Reddit reviews Synology DiskStation 2-Bay Diskless Network Attached Storage (DS214play)

Synology DS214play with WD red hdd.

I'd go for this + 2 of these. Do not have this set myself, I have an older Synology, but they are great.

Synology

I just have a Synology DS212j. Threw a 2TB harddrive in there and configured everything through the software on the NAS itself. In retrospect, I'd probably go for the DS214Play model because the CPU is better and could probably run Plex pretty well. Mine can't handle Plex, but that's ok because it supports DLNA without it.

Yes, it is a Synology DS214play. It's a mini computer that you can use as a NAS, and DVR. It comes with two licenses, and you buy a new license for each camera you need after it. Works with any IP camera, and the software is amazing.

Hopefully this is in a secluded spot, as DVR's usually aren't targeted unless it's in plain sight.

> first, the way you described what you want to do with rsync sounds like mirroring would functionally be the same. Can you elaborate on why you think otherwise?

Mirroring is not backup. It does not protect against file deletion, overwriting, data corruption, etc.

If you are this familiar with ZFS then my assumption is that you work in the industry. I urge you to please take this to heart for the sake of your employer, its clients, and your career: Mirroring is not backup.

> Second, just a thought, what are all the disks you want to use? There are other ways to configure ZFS in addition to the varying disk size which may work for you.

At the moment, I have a 3TB and a 2TB drive, to be upgraded when cost is reasonable. My first purchase will probably be a 4TB drive to replace the 2TB drive.

> Third, so give me some ballpark of RAM you thought you needed for ZFS? is 4GB or 8GB unreasonable for you?

That is about exactly as much RAM as I expected to need for ZFS. 4GB might get me by for now, but that's still two to three times the cost of RAM for a cheaper solution. Most Atom motherboards will not support more than 4GB of RAM, though, so there would be no upgrade path.

> My home FreeNAS system (running ZFS) runs on an E3-1200 (IIRC), and it's dead silent, and it's a microATX mobo (and I'm sure you can get smaller for E3's/i3's. I would recommend along these lines.

I'm looking at Atom or ARM based solutions. The scale is completely different, but you'd expect that I could get something smaller for what I'm after.

> What mini-ITX cases are you seeing that are just not good enough? Mind linking me please?

Everything I find that supports at least two 3.5" bays is like
http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Tek-Micro-ATX-Mini-ITX-SG09B/dp/B009WXB2TE/
because it is designed to accommodate other parts typical to a general use PC rather than a dedicated NAS. Of course, these are typically $100 or more because they are marketed toward enthusiasts.

What I'm after is closer to
http://www.amazon.com/Synology-DiskStation-Diskless-Attached-DS214play/dp/B00FWUQNDQ/
Of course it would be a bit bigger because micro-ITX motherboards have a minimum size, but it need not be twice as large in every dimension.

>Also, ZFS is really not that expensive even for a home storage system, so I'm not exactly sure yet why you have a different impression. Mind elaborating if you can?

Disregarding disks and case size, I can build a perfectly reasonable home NAS with an Atom SoC board, cheap case, and minimal amount of RAM for $100 to $150. It will draw 10 to 15 watts of power at peak.

Solutions that cost a multiple of that and draw many times the power are not really in the same ball game. I'd be happy to build one of those big systems for work if there was a need for it, but this is something to go in my house to dump files on.