Need Advice on Expanding Synology DS718+ Storage

[Enquiries]

Hey NAS Compares team,

I’m a power user with a Synology DS718+ primarily used for Plex streaming and backing up computers. Running out of space and looking to add at least 2TB in the near term. Here’s my current setup and questions:

Current Setup:

Drives: 2x WD40FFRX-68N32N0, 3.6 TB each
Used Capacity: 96% (3.4 TB of 3.5 TB)
RAM: 16 GB
CPU: Intel Celeron J3455, Quad-core 1.5 GHz
Questions:

How outdated is my current setup? Should I upgrade? If so, to what?
Is adding a Synology Expansion Unit DX517 worth it?
Considering adding a Crucial MX500 1TB SSD cache. Is this a good choice or are there better options? What improvements will it bring?
What RAID configuration would you recommend for performance and cost?
Thanks for the help!

[ed]

Your current setup with the Synology DS718+ is still quite capable, featuring a robust Intel Celeron J3455 CPU and 16GB of RAM. However, if you're experiencing storage constraints and considering upgrades, here are some recommendations:

Upgrade Considerations: While your DS718+ isn't outdated, adding more storage capacity could alleviate current space limitations. Consider upgrading to higher-capacity HDDs or adding SSDs for caching purposes.

Expansion Unit DX517: Adding a DX517 expansion unit could be beneficial if you need additional drive bays for future scalability beyond the DS718+'s base four bays. This would allow you to increase your storage capacity seamlessly without replacing your current NAS.

SSD Cache with Crucial MX500: Integrating a Crucial MX500 1TB SSD for caching could significantly enhance your NAS's performance, especially in read-intensive Plex streaming scenarios. It accelerates data access for frequently accessed files, improving overall responsiveness.

RAID Configuration: For a balance between performance and cost-efficiency, RAID 5 or RAID 6 could be suitable choices. RAID 5 offers good performance with one disk fault tolerance, while RAID 6 provides higher fault tolerance with two disk failures at the cost of slightly reduced usable capacity.

https://nascompares.com/answer/best-nvme...r-caching/