My WD Cloud NAS is dying so I need a replacement. I have about 800 albums on the WD. I would be grateful for advice on a replacement. I am thinking of a QNAP but they come in a bewildering range and prices. It feeds an ND555
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I use a Synology DS218play with Seagate Iron Wolf drives, running Asset as the UPnP server and I’m very happy with it.
I use a QNAP TS253A with WD Red drives, running Asset as the UPnP server and I’m very happy with it.
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I am very happy with Synology DiskStations. Currently a DS1019+.
Forgive my ignorance but what else do I need apart from the NAS itself? If it is a 2 bay NAS I assume I need 2 hard drives
There was a thread a month or so ago called Replacement NAS? that had some good advice.
Here was my input:
I run a QNAP TS 251+ with 8TB as my main man which is backed up to a Synology DS218play also with 8TB - I don’t use RAID.
The QNAP I purchased in 2016 and overall it is slightly better built compared with the Synology plus at the time Synology didn’t support Asset. My reason for buying Synology is the price it is a great NAS and a cheap option as a back-up NAS to the main QNAP.
Last year I transferred my digitised DVD collection 6TB to a Synology DS718+ which is backed up to another 6TB Synology DS 218play again no RAID.
Using WD Reds.
And a back-up plan.
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And I would recommend upgrading the RAM (i.e. if you are plan to running roon core on it).
You can easily backup to AWS Glacier. This is what I do in addition to backing up to an external drive though I am using a RAID setup where one drive can fail.
With a 2 bay NAS you can use 1 or 2 disks.
There’s no point is using RAID with disks like the Seagate Iron Wolf as their expected failure rate is lower than the NAS drive enclosure; and yes, you also need a backup plan, just as you do for your computer.
For streaming music, all of the Synology DS218play, the QNAP TS215 and the QNAP TS 231 are perfectly adequate: they don’t need upgrading and you don’t need anything more powerful. I can’t speak for the QNAPs, but the Synology DS218play is even powerful enough to stream 4k video.
Remember: RAID is not the same as backup.
Do you do any off site back up such as usb drive kept off site or a cloud based solution
Yes, I have an encrypted USB SSD that I keep in my car.
I’m also looking at a mutual arrangement with a friend whereby we’ll each have a NAS drive linked to do backups via the internet, each us backing up to a NAS in the other’s house.
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I give a thumbs up to Synology. I’ve been using my Synology NAS for well over 5 years. Very good software interface, rock solid reliability.
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How do I transfer the files from the WD Cloud to a new NAS?
There are two routes (1) use the copy/backup software that comes with the NAS or (2) you should be able to see the NAS on your computer as a network attached device - find your WD Cloud and just drag the files over.
If you go with either Synology or QNAP then there are some great YouTube clips for setting up - straight from opening the box to copying over files.
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You should, I hope, have a backup of the music on your NAS? If nothing else, get any USB drive, stick it in a computer, and simply copy the files to it.
Before you get another NAS, stick that USB drive in your streamer, find it in the server input, and you may decide that’s all you need. Otherwise, just copy the same files to the drive on your new NAS to get yourself up and running.
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Thank you AndyP and ChrisSU. I have seen two Synology NAS devices with almost identical model numbers. One is the 218 and the other is 218+. The 218+ is more expensive. Can anyone tell me the difference and whether it is worth paying extra if my use will be limited to music files and a smallish amount of other data (no photos or DVDs)? Also, is it worth buying more than one hard drive? I intend to buy a 4TB drive. I am getting the impression that Synology NAS devices are a bit more user friendly for novices like me than QNAP. Is that the case?
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You don’t even need the Synology DS218, all you need is the Synology DS218play which is a slightly cheaper version of the DS218, just with less RAM. In my case I’ve never seen the RAM usage exceed 50% on my DS218play.
The DS218+ uses an Intel processor (in place of a 64bit ARM v8), there are a small number of applications that you can run on a NAS that run on an Intel processor that won’t run on an ARM. For your use the + version has no real advantage.
Have a look at this youtube clip which might help. I get my gear from these guys and they are really helpful with advice and pricing.
My approach has always been to use a single drive NAS for music storage. Sure, you need one or more additional drives for backup, but if they are in the same NAS enclosure, there are many things that could go wrong with all of them, leaving you without access to your music. If the NAS has a hardware or PSU failure, or is subject to fire, theft, flood, etc. then it doesn’t matter how many drives it has, they are all useless.
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I have a backup to BT Cloud (1 Terabyte of storage). Takes a while if you are starting from scratch. 