Help needed finding the right NAS

[Sorenson]

Hello, I'm looking to buy a NAS for data storage and game storage. The primary use will be to add storage to my partner's 13" MBP that only has 256gb of storage. She has to work with photoshop files for her marketing work and wants to be able to store all the work she creates without using an external USB drive. Since we're getting a NAS anyways, I want to be able to store some of my older games on the NAS that way they don't have to be installed on my main system and living room PC at the same time. I have seen this done with one system, but am not sure how it works across two. If it can't work for both at the same time, I would just have the living room SFF PC access the NAS storage so I don't have to add more drives to it. 

 

The two NAS's I have been looking at are the: Asustor AS5304T 4-Bay NAS Enclosure and the: Synology 2 bay NAS DiskStation DS720+. I like that the Asustor has 2.5gbe and four drive bays, but the Synology has m.2 slots for SSD acceleration. Since I don't need a ton of storage I was either going to do two SSDs in the Asustor or two drives in the Synology with an SSD cache in the Synology. I was hoping you guys could give me guidance on what would be the better choice since I'm completely new to this. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id really suggest just getting a usb hdd for the laptop. Much faster, doesn't have to be on the same network. Much easier to use with apps too.

 

Id try to keep games off the nas as many games don't like running form network storage and its just more hassle. Its much easier and cheaper to just get a hdd here. You also don't want to just share a game install between systems as games are not designed to be used like that.

 

I don't think your a good use of a nas here. Id just get some local hdds.

[Sorenson]

6 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id really suggest just getting a usb hdd for the laptop. Much faster, doesn't have to be on the same network. Much easier to use with apps too.

 

Id try to keep games off the nas as many games don't like running form network storage and its just more hassle. Its much easier and cheaper to just get a hdd here. You also don't want to just share a game install between systems as games are not designed to be used like that.

 

I don't think your a good use of a nas here. Id just get some local hdds.

Alright, I can drop the gaming from it. But she only has two ports on her laptop so If I were to go with a NAS would just some basic cheap $150-200 be the best bet?

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Sorenson said:

Alright, I can drop the gaming from it. But she only has two ports on her laptop so If I were to go with a NAS would just some basic cheap $150-200 be the best bet?

What files would she be storing on her nas?

 

Id just get a usb hub so she can use more drives. A external hdd will just be much less hassle here, and work better.

[Sorenson]

4 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What files would she be storing on her nas?

 

Id just get a usb hub so she can use more drives. A external hdd will just be much less hassle here, and work better.

It would be her frequently used stock images, completed projects, and backups. Honestly, its just annoying having a USB drive always connected to your laptop and that is why we were looking at NAS.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Sorenson said:

It would be her frequently used stock images, completed projects, and backups. Honestly, its just annoying having a USB drive always connected to your laptop and that is why we were looking at NAS.

Why not just put a bigger ssd in the laptop? What model of macbook does she have? Most of them can have the SSD upgraded somewhat easily.

 

Would you use wired networking? Your still gonna need a cable as wifi is gonna be way to slow for this use.

[Sorenson]

2 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Why not just put a bigger ssd in the laptop? What model of macbook does she have? Most of them can have the SSD upgraded somewhat easily.

 

Would you use wired networking? Your still gonna need a cable as wifi is gonna be way to slow for this use.

its the 2019-2020 Intel model with soldered storage. She only has two ports and if she stores it in a USB drive she would have to plug the drive into her usbc hub dongle all the time and it just becomes really cumbersome. Also, we have the Netgear Orbi wifi six router so our wifi speeds are not a concern. 

 

I wanted a NAS because it is convenient to not always have to be wired to it and the information can be shared and accessed remotely. She also has an android and I have an iPhone so it would be convenient to share photos we take in a NAS instead of uploading them to a google drive. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

50 minutes ago, Sorenson said:

its the 2019-2020 Intel model with soldered storage. She only has two ports and if she stores it in a USB drive she would have to plug the drive into her usbc hub dongle all the time and it just becomes really cumbersome. Also, we have the Netgear Orbi wifi six router so our wifi speeds are not a concern. 

 

I wanted a NAS because it is convenient to not always have to be wired to it and the information can be shared and accessed remotely. She also has an android and I have an iPhone so it would be convenient to share photos we take in a NAS instead of uploading them to a google drive. 

Id still say wifi is gonna be too slow to work off(the latency is a good amount worse) of, and really suggest just getting a external ssd. You can get usb c ones so you don't need a don't.

 

But if you want a nas, Id just get a synology 2 bay. There pretty cheap, and work well.