Should I bother with one of these specialty NAS drives, since I know I like my NAS's software/features? I can save $ on a regular drive.
1533838
The NAS drives are more a hardware difference than software. Sure they may offer some enterprise features like secure erase in hardware, etc. but the real difference is the hardware. These drives are designed to better dampen internal generated and externally received vibrations. This design is due to the close proximity of the drives and the 24/7 operation. Check the specs and these drive typically rank between desktop and enterprise drives in terms of MTBF. They may have longer warranties as well. All-in-all it simply boils down to how much do you love your data? What is being stored on the NAS. Is it precious? I ran a DroboFS for two years with WD green drives. I replaced them with these drives thinking this was a better choice for my circumstances. The choice is ultimately yours.
484286
Would depend on the disks you purchased for it and your network setup. This is an entry-level unit. Performance for me is adequate to back up multiple computers. Make sure you have jumbo frames enabled on all of your network devices. If you want a NAS that can really move data quickly across a network, look for models with dual ethernet ports and use trunking.
2166244
Yes, It is very conservative when it comes for the disks. My diskstation rejected 2 hard drives of mine that I never suspected. One of those disks died one month later. Anyway the raid config is still the best choice to avoid surprises.
793980
My Synology DS1511+ is connected to a Synology DX513. This gives me 10 drive bays. I've separated those into 2 drive sets. One is setup as two LUN's for long term image storage (we are a photography business). The other is setup as a volume that hosts several shares including one for my Time Machine backups. With the redundant drives we don't backup the data that is stored on the NAS. It's too big to copy up to a cloud service. We DO make copies of critical images to an external USB drive that then gets put into a fireproof safe for safe keeping. On a setup like this we rely on there never being more than one drive that fails at any given moment. Sure the odds "can" work against us but in the long run those are looooong odds. One does need to keep in mind that once a drive does fail replacing it immediately is paramount! Having a NAS is all about risk vs cost management. Everyone's happy ratio of these two will be different.
1451883
This is a set it and forget it NAS. Needs not be re-imaged. And for the price you will pay for this unit, you are better off buying a used case, sticking 4 4TB drives in it and getting a USB flash drive and calling it a night. Thats what I did using Synology's free version of their NAS and sofar its working great. Over 150 days up. I sold this unit last year with over two years of trouble free service. The only reason I sold it was because it was too small for my growing needs. So to answer your question. Not sure. But its also not needed.
1515538
SHR is more flexible, if you want to upgrade to larger drives later. No downside -- you're locked into the technology once you but the DiskStation, so you may was well leverage the proprietary RAID
860400
I concur with Robin V on this one - I suggest replacing any failed drives with a WD RED drive. They are built to work in NAS boxes under constant use while other drives are not built for this kind of use and abuse.
184227
Price?? This is cheap compared to my Synology NAS that I use for shared storage. This particular device is great for network storage or as a backup device for a 1:many scenario. It is not difficult to setup, just read the documentation. I have had mine running now for 2 years without a hiccup. If you have problems call tech support up. The tricky part is understand one has to claim a volume before one can use it.
2089342
I don't have any experience with either of these programs, but being that it is solid state and 1Tb you should not have any storage problems. Sorry I could not be of more help.
1263238
Confusing right? They sell just the hardware and shell. You have to buy the drives. I went with WD Red series. I would recommend you buy two drives ; one to make a mirror backup of the main drive. If yuh have a lot of home videos, buy two 3 TB drives or higher. My analysis suggests that this is the best price point. It is, overall, a $500 investment. But, it's worth it for pictures, phones and computer backup.
346720
The SE edition is better equipped for NAS units, and is TRIM-capable. Using a WD Black in a RAID array is likely to result in timeout errors, and array rebuilds. Otherwise, it's effectively the same drive - only the chipset is changed, not the platters themselves. If you just need bulk storage for a workstation, go with either one. However, if you need storage for a NAS and/or RAID array, the SE is a more effective bet.
1430933
The Vantec is not a NAS, if you don't know what that means then go with the Vantec. If you aren't sure the difference between 4 + 2 drives and 8 drives, go with 6. Seriously your question suggests you should take the least expensive path you can find. It really sounds like you are not looking for a NAS but for an external drive so that would be the approach you should take. If you have builod up a home network or small office network get back to us.
228614
The diskless NAS does not have any drives installed in it. I bought the diskless thinking I would use the four matched drives I had in an existing server. That would have been perfect, but the drives were not supported by the EX4. If you have existing drives, and they are on the WD EX4 supported list, this would be a great way to make use of them. Otherwise, you might as well purchase with disks and have a single warranty covering the entire NAS and drives.
184228
Well, all 4 of ours work pretty well, albeit they are not stunningly fast. I did notice the performance really slows down after the first couple TB of small files. But I suspect that's due to Samba, and I wish I could get into the unit, O/S wise, to tune it
723777
The answer may depend on what Operating System (OS) you are running and if you have the existing drives in a RAID array. If you have the existing drives installed as Just a Bunch Of Disks (JBOD) with individual drive letters assigned to them, then I would definitely buy a NAS specific drive (ST4000VN000) since it is physically a MUCH better drive and specifically designed as a 24/7 drive (the ST3000DM001 is NOT designed for the rigors of a RAID environment nor does it have time-limited "drop-out" features which is necessary for RAID usage). I personally have many of the older ST3000DM001 drives in use (I bought them before the NAS drives became available), and while they are OK, they tend to run at least 10 degrees hotter and have failed on a number of occasions. I use StableBit DrivePool software to create a redundant drive array similar to a RAID 1 array, but the time-limited drop-out feature is not necessary for that software to work properly. However, when I've had to replace a failed older ST3000DM001 drive, I have always bought a Seagate NAS ST4000VN000 as the replacement. IMHO, the Seagate ST4000VN000 is an excellent drive, now selling at a reasonable price, and has very good performance features. Hope that helps. The Beagle
2062748
All NAS manufacturers recommend a list of hard drives to be used with their NAS. But I have been using hard drives from WD only but different models. I am using on my own risk and you certainly need to do it on your own too.I use exclusively for audio and video in my network (no documents or backup). Green drives with 5400 is OK for me to stream 15GB HD movies.
1684879
I'd STRONGLY recommend against using an old drive in the device. By using one not from Synology's list, you risk poor performance. It would be a drag to set it up and then have slow performance. Don't use an old drive -- they all have a maximum life, and yours could be close to the end and you would never know. Since you're putting it in a 1-bay enclosure with no redundancy, you want to install the most reliable disk you can.