Need advice NAS acquisition advice for Huggy: home, 1500 GBP

[Huggy]

Usage type: home

Preferred form factor any

Number of bays: not sure how many bays

Do you have any existing drives that you plan on using? No

Prefered RAID array setup for this NAS: not sure

This NAS will be used for: backup, multimedia, utilities (docker, VPN, reverse proxy, web hosting, etc.), downloads (torrents, USENET, WebDAV, FTP, etc.), other: Cloud computing ie. Office and Gdrive type stuff

Max budget for this setup: 1500 GBP

Number of users that will utilize this NAS: 8

Any preferred network connectivity? /

Where will this NAS be used: LAN and over the Internet

Any special network requirements: /

Special cloud provider connectivity: Google Drive

Additional information:
Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and for any help you can offer.

I have an old QNAP 2 bay nas I was using but when the drive's started showing errors I started using my ageing Windows 10 machine for my Plex/Usenet needs. This is a big, noisy, power hungry beast that I run as a sort of headless server in my shed. It meets my needs fine, except for being short on the storage side, but now it's starting to show signs of the drives failing too. As we're moving soon this will just be too big and noisy.

Therefore I'm looking for a new quiet, less power hungry solution. Currently most of my media is 1080p but I would like to start using 4k content more. I do have a few family members and friends that have access to my media through Plex so hopefully the new server could handle 2-3 simultaneous streams.

From looking around the web I've heard people saying how good the DS920+ is as a Plex server so I'm seriously considering it. It would mainly be used as a Plex/Usenet server but from what I read about it I'd also try using it for general storage, Backup server, cloud computing (docs, sheets, Google drive type stuff), and hopefully as a sandbox for learning more about docker and VM's.

So, to get to the point, I'd be grateful if anyone can help me make sure I get this right by helping me with the following questions...

1). Is the 920+ a good choice for my needs?

2). (Memory) I've read that you can upgrade the 920 to 8gb ram but I've heard this can be unofficially increased to more, is this right? How much ram should I install and can anyone suggest a good type to use?

3). (SSD) Should I add two of the M.2 SSD's? I understand these are only used for cache and tbh don't really understand whether I'll need 2 of them, what capacity I'll need and whether they need to be Synology ones? Again if anyone can recommend anything I'd be grateful.

4). (Drive's) I was originally thinking about installing it with 4 x IronWolf Pro 4TB drive's. However, I noticed that the 6TB models have 256mb cache rather than 128mb in the 4TB models. Will this help at all? Is there anything else people would recommend instead?

5). Anything else I need to consider to make sure I get this right first time?


Thanks in advance for any help and advice you can give. It's really appreciated. Once I get it set up I'll be coming back for more advice no doubt so looking forward to joining the community.

Cheers .

 

[Rusty]

Is the 920+ a good choice for my needs?

absolutely

Memory) I've read that you can upgrade the 920 to 8gb ram but I've heard this can be unofficially increased to more, is this right? How much ram should I install and can anyone suggest a good type to use?

You can install more ram. There is an active topic on the forum for this particular model and a tested Crucial module that works, look for it a bit.

SSD

Unless you will be using VMs, docker containers with database that have lots of r/w operations, or on the other hand use Plex with multiple users, nvme cache will help with those apps being more responsive and faster.

Saying this I would recommend to wait and test the model without ones, if you feel it should be faster then you can install the cache drive(s) later on.

Drive's

This is a topic of its own. Depending on your space needs, budget and availability, it will depend what models you can get. More cache will ofc help but it’s mostly up to you. Also consider the warranty as well.

Certain models (NAS) have some specific requirements when it comes to using the drives considering Synology compatibility policy.

Be sure to visit the Synology compatibility page for the nas model and see if there are certain drive models that are flagged as incompatible.

Anything else I need to consider to make sure I get this right first time?

Definitely do not look any other model apart from the plus lineup. On top of this, if Plex usage is what you are after as one of your main services, Intel powered mode would be a better choice vs an amd one. Reason is Plex hardware transcoding that works with Intel Quick Sync (with an active Plex Pass).

Bottom line if you are looking into 920 it will be more then fine for your needs.

Once I get it set up I'll be coming back for more advice no doubt so looking forward to joining the community.

Glad to have! Welcome to the dark side

 

[Huggy]

absolutely


You can install more ram. There is an active topic on the forum for this particular model and a tested Crucial module that works, look for it a bit.


Unless you will be using VMs, docker containers with database that have lots of r/w operations, or on the other hand use Plex with multiple users, nvme cache will help with those apps being more responsive and faster.

Saying this I would recommend to wait and test the model without ones, if you feel it should be faster then you can install the cache drive(s) later on.


This is a topic of its own. Depending on your space needs, budget and availability, it will depend what models you can get. More cache will ofc help but it’s mostly up to you. Also consider the warranty as well.

Certain models (NAS) have some specific requirements when it comes to using the drives considering Synology compatibility policy.

Be sure to visit the Synology compatibility page for the nas model and see if there are certain drive models that are flagged as incompatible.


Definitely do not look any other model apart from the plus lineup. On top of this, if Plex usage is what you are after as one of your main services, Intel powered mode would be a better choice vs an amd one. Reason is Plex hardware transcoding that works with Intel Quick Sync (with an active Plex Pass).

Bottom line if you are looking into 920 it will be more then fine for your needs.


Glad to have! Welcome to the dark side

That's great, thanks Rusty

I need to get this setup asap but I'm tempted to wait and see if there's any Black Friday discounts.

I've checked the drive's which are on the Synology comparability list.

I did see a thread about an 8GB memory module from crucial but didn't notice anything about increasing overall memory past 8GB. I'll have a proper look today if I get chance.

I'll take your advice about testing things out before springing for the SSD's. However, if I think it's worth trying them, do I need 2 of them? Will 2 make much of a difference over 1? Or do they need to be used in pairs for some reason?

There'll be up to 7-8 people with access to my Plex though it's unlikely all at the same time. I'm presuming sonarr, radarr and nzbget will need to be setup through docker? I've zero experience of this so if there's any setup guides you know of, or any sources for me to learn from I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

I have a Plex lifetime pass so from what you've said I'm guessing the 920+ will be able to do the hardware transcoding.

Anyhoo, thanks very much for all your help.

 

[Rusty]

Or do they need to be used in pairs for some reason?

One nvme drive is for read cache, while 2 drives will give you read/write.

sonarr, radarr and nzbget will need to be setup through docke

smart

I have a Plex lifetime pass so from what you've said I'm guessing the 920+ will be able to do the hardware transcoding

It will work just fine when HW transcoding is in question.

 

[Huggy]

One nvme drive is for read cache, while 2 drives will give you read/write

That explains it thanks

Cheers Rusty