Synology NAS: looking for a recommendation

[JP Onstwedder]

Hi everyone. I want to upgrade my Synology NAS from a 2bay DS216+ to a 4 bay unit. Synology has quite a few 4 bay models and I am struggling to understand the differences, and which one makes the most sense for me.

Setup: wired GB ethernet, 2-3 iMacs and the odd laptop as clients. Storage is about 12-14 TB of photos. Capture One catalogs are on separate SSD drives so I can move between computers using the same catalog. The NAS is also the backup destination for the various computers for non-photographic files. I want to move to a more robust RAID configuration hence going for a 4 bay unit.

Should I expect major speed differences in accessing raw files on the NAS from different models?

Any help appreciated!

 

[Steve Pumilia]

I am not sure of the differences between the units. I think it revolves around the speed of the local processer and whether you can add a gigabyte ethernet port. have a DS 918+.
I have added RAM and added the m.2 cache. Hudson Henry did a good video when he set up a Synology NAS.

 

[Viseguy]

This might be of interest NAS expansion

 

[JP Onstwedder]

I looked into that as well but the Synology expansion units only work with certain models and I am not sure if mine is compatible.

 

[Calson]

With a 4-drive RAID you have 75% available for data (actually 90% of 75% as the drives need to be formatted. With a 5-drive array one has 80% x .9 available. With a NAS the main performance factor is whether the RAID is implemented in software (usually a Linux variant) or hardware, and the power of the CPU.

For my uses I want a 10GB Ethernet port as well as the standard 1GB Ethernet ports. For NAS to a Wifi router I use the 1GB port but to connect to my workstation I use the 10GB port.

 

[BarkingBeans Coffee]

Anyone have a preference for drives for the NAS. The WED Red and Seagate Ironwolf keep coming up. Apparently the PRO versions always spin at 7200 and are noisier. I know very little about this but am interested in setting up a NAS and not worrying about space any longer.

Any other things one should consider? Any other models other than the one Hudson recommends. Seems like any others that have the 10gb are and NVme added for cache are much more.

 

[Midway]

Anyone have a preference for drives for the NAS. The WED Red and Seagate Ironwolf keep coming up. Apparently the PRO versions always spin at 7200 and are noisier. I know very little about this but am interested in setting up a NAS and not worrying about space any longer.

Any other things one should consider? Any other models other than the one Hudson recommends. Seems like any others that have the 10gb are and NVme added for cache are much more.

I purchased a basic Synology 48TB DS923+ 4-Bay NAS Enclosure Kit with Seagate Ironwolf NAS Drives (4 x 12TB) from B&H. I am learning Synology is slow supporting new drives if they will support them at all. The drives included in a kit I assumed would be supported but I get an error message they are not supported. An older version is supported but the ones I have are not. I could have returned it but decided to roll the dice since the drives work fine even though they are not supported and Synology HDD's are over twice the cost. Check the compatibility list for the model you choose and then you have to decide if you want to pay a premium or hope less expensive, non-supported drives work as I assume they will. My main concern is I probably can't get technical support if I do ever have problems.

The series model number for the drives I received is 12TB Seagate ST12000VN0008 - 2PH103 and are not supported by the Synology DS923+.

The correct and supported Seagate IronWolf Series Model Number is ST12000VN0008 - 2YS101.

There is no way to know that until the drive is removed. The entire number is not on the box, only on the drive itself. I look at it as old versus new firmware and Synology doesn’t test and approve newer versions that are all that is currently available.

Off topic but curious about your user name and signature as I have just upgraded my espresso machine and grinder. Are you in the business or just an enthusiast? Thanks.

 

[Calson]

Less expensive NAS use software (usually a Unix variant) to manage the RAID and provide lesser performance than ones that use a processor to do this. Then it comes down to the CPU used by the NAS and this also affects performance. Lastly there is the amount of RAM available to buffer the data and with some units this can be increased by the user.

Some use a SSD instead of a hard drive but these drives do not significantly increase data throughput unless used as a separate data cache for frrequently accessed files, as with video editing by multiple users. With RAID the drives play a much lesser role than in a computer and so the slower RAID designated drives like the Seagate IronWolf run at 5600 rpm and are quieter, run cooler, and last longer.

I would also want at least one 10GB port on the new NAS so that the NAS is not a bottleneck when it comes to accessing data through a switch or wifi router. My primaery NAS has a 10GB port that goes to my workstation and a 1GB port that is connected to a switch which in turn is connected to my wifi router. 10GB switches are too pricey at this point in time so staying with my 1GB Cisco switch.

The NAS that provide ongoing firmware updates and a good user interface have been the ones from QNAP and Synology. They offer a wide range of NAS units so it comes down to deciding how many drives you want to use. My newest NAS has 5 drives so I can use RAID 6 for increased reliability (although I still do a scrubbing monthly) and with 5 drives I lose 20% of the total drive capacity, subtracting of course for the amount consumed with drive formatting of about 9%.

 

[hrv]

As long as you go for proper NAS drives, like you mention, you should be ok.

As for the NAS itself, a two-bay version has some limitations and often these are also the less powerful versions.
I would always prefer one with at least 4 or 5 bays, as it gives a lot more flexibility on storage configurations. I prefer 2-disk RAID-1 configurations (mirroring) for speed, but you can also go for RAID configurations with more drives for either maximised storage (a little slower) or max performance, while still having the option of adding many drives to maximize size (RAID-10)

This article has some good explanations: https://kb.synology.com/en-id/DSM/help/DSM/StorageManager/storage_pool_what_is_raid?version=7

As for the network interfaces, if you have the option to directly connect your laptop or workstation to the NAS because it is close by, then a 10GB network card (provided you computer can support it, possibly via USB-C adaptor or separate card) would be the absolute best for performance. If the NAS is mostly used for file store and backup and doesn't need blazingly fast speeds, then do not bother.
If your laptop will mostly be connected via Wifi, then please note you are not going to get the performance you can get from a wired connection anyway.

 

[Patrick M]

I’m on my second Synology NAS in a dozen years. My first a DS 211j is now the backup. My 2nd is now failing through simply age, a DS916+. A 4 bay enclosure. When a drive failed, it was easy to just replace it and let it fix itself. Synology support gave me some hardware to plug in, which, over 3 months, showed that the motherboard was just too old!
Full marks to Synology Support. I’m going to upgrade when funds allow…Z8 depletion followed by Z180-600 ! Lol

 

[SandyW]

I am very fond of my old DS1815+ I bought in 2015. As was mentioned above I would want at least 4 bays for expansion and raid options. I've always used Synologys SHR raid and it has worked very well for me. I have replaced a disk that went bad without problems. Speed of the NAS is not overly important to me as I use it primarily for backup storage. I'm sure newer models are faster. I doubt my old NAS would be a good solution for photo editing due to speed, but it is fantastic for backups and accessing an old file to be worked on. It has saved my bacon more than once.