Hello,

I like the synology NAS systems for their ability to RAID storage and access virtually. But what I'm hesitant about is that the disks are only usable within the NAS system; not separately. Is there any NAS system out there that is similar to the Synology systems but where the individual disks can also be used independent from the system? Like a hybrid of NAS and a standard external hard drive. OR, are there standard hard drives out there that can be used in an NAS system? My goal is to set up a RAID system that offers the accessibility of a Synology system but also allows you to take a hard drive with you to plug directly into when needed. For times that you need your data but are not in an area with internet.

Just getting into the NAS mineset and can't figure out the easiest way to copy from one to the other.

I am looking for a nas that will help me with a few different functions:
1) I want to replace my use of onedrive and Dropbox
2) I have an external drive I use to access less used files that I don’t want to put on cloud storage or my laptop -I want to replace that
3) I want to be able to access files from my MacBook, windows10 and iPad
4) I store a ton of high res photographs that I’d like to access via Adobe Lightroom for editing
5) I need to make a time machine backup of my macs (2)
6) I want everything on the nas to backup to backblaze (or similar service)
7) Interested in Raid 1 at the very least
8) I Would like to be able to access photos to view easily, but don’t need a media streamer for video
9) I access files for work multiple times a day
10) I might want a mail server to move work email off google services - but this is not required (nice to have if not cost prohibitive)
11) will probably move 4-6TB of data onto this Nas

This will be my first NAS

Suggestions?

Hi I currently have a pretty slow DS216J that has been a good little workhorse for me for several years but I am looking to upgrade.
Originally I was looking at the DS720+ but then I started thinking about the possible benefits of the 2 extra bays (and higher ram). I will admit I really like the interface synology uses and although I don't use many of the features, I have considered expanding my use when I get my network equipment setup

The way I use the DS216j Today is I run backup4all on my laptop/desktop and my backups are saved over my network to the drivers (currently setup as raid 1).
then 1x a month I take another HD out of my safe and connect that via a USB External drive reader to the usb port on the NAS and copy over that month's latest files.... that is my fire/Catastrophic copy.

So what I was wondering was with a 4 drive DS920+ system, can i hot swap the 3rd drive to the NAS 1x a month to do those copies (and have it be on a separate storage pool? So Drive 1 and 2 would be Raid 1 on 1 storage pool and then drive 3 would be its own separate (and temporary raid 0 pool? What about drive 4? Can that also be an independent storage pool ( so Drives 1+2 are Raid 1, Drive 3 is Raid 0 for backups and Drive 4 is another raid 0 drive for miscellaneous?

Lastly 1 last question regarding the M2 chipset (since i bought 1 for my new Desktop and it didn't work out the way I hoped)... Synology says its for increasing the cache. Is it really or is adding a M2 chip basically adding another very fast SSD Hard Drive (which is how my desktop wanted to treat it... and not increasing the MB's actual cache.

Thank you in advance.

My TS-328 bit the dust and QNAP are replacing it with this one. 2GB probably will not cut the mustard on this but I have heard and I think you mentioned about running this with 16gb (not officially). Has this been stable and what ram was used (make etc) as I think before I even boot it up I will upgrade that ram as I am now planning to use this more intensively with the QNAP HD apps and use it in the lounge with PLEX plugged into my TV rather than streaming over my network.

Hi , Have just watched your plex set up video for the 420+ ,, thank you it has really really helped.

I was planning to go down the 420+ route with 4 wd 10tb hard drives for plex and household ( 4 adults all needing secure storage and a family shared folder)
However ...
I have been offered a great deal on a Bluesound Vault 2i which rips and stores cds
I have appox 1000 cds what will need ripping
Will I be able to use the 2 on the same network ?
is it going to make things really complicated?
What is your best advice please ?

You have the greatest site - even far better than Synology. Thank you so much for being here!

I have a DS918+ . It will be used to backup (nightly) my data from my windows computers on to the NAS for backup protection. Nothing more. I am having difficulty understanding how my data will write over all 4 drives to MIRROR my data when my drive sizes are not the same. In reality do I now have only 1TB of space to store data in a mirrored fashion? The data storage is not as much my worry as is drive failure. If you can help explain how much of my data is written on to each of those 4 drives and then explain what would happen to the data on each of those drives if a drive (or 2) failed. I hope I am wording this correctly because my confusion makes it even harder for me to explain! Thank you again - you provide an amazing level of information!

Hi
I've been using Zyxel NSA325v2 about six years without problems. But naturally it is at the end of its career pretty soon. I am considering between these two modells - should I continue Zyxel because it's familiar or should I try to learn to use QNAP.
Mainly my NAS serves as storage of music, movies and photos. I use bittorrent client quite often too.
I watch movies and listen music with Kodi using Minix Neo media hub which is connected to(W)LAN with my NAS. 2TBs for movies, series, photos, music, school stuff and work stuff is getting too small so I decided to buy new NAS and new hard drives.
So I am wondering if I get anything really special with QNAP TS-251D and its better performance or should I stay with Zyxel (NAS542) only because I might know (mostly) how to use it?

Discuss: Plex on a NAS - Before You Buy <br><iframe width='560' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zi-ijgsJoYw' frameborder='0' allow='accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture' allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hi! i have synology ds418 and i want to buy 4 HDDs ST12000NM001G 12TB each. BUT i took a look into the NAS manual and there is a table with fill called “maximum internal raw capacity” which is 40 TB (4x10TB) BUT the official synology site has a compatibility table where you can see that ds418 is compatible with larger capacities than just 10TB will there any problems if i’ll put these 4 HDDs into my NAS?
thanks!