compare

AVAILABILITY / RELEASE DATE

LATEST POSTS RELATED

RELATED REVIEWS

In terms of these two brands, there is been a long-running theme all the way through that Synology has focused on FIRST-PARTY (i.e. Synology-brand) software and hardware priority, then supporting THIRD-PARTY services/hardware when they haven’t got a viable alternative in-house – to mixed degrees of popularity. Whereas QNAP has been a much more level playing field where they have released their own innovative hardware/software (occasionally a little too quickly) and singing its praises, but also tried to keep customization and flexibility for 3rd parties as open as possible and shouting loud-and-proud about that too – which can be a tad overwhelming for the less tech-savvy. Both brands have done an incredible job evolve their platforms as much as they have to date, especially when Microsoft, Google and Amazon are pouring BILLIONS into the SaaS (and PaaS and IaaS – Platform and Infrastructure as a Service) in order to create entirely streamable ecosystems for businesses, with NAS brands like Synology and QNAP not only integrating with them but also thriving alongside them as a local/bare-metal failsafe. These are all very lofty ideas and ones that most home or small business users will likely have little time for right now (aside from where NAS fits in with their Google/Office 365 office tools like documents, email and spreadsheets at a pinch) and for those users, who the NAS stands on its own two feet is what is going to matter most. Synology is earning its position in the market as the complete 1st party software and hardware package, with a genuinely groundbreaking range of available services, but still managing to make NAS accessible for all in DSM 6.2/7.0/7.1. That said, the trends we are seeing in those sub-enterprise services that are slowly receding in support of popular 3rd party hardware, software and services, making using a Synology NAS alongside your own existing setup in a frictionless way cannot be ignored and leading some to think Synology is shifting their industry position towards something higher.

QNAP NAS on the other hand, although maybe trying to cover too many bases at once, is still trying to cover as much as it can to appear to their audience. Their support of considerably more 3rd party platforms/software/services, even when they have their own software available, is certainly admirable and aside from rather aggressive pricing on their QVR Pro surveillance platform, are still the better choice for those who want a much more adaptable and customizable platform. Its a pretty understandable fact that most people who buy a NAS will be arriving with an existing collection of software in their daily workflow (Office 365 for docs, Gmail for their email, Plex for their media, Chromebook for their commute, Skype/Whatsapp for their communication, TB3 for their editing, etc) and it has to be said that QNAP keeps a more open platform to adapt a NAS into this mix than Synology – occasionally less intuitively and not without a little setup-friction, but certainly to more customizable results. Unsurprisingly, I am going to tell you that both Synology and QNAP NAS are good NAS brands and have earned their place at the top of the industry (whilst both making their own respective moves to integrate into the next tier – ie SaaS providers, Hyperscale environments and Boundless cloud storage), but there is no denying that no one brand has managed to do EVERYTHING to perfection. So, if in double, below is how I would recommend QNAP and Synology NAS to you, for each user case scenario and I hope this guide and my recommendations help you with your next big data storage purchase.

LATEST PRICE LIST

DEAL WATCH - Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology DS423 NAS Amazon UK £332 (15% OFF) [LINK] Synology 4-Bay DiskStation DS423 (Diskless) Black Amazon USA 31.26 OFF (WAS 401) [LINK] QNAP TS-431X3 Single Model 4GB HDD-LESS NAS Amazon USA 11.56 OFF (WAS 1003) [LINK] Synology DS423 4 Bay Desktop NAS: Efficient Data Storage and Backup Amazon UK 6.03 OFF (WAS 360) [LINK] Synology DiskStation DS423 4 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure Amazon UK 373.68 OFF (WAS 750) [LINK] Synology DS423+ 4 Bay Desktop NAS Storage Server Amazon UK 12.9 OFF (WAS 494) [LINK] QNAP TS-431XEU-2G 4 Bay Rackmount NAS Enclosure - 2 GB RAM, 1.7 GHz Quad Core Pr Amazon UK 86.01 OFF (WAS 599) [LINK] QNAP TS-431X3-4G 4 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure - 4GB RAM, Quad-core 1.7GHz Process Amazon UK 19.06 OFF (WAS 688) [LINK] QNAP TS-431XeU-2G 16TB 4 Bay Rack Solution | Installed with 4 x 4TB Seagate Iron Amazon UK 16.25 OFF (WAS 1195) [LINK] QNAP TS-431XeU-2G 32TB 4 Bay Rack Solution | Installed with 4 x 8TB Seagate Iron Amazon UK 15.7 OFF (WAS 1413) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily