Hi All Have recently been considering a NAS, primarily for backing up my photos and films, but also local streaming, remote access would also be a nice feature. Have read good things about the Synology DS215J, although by the time I add a couple of 2TB drives I wouldn't get much change from £300 . Another cheaper option that has caught my eye is the WD my cloud, which I can pick up for £95 mark (2TB). The WD also gets good reviews in the press, but customer reviews are a real mixed bag, with some making it clear to leave well alone. One of the disadvantages of the WD is that it is a single bay drive, but I can mitigate this partly by backing up to another external HD I own. I wonder if some of the reviewers are expecting too much at this price point. Considering the WD red drive inside appears to be worth £70+ it looks to be a good deal. Would be interested to hear from anyone that has owned either, or can point out anything else to consider. Thanks
HP Proliant microserver? http://www.ebuyer.com/517760-hp-proliant-gen8-g1610t-microserver-712317-421 I've seen a few of the last couple of gen going second hand. It would be a case of inserting your own disks and OS like FreeNas or Ubuntu with Samba. Either way I doubt you'll see less than £300 total with either option unless you use second hand parts. I wouldn't recommend second hand hard drives tho.
Thanks for the response. Interesting idea, but I don't have a huge amount of space to work with, so would prefer a smaller subtle NAS. Another reason why the two mentioned were considered, both are small units that I could find a place for in my living room if need be. Anyone got any feedback on either NAS? Is the my cloud any good, or too basic and under spec'd? Thanks
The Synology and the HP microserver are on two opposite ends. The Synology will work great out of the box, you just set it and forget it. I have a two bay one, DS214+. I honestly regret not having gone for a 4-bay one, I wish I could add another HD. For the HP, it's great if you don't mind installing and managing FreeNAS or other Linux OS. But then you could use a spare PC for that as well if you have one knocking about. The HP microservers are pretty good value if you are starting from absolute scratch.
