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Nas - Enquiries - 12-02-2024
Hi,
Love your vids. Have learned SOOO much since I discovered your website and YT channel.
I’m looking for my first nas. What I want to do with the nas:
1) replacement for OneDrive/Dropbox
2) replacement for Netflix/HBO (so setting up a Plex/Jellyfin)
3) replacement for Spotify
4) contacts/notes/ server
I want thinking about the F4-424 Pro.
I have 3x 4TB WD Purple HDD left from a NVR system I was using that I want to use in the nas. Also bought 2x WD black SN770 1TB NVME drive during Black Friday.
So my question is can I run the things mentioned and also will it run them all at the same time all the time?
PS not planing on doing anything else on the nas
RE: Nas - ed - 12-06-2024
Thanks so much for the kind words! I’m glad you’ve been learning a lot from my videos.
Regarding your first NAS setup, the F4-424 Pro is a solid choice for your needs, and you should be able to run everything you've mentioned, especially since you already have the drives.
What you want to do with the NAS:
Replacement for OneDrive/Dropbox: You can use Synology’s Synology Drive or Nextcloud to replace cloud storage. These apps allow easy file syncing and sharing between devices, much like OneDrive or Dropbox.
Replacement for Netflix/HBO (Plex/Jellyfin): Both Plex and Jellyfin are great options for media streaming, and the F4-424 Pro should handle streaming 4K movies (assuming you don’t need transcoding for multiple simultaneous streams). Since you're using WD Purple HDDs (which are good for surveillance storage), you should be fine with media storage, though ensure they are used in the correct RAID configuration for redundancy.
Replacement for Spotify: For music streaming, you can use Plex or Jellyfin to manage your music collection, or even a dedicated app like Subsonic. You can use the WD Black SN770 NVMe drives for the media server’s cache or to store apps for faster performance.
Contacts/Notes Server: You can set up a Nextcloud or Synology Contacts and Notes app to replace a contact manager and notes server, which should run fine with the resources available.
Will it run them all at the same time, all the time?
The F4-424 Pro has a decent CPU and 4GB of RAM, which should be enough for the tasks you mentioned, including:
File syncing with Synology Drive/Nextcloud
Media streaming through Plex/Jellyfin
Music streaming via Plex or other apps
Contacts and Notes management with Nextcloud or Synology apps
It may handle everything well simultaneously, but the amount of load depends on how many users you have accessing the system at once. For example, if you’re streaming media to multiple devices or have several people accessing files at once, that could add some strain on the system, especially in terms of CPU. However, this model is more than capable of handling moderate use.
Storage Setup:
HDDs: The 3x 4TB WD Purple HDDs can be set up in RAID 5 or SHR-1 for redundancy. This would give you around 8TB of usable storage (after redundancy). Since you're using this primarily for media and backup, this should be enough to get started, and the HDDs will last long-term.
NVMe drives: The 2x 1TB WD Black SN770 NVMe drives can be used for cache, improving access speeds for frequently accessed files and applications. You can configure them in RAID 1 or use them separately for cache and storage.
Final Recommendation:
You should be able to run all of these apps simultaneously, but performance will depend on the number of concurrent users and media streams. If you're planning for a larger home setup or future-proofing, you could also consider upgrading RAM or adding a secondary NAS later on.