NAS Upgrade

[Enquiries]

Hi there,
I currently have an old QNAP TS-251A with 8GB RAM, and 2x 4TB drives in RAID 1. I have run out of storage space, and am looking to upgrade to larger capacity drives, as well as a faster NAS as I'm finding the TS251A just can't keep up these days.
I primarily use the NAS to back up photos, documents, etc. In the past, I was streaming Plex 1080p, but it just wasn't coping with anything above that.
I was thinking of upgrading to 8-12GB of storage, and I think the QNAP TS-264 looks good, albeit expensive (in Australia).
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

[ed]

For your NAS upgrade, I recommend considering the Synology DS423+ or the QNAP TS-464, both of which are solid choices depending on your needs and budget.

The Synology DS423+ comes with an Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core processor and starts with 2GB of RAM, which can be upgraded to 6GB. It has four drive bays and supports M.2 NVMe slots for cache acceleration, which could help with speed if you're using SSDs. It's a great choice if you’re looking for a reliable, easy-to-use NAS for basic backup and media streaming tasks. It also has dual 1GbE LAN ports and a very compact design, making it a good fit for home use. The price is quite reasonable, coming in around $499 USD.

On the other hand, the QNAP TS-464 offers a bit more power with its Intel Celeron N5095 processor, which can go up to 2.9GHz, and it comes with 8GB of RAM (though it’s non-upgradable). Like the DS423+, it has four drive bays and M.2 NVMe support. What sets it apart is the dual 2.5GbE LAN ports, which provide faster network speeds compared to the DS423+. It also has an HDMI output, which can be useful if you want to connect it to a display. This model is priced a little higher, around $549 USD, but the extra performance could be worth it if you plan to run more demanding applications or need faster network speeds.

Both models are great for backing up your photos and documents and streaming Plex content. If you need something more affordable with the option to upgrade memory, the DS423+ would be a good choice. However, if you’re looking for better network speeds and a more powerful processor for future-proofing your setup, the TS-464 might be the better option.