First NAS, Synology DS220+ ?

BendikHaukdal · May 10, 2020

I’m hoping you guys could help me out and see if what I’m thinking is correct or not, and if you guys have any recommendations for my wants.

First let me start of with saying I’ve never had a NAS and I’m not experienced with how it works. However I’ve been looking into this and I think I’ve got a handle on it.

So far from what I can tell the upcoming Synology DS220+ should suit my needs. I’m mostly considering Synology since software and ease of use is a big factor for me and I’m willing to pay a premium for it. I’ve heard Synology is the best NAS brand when it comes to software.

What am I going to use the NAS for? I have a few use cases I’m aiming for.

First of I’ll use it as a backup for sensitive and personal data, and personal photos. In total 200gb should be enough for this purpose. I have a google drive subscription which I will also be backed up to the NAS (only one way), which is part of the 200gb.

Second I want to be able to run Plex Server on it. I have a library of around 2 tb. This is movies and TV shows I’ve ripped from dvds and mostly transcoded to mp4 files, but there’s also some mkv files as well. I have an Apple TV, an iPhone and iPad, and Chromecast which the Plex server will be streaming to. There won’t be multiple streams at a time and I won’t stream outside of my home. It’ll all stay local on my home network.

Third I want to set up torrenting on the NAS as well (all legal of course). As far as I have understood it should be possible to have download station set up running in the background. Then I can have a folder which I can put torrent files in and they’ll automatically be added to download station and start to download. When they’re done downloading the can be automatically placed in a different folder on the NAS. I plan to switch most of my workload over to an iPad Pro, so the NAS will handle the torrenting for me.

Let me know what you guys think. Is there anything I should consider. Do the DS220+ have the horsepower or should I be considering the DS720+?

Also I have two older hard drives 4 tb, which is from an gaming pc, and I’m hoping to use them to start with. They’re however not NAS drives, so my plan is to use Synologys raid SHR and then maybe switch them out in about a year or two to 8tb ironwolf drives or something.

Electronics Wizardy · May 10, 2020

Yep the DS220+ should handle ll of this easaily. That workload seems pretty light, so you don't need the extra cpu power of a higher end model.

1 hour ago, BendikHaukdal said:

Also I have two older hard drives 4 tb, which is from an gaming pc, and I’m hoping to use them to start with. They’re however not NAS drives, so my plan is to use Synologys raid SHR and then maybe switch them out in about a year or two to 8tb ironwolf drives or something.

Yep any hdds will work fine. Just keep backups as well, as the whole nas can fail.

DogKnight · May 11, 2020

Synology software is great and easy to use with a lot of options. I use mine for Plex, Cloud Storage syncing, Windows and Mac backups, and more.

With these units though, consider future storage needs. Sometimes worth going for a 4 bay option, even if you only populate two drives initially.

BendikHaukdal · May 11, 2020

Thanks for the answers! My current backup is an 2 tb hhd in an enclosure, so I'll prob keep my my movies a there as well. My sensitive documents are backed up in google drive and locally on my laptop. Until I get two upgraded hhd for a NAS specifically I'll keep backups elsewhere. Now I'll just wait until the new Synology DS220+ launches.