Ignoring the hardware costs, what are the advantages and disadvantages of DIY vs something like Synology from a software/functionality point of view?

TaylorHu · December 3, 2020

So, we all know that a big advantage of building your own NAS is you can save on cost. Synology units, for example, are not cheap. You can definitely build something more powerful for cheaper, especially if you have some extra parts already laying around like a lot of us do.

But what about the software differences? How difficult is it to set up and manage your own NAS with something like FreeNAS? Are there any killer apps or functionality that you get with Synology that you don't with a DIY solution? Are there any cool things you can do with a DIY setup that you CAN'T do with something like Synology?

My use case is relatively simple. I have a bunch of RAW files pictures I've taken over the years. Right now they're just stored on one hard drive (not ideal) in my desktop, but are backed up with Carbonite. I'd like something with RAID, just to protect myself from the eventual hardware failure. And then something I can easily backup photos to over interwebs when I am not at home.

The other thing I would like to do is set up a VPN. I use Lightroom to manage and edit my photos. The way Lightroom works is the Catalog file, the file that has all the edits and metadata and everything about your photos, has to be on your local computer, but the actual image files can be on a network drive.

I was thinking that I can sync the Catalog file between two computers by just using OneDrive, and then if the photos themselves are on a NAS then I could jump between editing on my desktop and my laptop relatively seamlessly, and with the use of a VPN, even edit when I'm not at home.

I'm not going to be like running a plex server or doing any video encoding on it or anything like that. It would be entirely for these RAW image files. So I don't think I need the latest and greatest with a particularly beefy processor or anything. SO for my use case an older Synology unit that "just works" seems most appealing, but I was curious about what differences there are at the high end.

Radium_Angel · December 3, 2020

2 minutes ago, TaylorHu said:

more powerful

You don't need power for a NAS, in fact, low power systems that run cool and consume little energy, are the key element in a good NAS.

I prefer pre-built NAS boxes because they are less hassle to maintain (set it and forget it) are backed by a warranty and are very good at their one (or small handful) job.

Chionele · December 4, 2020

Apart from Synology's Hybrid RAID (SHR) I can't think of anything that would make their offerings better than building your own - assuming you have the basic understanding of computers and are willing to take on the task of keeping it all running. There is the argument for "it just works", but how much you value that over long term upgrades/new requirements depends on your own needs.

I'm currently working on a NAS build as well, and for the price of 8-bay Synology I can build 16/18-bay off-the-shelf computer that's way more powerful than my needs would ever be, slap in a bunch of drives and still stay under the price of the Synology without any disks.

charlie_root · December 4, 2020

DIY gives you a lot of flexibility in your setup if you are looking to do something specific. It also is vendor agnostic, so you can change hardware or software freely depending on your needs in the future.

For example, I have 2 servers in my house, with one acting as a primary and the other as a backup. The primary syncs with the backup nightly, and the both are setup to sync with cloud storage. Only the backup actually sends data to the cloud server; the primary just has the ability to download from that cloud storage if necessary.

There's a few nice things about this. It's all running stock OpenBSD, so swapping hardware would be pretty easy. If a RAID array goes down in one of the 2 servers, I can switch to the other one while it gets rebuilt. If a flood or fire wipes out my house, the data is still on the remote cloud servers. One last nice thing: I can run a git or cvs repository directly on the backup servers and it will all get backed up automatically. The total cost for the hardware for both servers was $150, so hardware savings are significant if you get used stuff on eBay.