Asustor vs Synology NAS

[ShanonHeller]

Hi community, I need some help to decide what to buy.
I am a bit spooked by the reviews stating that the ADM interface compared to DSM and the mobile apps are unpolished and outdated compared to the Synology siblings.

I have a Synology DS1513+ running since 10 years without much trouble so far connected to a UPS.
But looking at the current Synology models and the company approach pisses me off a bit. They are pushing people to buy their own branded drives, lacking flexibility I would expect from a NAS.

What would be the most accurate equivalent or better model than the DS1522+ with possibility to upgrade to 10 Gbps networking in the future and good ECC RAM?

I was also thinking on the TrueNas / unRAID approach, but I honestly dont want to spend so much time managing my NAS, I just want the thing to work well primarily for file sharing and endure a long time.

I already purchased a Mini PC a Beelink SEi with a 12th gen processor, 32 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD where I plan to run ProxMox and some VM´s so the most CPU hungry things should be out from this device.

I already purchased some components taking advantage of some deals.
I already got: 2x Seagate EXOS 20 TB drives and 1 Samsung QVO SATA SSD 8 TB.

What are your thoughts on my situation?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[ed]

I completely get where you’re coming from. Synology makes rock-solid hardware, and DSM is the best in terms of user-friendliness. But yeah, the whole “Synology-branded drives only” approach and some of their locked-down decisions have been frustrating for a lot of people. If you want an equivalent or better alternative to the DS1522+ that gives you 10GbE upgradeability, ECC RAM support, and flexibility, here are a few solid options:

1. QNAP TVS-h674 (Best Performance & Expandability)
Intel Core i3-12100 (Upgradeable to i5/i7)
10GbE upgradable (PCIe slot)
Supports ECC RAM (when using ECC-compatible memory)
Runs QuTS Hero (ZFS-based) or standard QTS
M.2 NVMe slots for caching or storage
This is probably the best alternative to a DS1522+, especially since it doesn’t force proprietary drives and has way more upgrade options. Plus, you already have high-capacity Seagate EXOS drives, and QNAP handles third-party drives much better than Synology.

2. Asustor Lockerstor 6 Gen2 (AS6706T) – Budget-Friendly Option
Intel Celeron N5105 (Not as powerful, but power-efficient)
10GbE upgradable via PCIe
Supports up to 16GB RAM (non-ECC)
ADM OS isn’t as polished as DSM, but it’s functional
If you’re considering Asustor, this is a solid mid-range choice, but ADM is nowhere near DSM in terms of polish. If you mainly just need file sharing and storage longevity, it’ll get the job done.

3. TrueNAS/UnRAID?
Since you already have a Beelink SEi 12th Gen Mini PC running Proxmox, you’re in a great position to offload CPU-intensive tasks to that, meaning your NAS can focus purely on storage and reliability. TrueNAS Scale would be ideal for rock-solid storage, but it’s more hands-on than QNAP or Synology. UnRAID is much easier to manage but still requires occasional maintenance.

If you don’t want to mess with OS updates, drive configurations, and RAID tuning, stick with QNAP or Asustor for a simpler, plug-and-play experience.

[ShanonHeller]

I completely get where you’re coming from. Synology makes rock-solid hardware, and DSM is the best in terms of user-friendliness. But yeah, the whole “Synology-branded drives only” approach and some of their locked-down decisions have been frustrating for a lot of people. If you want an equivalent or better alternative to the DS1522+ that gives you 10GbE upgradeability, ECC RAM support, and flexibility, here are a few solid options:

1. QNAP TVS-h674 (Best Performance & Expandability)
Intel Core i3-12100 (Upgradeable to i5/i7)
10GbE upgradable (PCIe slot)
Supports ECC RAM (when using ECC-compatible memory)
Runs QuTS Hero (ZFS-based) or standard QTS
M.2 NVMe slots for caching or storage
This is probably the best alternative to a DS1522+, especially since it doesn’t force proprietary drives and has way more upgrade options. Plus, you already have high-capacity Seagate EXOS drives, and QNAP handles third-party drives much better than Synology.

2. Asustor Lockerstor 6 Gen2 (AS6706T) – Budget-Friendly Option
Intel Celeron N5105 (Not as powerful, but power-efficient)
10GbE upgradable via PCIe
Supports up to 16GB RAM (non-ECC)
ADM OS isn’t as polished as DSM, but it’s functional
If you’re considering Asustor, this is a solid mid-range choice, but ADM is nowhere near DSM in terms of polish. If you mainly just need file sharing and storage longevity, it’ll get the job done.
Raft Wars

3. TrueNAS/UnRAID?
Since you already have a Beelink SEi 12th Gen Mini PC running Proxmox, you’re in a great position to offload CPU-intensive tasks to that, meaning your NAS can focus purely on storage and reliability. TrueNAS Scale would be ideal for rock-solid storage, but it’s more hands-on than QNAP or Synology. UnRAID is much easier to manage but still requires occasional maintenance.

If you don’t want to mess with OS updates, drive configurations, and RAID tuning, stick with QNAP or Asustor for a simpler, plug-and-play experience.

Thanks for your reply