Synology DiskStation DS411j
At the bottom of Synology’s 4-bay NAS lineup is the DS411j. Although it still runs the same great DiskStation Manager software, the hardware isn’t of the same calibre. A Marvell 1.2GHz 88F6281 CPU and 128MB of DDR2 will put you in the low 50MB/s region for both read and write operations.
Yet at less than £300, you get almost every RAID level under the sun and Synology Hybrid RAID. Unfortunately there’s no USB 3.0, but this model does support sound output to USB speakers over 2.0. So as a contender in the sub-£300 sector it falls into the 'great software but a bit slow' category.
Reg Rating 70%
Price £269 (unpopulated)
More info Synology
Thecus N4800
If it’s hardware features you want then look no further. Like the Synology DS412+, the N4800 features a dual-core 2.13GHz Intel Atom D2700 CPU with 2GB RAM, yet boasts every interface you could ever need along with HDMI, VGA and stereo audio outputs to connect straight up to your TV or monitor. It is also unique in being the only NAS box featured here to have a removable lithium ion battery backup – a mini UPS for those who live on the flakier parts of the grid.
Not only does Thecus include useful software to run on the N4800 such as Twonky Media Server, but it also throws in a copy of Acronis True Image to assist you with backing up your computers. While not the cheapest four-bay NAS on test here, you certainly do get your money's worth with the Thecus N4800.
Reg Rating 90%
Price £520 (unpopulated)
More info Thecus and Origin Storage
CrystalDiskMark Benchmark Results
Data throughput in Mb/s – longer bars are better
Data throughput in Mb/s – longer bars are better
Thanks to Seagate for its help in supplying the 3TB drives used for testing.
Next page: NAS box browser interfaces
COMMENTS
HP Proliant Micrpserver
At a fraction of a cost of these NAS boxes and with more flexibility, I'm glad I've opted for 2 of these instead of a NAS.
Re: HP Proliant Micrpserver
Totally agree, the price of these NAS devices is ludicrous considering a Microserver is £120 after cashback, comes with 2GB of RAM, a 256GB drive and supports ECC. The 5.25" bay is also useful if you want to install an optical or tape drive or even another 2 HDs for a total of 6.
Granted they don't work out of the box, so you're going to have to fill it with drives and install and configure your favourite OS, but I don't think that's beyond most Reg readers.
Re: What I'd be looking for in such a thing
I agree. A good postscript to this article would be similarly brief round-up of build-your-own options using freeNAS (and the rest). I'm happy with my HP ProLiant Microserver which I know many people have on here and cost a less than £150( (with cashback). No doubt the good burghers of this parish will be along soon enough with suggestions for the latest and greatest.
Re: I don't get NAS boxes...
I do...
I bought a Synology DS-413J for £275. It arrived, I stuffed 4 disks in and turned it on (hybrid RAID FTW!). A fair bit of whirring and clicking later, it's all working. Job done.
It sits quietly in the corner and acts as a printer server and media server for all the devices in the house. It runs on 30W.
My gas-guzzling PC with the 6 fans and 1000W PSU doesn't need to be on 24/7.
Easy to like.
What I'd be looking for in such a thing
Quiet operation
Properly managed cooling of the disks
Disk vibration dampening
Caddy-free disk mounting
Hardware crypto acceleration for full-disk encryption
Gigabit ethernet -- getting more or less standard, not quite there yet
Own OS support -- I'll be running a *BSD, sporting NFS, maybe AFS
And optionally feeding it a mere 12V
Somehow all I'm getting is "web interface"
Back to building things by hand then. *sigh*
