Backup NAS: Synology, QNAP, build one?

[Video Beagle]

I'm thinking that a project this year is to set up a raid NAS for backing up my storage.

I'm not needing anything mega...no petabyte projects here... nothing that I'm gonna be transcoding off of or anything.. just a basic "here's a big network drive that I backup my files to on some schedule"

 

I'm thinking a 4 or 5 drive setup would be best for my storage needs.

 

So, there are the synology and qnap cases/nases that are pre-built, have software and are ready to go.

I followed a tutorial from some other tech channel I saw on youtube and once turned a Dell Optiplex into a synology-based NAS as a test. And there are other software packages....

 

My question is, what would be best to look at..especially from angles like cost, ease of setup/use, performance....  One of those pre-built? Getting a case that can handle a bunch of drives and building something? Finding an older used PC and just converting (again that can hold the number of drives?)

 

Anyone have thoughts on this idea?

[NineEyeRon]

Following as I am also interested in this as my Seagate Personal Cloud packed in a few weeks back.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Do you want to diy it? Its really do you want a plug and play solution, or a diy box. Price will be similar unless you go with used parts.

 

How many tb you thinking? Need 10gbe?

[Mira Yurizaki]

30 minutes ago, Video Beagle said:

Anyone have thoughts on this idea?

It really depends on if you want to have a project on your hands that may have quite the learning curve, or something you can literally plug in and play.

 

In my case, I bought a pre-built one because I didn't want to deal with setting up something I wasn't familiar with and I didn't want a project on my hands.

[Chunchunmaru_]

Mind if you want to use FreeNAS you have to be careful about hardware compatibility

[Video Beagle]

39 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Do you want to diy it? Its really do you want a plug and play solution, or a diy box. Price will be similar unless you go with used parts.

 

How many tb you thinking? Need 10gbe?

I'm thinking somewhere in the 12-20TB range., my home network is only 1 gb, so that's that.

 

I'm torn between my inherent cheapness, my inherent laziness, and my constant search for something to do to engage my brain in learning that will inevitably get me in over my head ....that's why I'm just starting out with some basic research like this on the two competing ideals.

[Mira Yurizaki]

3 minutes ago, Video Beagle said:

I'm torn between my inherent cheapness, my inherent laziness, and my constant search for something to do to engage my brain in learning that will inevitably get me in over my head ....that's why I'm just starting out with some basic research like this on the two competing ideals.

If it helps sway your decision, there's still a ton of things you can tweak with a pre-built one.

 

And probably a lot of things you'll bang your head against the wall trying to get working.

[Electronics Wizardy]

28 minutes ago, Video Beagle said:

I'm thinking somewhere in the 12-20TB range., my home network is only 1 gb, so that's that.

 

I'm torn between my inherent cheapness, my inherent laziness, and my constant search for something to do to engage my brain in learning that will inevitably get me in over my head ....that's why I'm just starting out with some basic research like this on the two competing ideals.

Id probaby just get a basic 4 bay synology or qnap and put those 8tb external drives in them. Then you can mess around later, but it will work well for now.