I have been reading and reading, but am still unable to choose a NAS for my use. I am doing photography and some limited video editing (HD and 4K) and have quite a big library of files. Mostly RAW files and Video recordings that take up space. I see that I should get a NAS that can take around 20TB usable space in RAID5 for the next 6-9 months, and then I can expand with more discs in the free bays when needed. I am thinking of buying a set of 3x10tb discs (For example WD RED 10TB) for now, which will leave bays available for future expansion. A futureproof solution for the next few years will be good. Features I consider futureproof would be: Enough bays for expansion of space (Preferably in the same unit), a fast 10Gbase-T network present or can be installed later. A SSD cache support can be handy when editing videos or large files. Also, PCI-E ports are used for the future needs. Fast USB port in front for backing up SD cards CAN be useful, but far from critical. Space, reliability and speed are the main concerns for the future.
Based on this I have looked at the following models which will be in the USD $1500-2000 price range INCLUDED the 3x10TB WD RED discs I need for now.
SYNOLOGY DS1817+ 8GB RAM. Intel Quad2,4 CPU, Network can be upgraded when needed and SSD cache when need, no LCD. Pros: 12bay and fast processor, cons are fast network cost a bit extra, M2.SSD cards cost extra if needed)
QNAP TVS951X 8GB. Medium processor Dual 1.8, Fast network, ready for SSD, No LCD, USB in front, NEW 2018. (5bay 3,5 is OK for now) Pros: New model with a fast network where I can use 10Gbase-T setup and overall quite OK NAS. The main concern is a number of bays (5 is a bit limiting compared to 8) and processor(?)
QNAP TVS673E 8GB. Quad 2,1 AMD, Network must be expanded, etc Pros: Fast processor and 6 bays should be enough for a period. Negative that Fast network is extra via PCIe expansions
QNAP 832X Quad 1,7 ARM processor, fast network included, No LCD. Too weak processor or OK? One of the cheaper 8 bay NAS from Qnap.
Have I missed any models which should be on the list? OR do you see any clear winners here?
Are the WD RED discs to be recommended for this kind of use?
My choice within this budget would be TVS951X which still features decent processor and tired storage functionality. With video, editing cache is not as important as tiered storage. The cache technically only keeps a copy of most frequently accessed data. But once editing data you using keep changing constantly. In this case, tiered storage would be more beneficial. All current projects automatically in the background would be moved to the SSD RAID and finished projects would live on regular drives. This will also improve data transfer speeds over the 10GbE connection. The other alternative I would consider would be DS1817+ with 2 SSD in spare trays and 10GbE card installed. This would be slightly over the budget, but it would be a good solution too.
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