If, in 1-2 years you start running out of space you can simply buy four 4TB drives and swap them out with your current 2TB drives and double your capacity without having to buy another storage unit.

[blaven]

thanks for the help

I went 4 bay, and it was not too much more for the 3TB WD Red drives, so I splurged