compare

GENERAL NAS FEATURE COMPARISON

NAS	Plex (local 4K)	Plex HD (remote)	Plex 4K (remote)	BACKUP (MS/GOOGLE OFFICE)	BACKUP (BAREBONE)	PHOTOS (OBJECT AI)	VIDEO EDITING (4K)	VIDEO EDITING (8K)	DOCKER	VIRTUAL MACHINES	PC MODE (QVM)	2.5GbE	10GbE	25GbE	Thunderbolt	NVMe	Pcie	Expansion	HDMI	Drive Mixing
TS-253E	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓			✓	✓	✓	✓				✓		✓	✓
DS224+	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	ⓘ			✓	✓		ⓘ								✓

LATEST PRICE LIST

BEST FOR Virtualisation

BEST FOR MULTIMEDIA

BEST FOR FILE STORAGE

BEST FOR BACKUP

BEST FOR VIDEO EDITING

BEST FOR SURVEILLANCE (CCTV)

BEST FOR SMART HOME/ AI

LATEST VIDEOS RELATED

AVAILABILITY / RELEASE DATE

Brand	Model	TW	USA	UK	Released
Qnap	TS-253E	•	•	•	2022-06
Synology	DS224+	•	•	•	2023-07

LATEST POSTS RELATED

SOFTWARE - 10/10

HARDWARE - 6/10

PERFORMANCE - 7/10

PRICE - 8/10

VALUE - 7/10

7.6

PROS

👍🏻Synology 4-Bay NAS with a 4-Core Intel Integrated Gfx Processor - Lovely stuff!
👍🏻Runs Everything in the Synology DSM Catalogue (Active Backup, Surveillance Station, VMM, Drive, Collab Suite, etc)
👍🏻Great Plex, Emby and Jellyfin Media Server Performance
👍🏻Broad HDD/SSD Compatibility with Synology drives AND Seagate+WD
👍🏻Low Impact chassis, low noise in operation (HDD dependant) and efficient power use
👍🏻Runs exceedingly well on just 2GB of Memory
👍🏻More affordable than the DS923+ and DS723+
👍🏻Long-running DSM Support beyond the Hardware

CONS

👎🏻No means to upgrade network connectivity and 1GbE by default
👎🏻Memory maximum cap at 6GB as original 2GB is fixed (non-upgradable)
👎🏻Small Jump from the 2020 released DS220+
👎🏻Non-Expandable
👎🏻Lack of M.2 NVMe Support

SOFTWARE - 8/10

HARDWARE - 8/10

PERFORMANCE - 9/10

PRICE - 7/10

VALUE - 8/10

8.0

PROS

👍🏻Exceptional CPU choice for the Scale/Tier
👍🏻8GB of DDR4 Memory
👍🏻2.5GbE (x2) Ports on Day 1
👍🏻Two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gb/s) Ports!
👍🏻2x M.2 NVMe Slots alongside those 4x SATA Bays for Storage (Caching, Tiered Storage or standalone Pools)
👍🏻Includes VM, Surveillance (8 licenses and upto 32 Cams), Backup, Sync, Multimedia, SaaS sync/migration and office tools (some with added AI services)
👍🏻3-Year Warranty (Can be extended)
👍🏻VERY Compact, low-impact design
👍🏻Supports 1-2x Expansions
👍🏻20TB and 22TB Confirmed Compatibility

CONS

👎🏻
👎🏻Memory Cannot be Upgraded
👎🏻M.2 NVMe SSD Slots are Gen 3 x2
👎🏻Chassis is still a little dated looking

SOFTWARE - 6/10

HARDWARE - 8/10

PERFORMANCE - 8/10

PRICE - 8/10

VALUE - 9/10

7.8

PROS

👍🏻Very compact chassis design, despite large storage potential
👍🏻A BIG jump in hardware and scale from the QNAP TS-251D
👍🏻Easily one of the most hardware-packed SMB/Mid-range 2-Bay on the market
👍🏻HDMI 2.1 Support is fantastically future-proof!
👍🏻m.2 NVMe SSD Bays AND a PCIe Upgrade Slot (no need to choose one upgrade path)
👍🏻8x Included Camera Licenses
👍🏻Includes Anti-virus, Firewall Tool, VPN client tools, Malware Remover, network manager and Security Councilor Tool
👍🏻3 Different Container/VM tools that also feature image download centers
👍🏻10Gb/s (1,000MB/s) USB Ports will be incredibly useful
👍🏻Large range of expansion options in the TR/TL series in 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 Bays

CONS

👎🏻The PCIe Slot is PCIe 3x2 and the M.2 SSD Bays are PCIe 3x1 (likely limitations of all this H/W on a Celeron+chipset
👎🏻HD Station application needs more updates by the brand
👎🏻Fixed 4GB of memory will annoy some users
👎🏻The QuTS ZFS Platform is not available
👎🏻Software can be a little inconsistent under excessive use and features a steeper learning curve than Synology

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? QNAP 5 Port 2.5Gbps auto Negotiation (2.5G/1G/100M), W125786480 (Negotiation (2. Amazon USA 139.75 OFF (WAS 256) [LINK] Synology RT2600ac – 4x4 dual-band Gigabit Wi-Fi router, MU-MIMO, powerful pare Amazon USA 14.09 OFF (WAS 179) [LINK] Synology DiskStation DS124 1-Bay 3.5inch Diskless 1xGbE NAS (Tower), Realtek RTD Amazon USA 16.28 OFF (WAS 210) [LINK] Synology WRX560 - Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, VLAN segmentation, Amazon USA 6.41 OFF (WAS 255) [LINK] Synology 1-Bay DiskStation DS124 Bundle with 1 x HAT3300-4T Amazon USA 16.04 OFF (WAS 250) [LINK] Synology WRX560 Dual-band Wi-Fi 6 Router with a quad-core 1.4 GHz processor and Amazon USA 19.01 OFF (WAS 281) [LINK] QNAP TS-233-US 2 Bay Affordable Desktop NAS with ARM Cortex-A55 Quad-core Proces Amazon USA 21.4 OFF (WAS 286) [LINK] Synology 2 Bay DS223j with 2 x 4TB HAT3300 HDD (White, Tabletop, Metal, Server) Amazon USA 12.32 OFF (WAS 370) [LINK] ASUSTOR Drivestor 4 Pro AS3304T SAN/NAS Storage System - Realtek RTD1296 Quad-co Amazon USA 31 OFF (WAS 391) [LINK] QXG-25G2SF-E810 Two Port 25GbE Network Card with FEC ensuring Reliable Data Tran Amazon USA 8.35 OFF (WAS 427) [LINK] QXG-25G2SF-CX6 Two Port 25GbE Network Card with SR-IOV and RoCE for Improved Net Amazon USA 4.15 OFF (WAS 472) [LINK] QNAP TS-433 NAS Tower Ethernet LAN Cortex-A55 Amazon USA 19.91 OFF (WAS 523) [LINK] Synology DS723+ 2-Bay Diskstation (Diskless) Amazon USA 14.59 OFF (WAS 530) [LINK] Synology DS923+ 4-Bay Diskstation NAS (AMD Ryzen™ 4 Threads R1600 Dual-Core 4G Amazon USA 4.23 OFF (WAS 695) [LINK] QNAP QSW-M2106-4C 4 Ports 10GbE Combo SFP+/RJ45 6 Ports 2.5GbE Managed Switch Amazon USA 58.52 OFF (WAS 1124) [LINK] Serwer NAS TS-464eU-8G 4x0HDD 1U Intel Celeron N5105/N5095 8G Amazon USA 7.5 OFF (WAS 987) [LINK] QNAP TS-832PX-4G 8 Bay High-Capacity NAS with 10GbE SFP+ and 2.5GbE Amazon USA 60.19 OFF (WAS 1013) [LINK] Synology 8 Bay DiskStation DS1821+ (Diskless), 8-bay; 4gb ddr4 Amazon USA 17.49 OFF (WAS 1054) [LINK] QNAP TS-664-4G 6 Bay Intel Celeron N5095 4-core 8GB DDR4 2xSlot 2xM.2 2x2.5GbE W Amazon USA 15.93 OFF (WAS 1170) [LINK] QNAP TS-473A NAS Tower Ethernet LAN Black V1500B TS-473A, W126324001 (LAN Black Amazon USA 155.46 OFF (WAS 1415) [LINK] Synology RackStation RS1221+ - NAS Server - 8 Bays - Rack-mountable - SATA 6Gb/s Amazon USA 10.06 OFF (WAS 1324) [LINK] QNAP TVS-675-8G 6 Bay NAS ZhaoXin KX-U6580 8-core 2.5GHz 8G DDR4 Hot-swappable 2 Amazon USA 231.29 OFF (WAS 1528) [LINK] Synology 8 Bay RackStation RS1221+ (Diskless) Amazon USA 93.93 OFF (WAS 1394) [LINK] QNAP 4-Bay TS-464U-8G Storage - Intel Celeron N5095 2.9GHz (Quad-Core), 8GB DDR4 Amazon USA 22.53 OFF (WAS 1482) [LINK] Synology RackStation RS822RP+ Amazon USA 11.42 OFF (WAS 1504) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily