Confused which model to buy DS413j/DS412+/DS414 ????

[Mohanavel]

I'm planning to buy a Synology 4 bay NAS for home entertainment use.After some research now totally confused which model to buy DS413j/DS412+/DS414.

Can anyone advice with their personal experience with synology NAS and suggest good model.

 

[srinisundar]

Why not you try Asustor 6xx series or 2xx series. Have good reviews over net.

ASUSTOR AS-204TE NAS Review - Introduction

It has HDMI port so you can play directly also to your TV or connected to AV receiver and play the stored files thru XBMC. It will work as media player + NAS.

Regards

 

[Mohanavel]

After 57 views only 1 suggestion?

 

[srinisundar]

After 57 views only 1 suggestion?

There is already an thread running for D413J ++.. So just follow that or post yours in that.

 

[Mohanavel]

There is already an thread running for D413J ++.. So just follow that or post yours in that.

Thanks for your reply,I read reviews about Asustor 604T and liked every thing especially HDMI/2 esata port/USB 3.0 at front,but a review in CNET states " AS-604T supports only standard RAID configurations (RAID 0, RAID 6, and RAID 5) and not any special RAID. ( Read more about RAID configurations .) This means once you've set it up, there's no way to change to larger-capacity drives without rebuilding the RAID from the beginning."

What is your opinion about this?

 

[srinisundar]

Thanks for your reply,I read reviews about Asustor 604T and liked every thing especially HDMI/2 esata port/USB 3.0 at front,but a review in CNET states " AS-604T supports only standard RAID configurations (RAID 0, RAID 6, and RAID 5) and not any special RAID. ( Read more about RAID configurations .) This means once you've set it up, there's no way to change to larger-capacity drives without rebuilding the RAID from the beginning."

What is your opinion about this?

Yes you are right. You have build from the scratch. It accepts hot swap that is sufficient for me. Yes i have bought this already and yet to open and set it up. I have plan to buy 3TB( WD red nas ) of 4no's disks and no plans of upgrading later to higher disk.

 

[Mohanavel]

Yes i have bought this already and yet to open and set it up. I have plan to buy 3TB( WD red nas ) of 4no's disks and no plans of upgrading later to higher disk.

Awaiting for your detail review with pics

Iam planning to buy a NAS with 2 3TB/4TB WD red,later upgrade when ever its gets over. Hmmm In this case have to rethink about ASUSTOR:sad:

 

[sam9s]

I am an avid user of Synology NAS. Initially owned a 212j and then current have a 413j. There is not much of a difference in 413j or +. j is more targeted towards home user. Yes it does not have HDMI, but it has HQ Audio over USB that can be connected to any USB DAC and can act as an audiophile audio system

It also offers SHR (synology Hybrid raid) that is much better than conventional RAID. Performance wise specially when we talk about the OS DSM 5.0 makes synology the Best NAS out there. Been using it for almost 2 year now. You can check out my review on 413j in my sig for a comprehensive product analysis.

 

[Mohanavel]

I am an avid user of Synology NAS. Initially owned a 212j and then current have a 413j. There is not much of a difference in 413j or +. j is more targeted towards home user. Yes it does not have HDMI, but it has HQ Audio over USB that can be connected to any USB DAC and can act as an audiophile audio system

It also offers SHR (synology Hybrid raid) that is much better than conventional RAID. Performance wise specially when we talk about the OS DSM 5.0 makes synology the Best NAS out there. Been using it for almost 2 year now. You can check out my review on 413j in my sig for a comprehensive product analysis.

Thanks for your reply Sam9s.Yes i have read your review.Any suggestion about DS 412+ which has better processor & Memory also with USB 3.0 & Esata port(Which can be used for future expansion).Whether its a better buy instead for buying DS 413j and is it worth spending money for this extra feature?

 

[sam9s]

Thanks for your reply Sam9s.Yes i have read your review.Any suggestion about DS 412+ which has better processor & Memory also with USB 3.0 & Esata port(Which can be used for future expansion).Whether its a better buy instead for buying DS 413j and is it worth spending money for this extra feature?

Thats entirely depends on your requirement, personally for me USB 3.0 is not something I will be using as almost 95 % of the time the data movement would be via LAN. So I would probably save money here and invest to have my local LAN better (gigabit with quality Ethernet card etc)

Yes esata is something that will come into handy, but synology's expansion bays are as expensive as their lower NAS itself ... so I would think before taking that route.

So you have to decide if you want to shell out that extra buck for the same.

 

[raj_ch2002]

why do you want a NAS, why not build your own NAS from pc components?

i've plex server installed in i3 based NAS with 4 3tb drives and it takes just 30-40watts...

and its very capable of transcoding all my files.

If you go with a nas, you'll endup paying more for less features. also they need special red edition hdd's.

 

[sam9s]

I shall defy that claim, yes DIY NAS is a good option when you primarily are concerned with using it as a file server or a DLNA client with ofcourse spare hardware available with you.

A pre build NAS sure is expensive but its no way less in features, infact in a DIY to achieve the same level of features than a pre built NAS has (specially like Synology), you have to put quite an effort, which can some time require a decent level of learning curve as well, specially if you are dealing with a Linux machine. (which most of the NAS are)

Also its a myth that you have to have special RED edition HDD for NAS, I am using WD Green right from day one and it going smoothly. (1.5 years). Yes WD Red offeres better protection to data no doubt but its not a mandatory requirement.

 

[raj_ch2002]

Synology of course has some features but do we utilize all of its features it the question?

If you see the price to performance ration and upgradability diy nas wins hands down.

 

[sam9s]

^^ Up to you .... I utilize 98% of the features, and its not only about what features, but the standard and quality of the features as well, like on a DIY I was not able to get an as good and seamless download manager as is with synology.

Nope price performance ratio is also not the way as it seems. I started off with a DIY with UNRAID for two years and then OMV and Free NAS for like 7-8 months, then tried synology. At one point of time I was using both UNRAID and Synology at the same time, and slowly and slowly I shifted completely from UNRAID to Synology. (just because of the powerhouse synology is). And though it was expensive it was far far stable, with an OS, DSM 5.0 which rocked, in all respects. Worth every penny

Again if its only as a file server and DLNA client you want to use the machine yes a DIY might be better option, but then in that case it wont even be called as a NAS, would it be? .....

 

[GeorgeO]

I'm running both a Synology 213j((2Bay) and a DIY Free NAS. I'm in the process of upgrading to a Synology 414(4Bay) at which time I will decommission the DIY. In my view for storage and streaming the NAS option is both cheaper, better and more user friendly, but hey, different strokes for different folks!

 

[raj_ch2002]

^^ Up to you .... I utilize 98% of the features, and its not only about what features, but the standard and quality of the features as well, like on a DIY I was not able to get an as good and seamless download manager as is with synology.

Nope price performance ratio is also not the way as it seems. I started off with a DIY with UNRAID for two years and then OMV and Free NAS for like 7-8 months, then tried synology. At one point of time I was using both UNRAID and Synology at the same time, and slowly and slowly I shifted completely from UNRAID to Synology. (just because of the powerhouse synology is). And though it was expensive it was far far stable, with an OS, DSM 5.0 which rocked, in all respects. Worth every penny

Again if its only as a file server and DLNA client you want to use the machine yes a DIY might be better option, but then in that case it wont even be called as a NAS, would it be? .....

Can you list me few features you use extensively in your NAS machine? that are not possible with a PC built for nas purpose?

also, why would you run a full nas with all drives connected just for download manager? it means while downloading it will consume minimum power. for downloads i use router D-Link dir-685 and all my contents are saved in the hdd itself and it consumes less than 5 watts.

Yes, i do agree on the smaller footprint...

 

[avink]

I have been using 212j for a while now. Some features that I love (which may not be v easy to setup on DIY nas):

- the mobile apps for DS Audio, and DS Video . Synology was quick to add chromecast support

- Chrome plugin for adding downloads from anywhere in the world(via synology ddns)

- synology surveillance station (comes for free) for managing my IP cam

- and availability of many free packages ...

 

[kvm]

Pl let me know if anyone has imported NAS solution (with drives) from amazon/ ishop? wanted to check about the careful packing/handling of the drives.

regards

 

[avink]

I got my 212j shipped from Amazon-US ..though without any drive.

 

[dheerajjotwani]

Crux here being no nonsense out of the box functionality vs control over expandability and functioning.

I think one is no better than the other. It's what suits your pocket and how much are you willing to indulge. Some may wanna avoid the Diy hassle altogether and go with proprietary solutions and others just wait to dive all in and set it up their own way.

As for the different feature sets listed, well lemme assure you all is possible on a Diy nas too. From adding downloads from browser or mobile, to chromecasting, and the likes.

It's simply how much time one wishes to spend in making it all work cause while the solutions do exist, the learning curve could be high and that's where a ready made nas takes precedence.