I m looking for a Synology NAS Need backup and would like to do a media server Is the DS218+ a ...

[G+_Harry Henze]

I’m looking for a Synology NAS. Need backup and would like to do a media server. Is the DS218+ a good option

[G+_Daniel Stagner]

That depends on how much you want to back up. I would recommend 4 bay chassis so you can use raid 5 instead of a mirror. But I am pretty sure a mirror has better performance. Where raid 5 allows you to used up to ~66% of the drive space. This allows the overall cost per TB to come down a lot.

 

I am only telling you this because you asked about backup + media server. The D218+ is a great solution for a media server as long as its data is also backed up somewhere else in addition to the DS218+. And if you only need 4tb of storage space the cost per TB of storage can not be brought down all that much.

 

If you needed 10 plus TBs of storage the cost for the higher capacity (in terms of bays) NAS would be offset by the higher cost of 10 TB drives.

 

There is also an upgrade path with the mirrors and some less expensive 4TB drives giving you 4TB of redundant storage per mirror. Once you max out your drives you can pull one half of the mirror (one drive) replace it with an 8TB drive. Then wait a long time for all the data to be copied over. Once that is complete remove the other half of the mirror, replace with an other 8TB drive and wait some more. After that is complete expand the file system and now you have an 8TB mirror. And you system stays up the entire time.

 

I hope this helps.

[G+_Harry Henze]

Daniel Stagner would you suggest the ds418, ds418play or ds418+. I don’t think I need 10tb, would you suggest 4 x 2tb?

[G+_Daniel Stagner]

If you think your storage will not max out past 8 TB in the next two years, then the DS218Plus should be good for you. I think they both do 4k transcoding and have the AES encryption chip. So you are good there no matter what you decide.

 

What is you goal? To store media that can be downloaded or reproduced form the original source if lost? Or to store you family photos and tax recorders that can not be replaced? For my family photos, I store them to several machines non of which are Synologys.

 

If it is my media I do not worry to much about redundancy and do not store them to the cloud. I have all the CDs, DVDs and if needed I can rip them all one more time.

 

I have a DS218Plus as my media box and I find myself wanting more storage for its other apps like moments. A photo cloud for you iPhone/android that you can backup to from anywhere in the world. It works as good as google photos in terms of backing up in the back ground. I have used it a few times with an old iPhone, google fi sim, and big battery for remote time-lapses over 4G networks.

 

So if it were me and I had a second chance I would buy the DS418play.

[G+_Rud Dog]

Daniel Stagner first off all of what I say here is based on observation as I am not an expert in any sense of the word. Having been warned here is what I am seeing.

Oh and by the way if by media server you mean family pictures and videos only a portion of what I say is applicable.

My main reason for getting the DS918+ was for a media server; Plex, HDHomerun and OTA DVR.

At the last minute decided to dump all my pics onto the NAS for testing purposes.

What followed was interesting. After first loading the pic onto the server there was a sluggish and choppy viewing of a football game while it was being recorded. Yes, I was viewing the game while it was being recorded. This was just after I deleted many pics on the NAS. The mere deletion of pics caused the NAS to start using CPU for some sort of update of that library.

This occurred twice both were the same scenario.

 

Later that night decided to watch a second football game while it was recording and after the NAS had finished doing whatever it was doing the pics library.

This time the viewing was smooth as pie and the pic sorting or whatever the NAS was doing had completed.

 

So I don't know if you plan on doing video recording on your media server. But apparently, if you load some pics or modify the mix of pics it does strain the ability to also record videos smoothly.

 

I do not have the SDD cache hardware and only 4GBs of memory so that might have added to the strain. Don't know as I am not an expert.

 

Happy viewing.

[G+_Peter Hanse]

Remember you can always do local backup to external USB connected drive and/or have friend setup second one at their house that you backup to. Yes you can always recreate from original media but that is long process and if house burns down originals go with it.

[G+_Daniel Stagner]

Harry Henze Ok perhaps I was a bit long winded in my last post. But, yes you want the 418play. I think you will find the extra storage useful after you become more familiar with the Synology OS and all it has to offer. If I could do it again I would get the 418plus.

 

Rud Dog I have found that at times it can bog down when streaming content to my LG TV Plex client. But I have not had a problem with linux, Windows, or Mac Plex clients.

[G+_Derek Anderson]

I have a DS215+ and love it. I use it as a file server, DLNA media server streaming to several smart TVs and rokus, surveillance camera server (recording 4 IP cameras), and use the download station for lots of torrenting. I do all that and there’s still lots of cpu headroom to spare. A DS218+ or even a DS218play would be more than enough home server for probably 98% of the public.

[G+_Harry Henze]

Thank you to everybody for all the great info

[G+_Rud Dog]

Daniel Stagner Turns out the removal of the commercials option was the culprit.