First Time NAS Buyer..

[elKz]

Hey everyone,

 

I've been running a media server for the past few years now for everyone in the home, however I've been running it off of an old, power hungry PC that I just had laid around. I want to upgrade away from this and go for something more power efficient. I want to run things like Plex, an email server, FTP server and probably more. There will never be more than 3 or 4 people accessing it. 

 

Would it make more sense to buy something like a Synology DS923+ or build a cheap system, in a small case?

[Budget DIY]

18 minutes ago, elKz said:

Hey everyone,

 

I've been running a media server for the past few years now for everyone in the home, however I've been running it off of an old, power hungry PC that I just had laid around. I want to upgrade away from this and go for something more power efficient. I want to run things like Plex, an email server, FTP server and probably more. There will never be more than 3 or 4 people accessing it. 

 

Would it make more sense to buy something like a Synology DS923+ or build a cheap system, in a small case?

I'm a TOTAL newb @ this, but I remember many ISP's closing port 25, which prevented people from setting up private mail servers. You might be talking about something else, or you might not be affected by such tweaks in your region. Just something you might want to look into.

[tkitch]

You'd probably be better off with a purpose built PC, over a synology, you get more flexibility which you'd want.

 

I built a PC in a Jonsbo N1 and it's absolutely amazing for my NAS.  

[LIGISTX]

Don’t run your own email server, there is no point in it, and it’s just one more massive security vulnerability you have to manage. 
 

Also, don’t use FTP, if anything…. SFTP, but ideally just tunnel into your network and access network shares via SMB over the VPN.

 

And I would agree, for things like this, you’re better off with a PC. A low power PC would be perfect.  
 

What are you currently running your media server on, hardware wise?