Using M.2 SSD In QNAP NAS

[Enquiries]

Hello,

I'm new to all of this NAS stuff. Building a new Plex/Photo/Video Editing NAS. Might expand to virtual computers and video security in the future. Currently just bought and setting up for the first time:

QNAP TVS-h874T
i9/64GB
2x Seagate Ironwolf Pro 24TB

I trying to figure out a few things:

What M.2 cache should I setup? (I just found out about this!)
What M.2 SSD size should I choose?
RAID type for these M.2? (I think I'm gonna choose RAID 1 for main HDD because I only have two HDD at this time.)

I was thinking 2x 4TB Samsung 990 Pro as I love them and have Samsung's in other computers of mine. But maybe this is really, trully overkill? Maybe not as in the future I plan to populate all 8 bays with 24TB HDD?

I know it all sounds expensive but I've been saving for like 10 years for this NAS. I want to do it correct and with overkill so I can just add to it and not necessarily have to replace parts.

Thank you,

Jonathan

[ed]

Congratulations on your new QNAP TVS-h874T! It's an impressive NAS, and with your i9 processor and 64GB of RAM, you're definitely geared up for some serious performance.

Regarding your M.2 cache setup, opting for two Samsung 990 Pro SSDs sounds like a solid choice, especially considering your preference for Samsung drives and your desire for high performance. Since you're looking for overkill, having a RAID 1 setup for your M.2 SSDs would provide redundancy and ensure data integrity. As for the size, 4TB for each SSD might indeed seem like overkill for caching purposes, especially if you're mainly using the NAS for Plex, photo/video editing, and other multimedia tasks. However, considering your future plans to populate all 8 bays with 24TB HDDs, having ample cache space could help maintain smooth performance as your storage needs grow.

ing up your NAS, and feel free to reach out if you have any more questions along the way!



When choosing NVMe for caching you need to look at reliability ratings such as DWPD/MTBF. Here are a few on the list
https://nascompares.com/answer/nvme-m-2-...dwpd-mtbf/
Caching means a lot of read and write operations, unlike regular storage situation.
You would need to look at models with 0.5DWPD and above

970 pro – 0.66DWPD

990pro – 0.68 DWPD

Synology SNV3400 – 0.68DWPD

Seagate FireCuda 510 – 0.7 DWPD
Seagate IronWolf 525 – 0.7 DWPD
Seagate Firecuda 530 – 0.7 DWPD
Seagate PS5 Game drive – 0.7 DWPD

Seagate FireCuda 520 -0.9 DWPD
WD Red SN700 – 1.0DWPD