NAS performance upgrade for video editing

[Enquiries]

Hi NAScompares,

I work as a full-time video editor and also have 1 occasional video editor on my team. We edit .mov files mostly, up to 3 times a year project size is 500-600 GB, other projects are smaller. Editing with proxies.

We have the Synology DS1522+ with 3 x 10TB Ironwolf Pro HDDs. No upgrades yet.

Most of the advice I find regarding speed and performance for video editing is about upgrading the system to 10gbe.

However, in our current location, we do not have the option to upgrade our internet to 10 Gbps. We currently have 500 Mbps and will upgrade soon to 1 Gbps, which is the max we can get until we move out to another location at the end of this year.

What would be our best options to speed up performance for now without upgrading to 10gbe?
Does installing NVMe SSD cache make sense with a 1gbe connection?
Shall I upgrade RAM and fill the 2 empty HDD slots?
Which action should I prioritize in case the budget is too small?

Thank you for your help.
Emilija

[ed]

Since you are using proxies for editing, the most significant bottleneck for your editing workflow is most likely the speed of the storage disks rather than the network connection. Upgrading the RAM may help in improving performance if you experience any issues with large project files, but it is not likely to provide a significant improvement in overall performance.

Installing NVMe SSD cache (now also nvme pools) can help in improving read and write speeds of frequently accessed files and increase overall system performance, but it may not be as effective as upgrading to 10gbe for your particular use case.

If your budget is limited, upgrading to SSD drives instead of HDDs would be a good investment for improving overall system performance. SSDs have faster read and write speeds than HDDs, which will help in reducing load times and increasing the speed of read/write operations. You can also consider filling the two empty HDD slots with additional HDDs for more storage capacity, but it may not significantly improve performance.

[robothunter]

Hi NAScompares,

I work as a full-time video editor and also have 1 occasional video editor on my team. We edit .mov files mostly, up to 3 times a year project size is 500-600 GB, other projects are smaller. Editing with proxies.

We have the Synology DS1522+ with 3 x 10TB Ironwolf Pro HDDs. No upgrades yet.

Most of the advice I find regarding speed and performance for video editing is about upgrading the system to 10gbe.

However, in our current location, we do not have the option to upgrade our internet to 10 Gbps. We currently have 500 Mbps and will upgrade soon to 1 Gbps, which is the max we can get until we move out to another location at the end of this year.

What would be our best options to speed up performance for now without upgrading to 10gbe?
Does installing NVMe SSD cache make sense with a 1gbe connection?
Shall I upgrade RAM and fill the 2 empty HDD slots?
Which action should I prioritize in case the budget is too small?

Thank you for your help.
Emilija

If I could add my two cents on top of what Ed said. Your internet speed and your local network speed are two different things. Whether your internet is 500 Mbps or 1 Gbps you can still edit from your NAS at 10GbE if you upgrade it. You could add a 10GbE switch and the upgrade card for the DS1522+. Then you and your partner could edit from the NAS at 10 Gbps if you follow Ed's advice. If you are really trying to keep costs down you could skip buying the switch for now. Since you are the primary user you could run a cable directly from your 10GbE port on your computer to the 10GbE upgrade card in the DS1522+. The NAS would still be connected to your local network via its 1 GbE connection(s) so your partner could still edit at 1 Gbps but since you said he only works occasionally maybe that's not a big deal.