The Synology DS420j is a highly affordable four-bay NAS running the fantastic DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system. It comes with a quad-core CPU that copes well with consumer tasks, and Plex also supports it. If you are on a tight budget, you should take a look at this NAS.
www.techpowerup.com
@prime @vivek.krishnan
Lack of docker support is a big con with all synology "J" models & ram is also fixed at 1gb.
@aasimenator has some good mini pc options with similar dimensions as synology 2 bay models & for 14-15k I think you may get a 6th/7th/8th gen intel processor much more powerful than this realtek one along with 4gb ram & much more flexibility to run any OS you want. Of course if just looking to use for basic functions like home server/DLNA server then 420J is good option.
Several things you need to understand
Synology is expensive - the performance what you are getting at XYZ price is what you are paying for the excellent webUI
Docker is not something that the average user wants - he just wants something that works out of the box
the mini PCs that are being sold by aasim are not having 4 bay HDD support.
the performance user who wants power sipping boxes who knows what he is getting will not buy this OR the even any entry level synology - he would rather pickup the excellent rpi4 compute board with SATA expansion for nearly the same amount (i have it) OR opt for a RPI4/5 4G/8G model. OR the ROCK5 model I had my eye on, but have let it go for now.
the performance use who does not care about power will choose a better platform than the mini PCs - i dont understand why you would stuff a desktop CPU in that cramped space when a proper chassis is far better choice.
Both of the above will support docker well, I am running several docker devices on pi4s
other even 2 bay boxes are expensive in comparison
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With that and maybe others can add their points to the above, but here is my use case
This is going to purely be a device which will connect to another mini PC via iscsi (or smb/nfs mounts - if iscsi is slow) for data. Mainly for plex or so. No one will directly be accessing/using the device except me. For this usecase its brilliant and power sipping.
Actually, it's the second time this is on sale on FK for the same price. For usage as a low power 24x7 Nas / File Server, this is excellent (the fantastic UI is their selling point after all). Some of the native Synology apps should also work. If looking for transcoding or virtualization or any other heavier use cases, then look elsewhere.
Thats news to me. But I dont follow deals that much, so slipped maybe.
And agree to your points. This is purely a file server. Nothing more.
Any examples of similar dimensions 2-4 bay model that one can buy with a powerful processor?
Also it is nice to keep a simple low power NAS to just serve files reliabily and then have a cheap mini PC(s) running your stateless docker containers reading from the NAS.
At this price point from a branded vendor - NO
If you want to make your own, try getting a Dell T20 - you should be able to snag it for just about 15-17Kish - a 4th gen Xeon which should be able to do what you want and has 4 HDD bays inside. Cooling is an issue however.
Your second point is exactly how I plan to use this. Moving away from my Helios4's to this.
replies to your DMs
Hey,
I was considering buying the NAS too for 12k ish. Have you gotten a chance to use it, check it's performance etc?
Using it along with jellyfin running on a proxmox I believe won't have any issues and it'll work smoothly? Plan is to save movies / TV shows as well as some photos videos for storage.
Thanks,
Nithin
Am using it, but you need to accept it for what you are paying. Synology is selling its NAS for the fantastic webUI and apps, not for the hardware.
For testing, I have dumped some videos and testing plex, working fine for my use cases
If you have a machine running PVE, why dont you look at xpenology
Also do you think the lack of BTRFS could be a deal breaker?
No. At this price point, I dont see it as a big deal. I also enabled it on my Pi4 OMV NAS and unRAID for testing, but it had its quirks with the Pi. Mainly with kernel modules.
I would use btrfs when I bring my 100TB HDD storage online, kept on hiatus due to lack of time.
Understand who needs btrfs and no need to go with fancy stuff unless you realize the benefits.
DS "+" versions are the ones with much better hardware but also much more costly, DS224+ costs around 34k. You are much better off with mini pc sold by
@aasimenator here (check his thread in dealer's paradise section) which can be equipped with much better hardware & flexibility to install anything you want.
Yes that is also a good option but J version models will struggle with performance even while just serving files if more than 3-4 users simultaneously connect but for 2-3 persons it is indeed a good option when used this way.
And you are suggesting something which does not have HDD bays!
For a typical person BTRFS is not that better than EXT4 & might even be less desirable because of its more complex nature & feature set. Ppl on reddit are not your typical users so they prefer BTRFS but even there the more advanced users consider ZFS even better.
For most usecases BTRFS is not needed. People on the internet go crazy over small things.
For example, I am going to import 14gen mini PC because of the SOC tiling feature and AV1 support. Added NPU is a bonus if i need it. But many feel AV1 will take time to come, but I see the reduction in file size + being future proofing. else, I can just slap a 11th gen NUC (have it) and use it instead for plex.
