NAS Recommendations

[Zalosath]

Hi,

 

I've currently got a Synology DS218play but it's quite slow, I can really only do one thing at once and it's a bit frustrating.

 

So I'm looking for recommendations, budget is ~£600. (Not including drives) 

 

Main points:

- Able to run docker

- Able to run Phpmyadmin/MariaDB

- Jellyfin

- Remote access (like Synology you can have a URL that directs to the NAS)

- Separate drive for OS

 

Open to anything, branded or a custom NAS, but I've heard that set up for a custom NAS is quite complex. 

 

Any recommendations? Cheers. 

[Needfuldoer]

28 minutes ago, Zalosath said:

Any recommendations? Cheers. 

How many drive bays and PCIe slots do you need?

 

If the answer to both is "not many", an office-class desktop PC is plenty capable. Run a couple spinning drives for bulk storage and SSDs for your database and Jellyfin metadata.

 

 

Small appliances like the HP MicroServer line are also an option.

[manikyath]

8 minutes ago, Zalosath said:

Synology DS218play but it's quite slow

slow as in disk IO or as in running services on the NAS directly?

[Zalosath]

1 minute ago, Needfuldoer said:

How many drive bays and PCIe slots do you need?

 

If the answer to both is "not many", an office-class desktop PC is plenty capable. Run a couple spinning drives for bulk storage and SSDs for your database and Jellyfin metadata.

 

 

Yeah, my only worry is setting up the remote access. Do you have any experience with that?

 

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

slow as in disk IO or as in running services on the NAS directly?

A bit of both really. When nothing is happening in the background, it's fine to do one task at once, it's just when I try to do anything else that it slows down. 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Zalosath said:

 

A bit of both really. When nothing is happening in the background, it's fine to do one task at once, it's just when I try to do anything else that it slows down. 

define "try to do anything else" - because this just sounds like slow drives to me...

[Zalosath]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

define "try to do anything else" - because this just sounds like slow drives to me...

Probably is to be honest. 

 

Example, if I try to install anything, everything will freeze til it's finished. 

[Gokul_P]

Asusstor has offerings that will met your requirements but it is asus. The best way is doing diy like @Needfuldoer said. If Your router supports VPN or you can run a VPN host on the server you can connect to the nas remotely very easily. Tutorail for doing that 

 

[Needfuldoer]

13 minutes ago, manikyath said:

slow as in disk IO or as in running services on the NAS directly?

The biggest problem I had with the Synology DS415+ I used to run was its responsiveness. I loaded it with RAM (while I was inside doing the motherboard resistor fix), but by default it was too aggressive at parking the drives at idle. If it was idle for a few minutes, and I asked it to do just about anything, I had to wait for it to spin up all four hard drives. (I think it was doing staggered startup as well...)

 

Once it was up and running, it was okay.

[Zalosath]

7 minutes ago, Gokul_P said:

Asusstor has offerings that will met your requirements but it is asus. The best way is doing diy like @Needfuldoer said. If Your router supports VPN or you can run a VPN host on the server you can connect to the nas remotely very easily. Tutorail for doing that 

 

Okay I'll look into that, cheers! 

[Zalosath]

@Needfuldoer @Gokul_P decided to order some components and do it DIY, think I'll have a go with a Linux installation. Cheers for your help! 

[Zalosath]

On 8/12/2023 at 4:52 PM, Gokul_P said:

Asusstor has offerings that will met your requirements but it is asus. The best way is doing diy like @Needfuldoer said. If Your router supports VPN or you can run a VPN host on the server you can connect to the nas remotely very easily. Tutorail for doing that 

 

I've had a look and I don't think it's what I want exactly. I'm mainly using this for SQL stuff and Jellyfin but the PC may not always be connected to the VPN. (the SQL stuff is for some games I created, for some friends and I, so I don't want to force my friends to connect to my VPN every time they want to play the game). 
 

How can I set it up like my synology had it? E.g. zalosath.synology.me? (I'm fine for it to be an IP address instead)

[Gokul_P]

20 hours ago, Zalosath said:

I've had a look and I don't think it's what I want exactly. I'm mainly using this for SQL stuff and Jellyfin but the PC may not always be connected to the VPN. (the SQL stuff is for some games I created, for some friends and I, so I don't want to force my friends to connect to my VPN every time they want to play the game). 
 

How can I set it up like my synology had it? E.g. zalosath.synology.me? (I'm fine for it to be an IP address instead)

You only need to connect to when you are not in your local network if you are in your local network you can just enter the ip address of the machine to use the nas controller UI . You could use SSH to login to your machine if you are using linux (You can install webbase management stuff if you are running from bare Linux os (I never used one SSH is somuch better in that case)  if you are on Unraid or Truenas The url will be Server Ip on your browser You can install portainer to manage dockers with gui aswell. Hosting the management Website Directly to the internet is a really bad idea and you should do either with Vpn (Wireshark) or Using something like teamviewer 

In my opinion VPN is the best and safe way to host the NAS to internet.