[Comp] NAS Superthread (current deals on NAS devices)

[shuffle]

By popular demand this thread is intended to showcase current deals available for network attached storage devices. It's a hot device/capability, so many are looking to be prepared for when (hopefully not if!) hard disk prices return to reasonable levels.

The quality of this superthread will depend on your help finding and posting deals, and helping keep this index up to date. This post will be updated with current deals.

Good then! Let's get rolling with the following!

Current NAS Deals:

Vendor : Patriot
Model : PCNASJV35S4
Retailer : NCIX
Price : $199.99 Link
MIR? YES ($100.00) (already applied to the price above) Expires : Jan 20/2012
Price Tracker

Vendor : BUFFALO
Model : CS-WX1.0/1D CloudStor Dual-Bay Cloud Accessible Storage and Media Sharing Device
Retailer : Newegg
Price : $169.99 Link
MIR? NO
Price Tracker

[jmacd27]

Awesome thread, I'll be poking my head in now and then.

[alanbrenton]

Hmmm. The Synology DS212J ($211 if my price match request is approved) or the Qnap TS-212 ($165)? Seems like the two comparable units to compare. Not a lot of stock for the TS-212 though.

EDIT:

Review of the TS-212:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/n...o-nas-reviewed

EDIT2:

What is the most basic 2-bay Qnap or Synology NAS with USB 3.0 support? For Synology, it seems to be the 212. How much slower will the external drive run compared to those connected by SATA?

EDIT3:

For Qnap, seems like TS-459 Pro II will be the cheapest model with USB 3.0.

http://www.qnap.com/images/products/...rison_NAS.html

EDIT4:

For Synology, each camera IP address cost $50-60. Does Qnap charge for its surveillance station too?

Back in 2009, Qnap didn't charge for camera licenses:

http://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?t=11943

[craeyon]

I will just throw this in here too.

The QNAP TS-412 is a great unit. I recently bought one and has a multitude of features and I am running 6 TB of Storage in RAID 5. (So 8TB in total with 6TB usable.)

It is not particularly on that great of sale but here: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=58630

If you guys are planning to buy NAS don't buy anything other than Synology or QNAP. Synology has great software where as QNAP excels in the hardware area.

[oldskool75]

While it peaks my interest, I have to ask..

Is the OP going to be continuously updated? Or is this going to be one of this 'hit-last-and scroll-backwards' type threads?
It's not clear in the OP..

Thanks!

[jmacd27]

I will just throw this in here too.

The QNAP TS-412 is a great unit. I recently bought one and has a multitude of features and I am running 6 TB of Storage in RAID 5. (So 8TB in total with 6TB usable.)

It is not particularly on that great of sale but here: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=58630

If you guys are planning to buy NAS don't buy anything other than Synology or QNAP. Synology has great software where as QNAP excels in the hardware area.

Agreed, good advice. For the money Qnap and Synology are both safe picks.

For those not familiar with these two companies, they both have online demos of their respective operating software so you can get a feel what their NAS device is like to setup/manage.

Qnap Demo site
http://www.qnap.com/liveDemo.asp


Synology Demo site
http://www.synology.com/products/dsm...mo.php?lang=us

The above Synology demo was just updated to show their new 4.0 system that is in Beta, but should be released in a couple of months.

[divx]

how does this compare to dlink-323 (might remembered the model wrong) which goes for $99?

[craeyon]

how does this compare to dlink-323 (might remembered the model wrong) which goes for $99?

Dlink NAS has got nothing on QNAP. Not only is the software management is robust but the hardware surpasses by a mile.

The QNAP is running a faster Marvel processor 1.2 GHZ vs 500Hz of the Dlink. QNAP has more ram 256 Mb vs 64 MB. This means your transfer and read rates are going to be much higher. The DLink is reported to have 13MB/s writes and 22MB/s reads which would be terrible for doing things like streaming 1080p movies to your Western Digital box. The QNAP has 33MB/s writes and 69MB/s which is stupid fast. QNAP also has support multiple RAID modes, DLink only does till RAID 0 and 1 and JBOD. QNAP is just a better machine.

EDIT: Sorry I just compared the TS-412 Turbo. Here are the specs for the TS-212 which is still faster than the Dlink 323. http://www.qnap.com/images/products/...n_2BayNAS.html

[shuffle]

While it peaks my interest, I have to ask..

Is the OP going to be continuously updated? Or is this going to be one of this 'hit-last-and scroll-backwards' type threads?
It's not clear in the OP..

Thanks!

Updated for clarity - it will be updated constantly. Thanks.

[dbreaka]

Would unraid builds be allowed in here?

[divx]

Dlink NAS has got nothing on QNAP. Not only is the software management is robust but the hardware surpasses by a mile.

The QNAP is running a faster Marvel processor 1.2 GHZ vs 500Hz of the Dlink. QNAP has more ram 256 Mb vs 64 MB. This means your transfer and read rates are going to be much higher. The DLink is reported to have 13MB/s writes and 22MB/s reads which would be terrible for doing things like streaming 1080p movies to your Western Digital box. The QNAP has 33MB/s writes and 69MB/s which is stupid fast. QNAP also has support multiple RAID modes, DLink only does till RAID 0 and 1 and JBOD. QNAP is just a better machine.

but the dlink can run bit torrent, can this do it too? it also has a low idle power consumption. what's the best mode to use for 2x 2tb wd green? non raid, raid 0, 1, jbod?

[shuffle]

Would unraid builds be allowed in here?

Sure. JBOD and similar devices have a place here, as long as they are accessible via the network.

[shuffle]

but the dlink can run bit torrent, can this do it too? it also has a low idle power consumption. what's the best mode to use for 2x 2tb wd green? non raid, raid 0, 1, jbod?

BT runs like a champ with this much processor and ram. Won't effect your transfer speeds if you are streaming at the same time, for example.

If it is just power consumption you are concerned about, I would assume jbod would be your best bet. If you run a raid config no disks can be spundown when not being accessed. With jbod if you are using one volume but not another, it is _possible_ that independent drives could be spun down.

[dmdsoftware2]

but the dlink can run bit torrent, can this do it too? it also has a low idle power consumption. what's the best mode to use for 2x 2tb wd green? non raid, raid 0, 1, jbod?

Just because the dlink can bit torrent doesn't mean you should use it for that. Hardware is really weak. I should know, I own 3 of them. I have a dedicated 500mhz machine running linux that is dedicated for bit torrents and newgroups, and it only runs at 10% capacity, which toasts the dlink.

[craeyon]

but the dlink can run bit torrent, can this do it too? it also has a low idle power consumption. what's the best mode to use for 2x 2tb wd green? non raid, raid 0, 1, jbod?

Scroll up and check out the demo on the QNAP website. The software can do more than just running a bit torrent server.

QNAP still has better power consumption.

Dlink:
Power Mgt. Mode - 8 Watts
Idle -19 Watts
RAID 1 Test - 21-23 Watts

QNAP (212)
Sleep Mode - 6 Watts
In operation -19 Watts (Transferring)
PC Server - 350 Watts (This is not the same as transferring. This is an advanced mode, you will never use this.)

Best RAID mode is Raid 5 but the down side is you have to give up 1 disk out of the entire cluster. So this is good for 4+ disk cluster. For a two disk operation:

JBOD: Don't EVER do this. If you want to get raped gently, or if your mom dropped you on your head and said "You are destined to do fail in all things computer!" this is the mode you will put your 2 disk cluster in. If one disk goes you are done. Kappesh!
RAID 0: Stripping. You basically keep adding disks to the cluster so your 2x2TB hard disks would become one giant 4TB hard drive. Your data will be stripped over both disks. Only advantage this has is the performance goes up with the amount of disks you have in the cluster at the cost of the same risk as JBOD. One disk goes... they all go.
RAID 1: Mirroring. This is the safest. As the name suggests Disk 1 mirrors Disk 2 so if anyone of the two disk fails the other one has a copy of it.