** COUPON DIED EARLY ** Synology DS411 (4Bay NAS) for $374 after coupon + Shipping

Quote from vortix : How many servers do you need to back up simultaneously, and do you already have a Domain Controller? The Synology won't act as a DC.

Yes, I've got a DC. Just 2 and a handful of workstations. And they don't have to be backed up at the same time.

Quote from coolcyber : It's hit or miss on amazon price match with coupons. BTW where did you look at the DS412 info? i know DS412+ is out but don't seen any info on DS412

I don't think there is a DS412 unit. They've come out with DS411+ and DS412+ (similar to DS411+ with slight redesign).

Both have more power but at expense of higher cost and higher operating power (although 44 watts isn't a deal breaker). If I'm going to spend almost $700 though, I'd opt for one of their expandable 5 bay models for an extra $200. Overkill for me. I'm happy with my LG's performance. I just wanted something that could run Raid 5 or their SHR (Hybrid Raid with 1 disk redundancy). I could afford the new unit, but after reading about the power supply problems with both units, decided to go with the older unit.

Quote from jjbehren : You're right. I don't need that amount of space. But I'd like it. Also, I'd rather save money on the drives (2TB vs. 3TB) than the number of drives. I'd really like a RAID 5 setup. Maybe I'd go with 3 2TB drives. That would work, right? I could leave the 4th bay empty and add another drive in the future, correct?

Yes. If you use their SHR (Synology Hybrid Raid), that would allow you to set with a 1 disk redundancy and upgrade to a different drive without taking down and redoing the Raid. It also allows for different disk sizes. With SHR you can also use older drives when setting up the SHR. I plan to set up with 3 drives and then wait for some deals on 3TB or 4TB drives.

Yeah. Kind of a ghetto setup, but I'm thinking of getting this and cracking open a 2TB WD external for one of the drives and then picking up a couple other cheaper 2TB drives. I can limp by until internal drive prices start falling again.

Has anyone already researched the pros and cons of this versus something like the HP N40L? Seems like the HP is frequently for sale cheaper, both have 4 drive bays. HP is probably more flexibly. Only downside I see is that I probably have to provide the OS.

Quote from PeaceDog : Has anyone already researched the pros and cons of this versus something like the HP N40L? Seems like the HP is frequently for sale cheaper, both have 4 drive bays. HP is probably more flexibly. Only downside I see is that I probably have to provide the OS.

A NAS box isn't for everyone. This one isn't for everyone.

The HP N40L isn't a bad box. You can set it up to do most everything this will do, just not at as low a power footprint, or as elegantly or as easily. The HP unit isn't very powerful, but it's still a server, you'll work a lot harder to set it up to mimic any of the NAS functions this provides through the web interface automatically. Maintenance is an everyday or at least every week task with any computers I maintain. I might not look at my NAS for months unless I want to activate a capability I wasn't previously using. Mostly I'm just adding files and backing up to secondary devices.

I never saw value in an NAS either till I owned one, and that one is a cripple next to the DS411.

Quote from TMPOOLE : Great deal on this Synology unit after 15% coupon from Newegg.com. Free Shipping with Shoprunner login. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6822108088 Coupon: EMCYTZT1556 4 bay unit. less than 30 watts in operation Synology DS411 delivers an average 105.3 MB/sec reading speed under RAID 5 configuration in a Windows environment, and 47.8 MB/sec writing. Synology DS411 provides a reliable solution for data sharing with an easy to use interface, and comprehensive office applications, including a complete backup solution making it one of the best values in 4-bay NAS devices available today. Product Info Page: http://www.synology.com/us/produc.../index.php Service net promotion. Comes with 1 year warranty extension to 3 years. Can add 3 year extension for around $50 for a total of 5 years. Best price I've ever seen for this unit.

I will never understand this stuff. For $150 you can just buy a desktop computer.

Quote from jjbehren : Can anyone with NAS experience answer a couple things: 1) Even though a newer model is likely to come out soon (when is that not the case, though, right?) it seems like this model is more than enough for a RAID5 setup for "backups" and media serving, right?

Yes, easily..by a factor of ten.

Quote : 2) With the above goals in mind, there's no advantage in moving up to the DS411+II, is there? Clearly the +II has more RAM and a better processor, but for simple "backups" (I know RAID isn't backup, but just roll with the phrasing for now, thanks) and media serving simultaneously to no more than 2 devices, the straight 411 should be enough, right?

For fileserving, backups, etc. on a standard GB network, there's no benefit.

Quote : 3) My only concern, as others have mentioned regarding the 212j, is that there may not be enough processing power to do photo and video editing on the NAS, rather than working with it on my desktop and then resaving it to the NAS, which would be nice. Thanks for any input.

The 212j has more than enough power. You aren't doing video and photo "editing" on the NAS; you're simply sharing and doing some simple tagging and thumbnailing; if that takes a week to finish instead of 3.5 days, who cares? It's not as if you're waiting for it.

Quote from TMPOOLE : If you are doing professional work, you might want the 411+ or 412+ their read rates are approaching 195 mb/s. Not necessary in a media server role.

Only if you have a network with link aggregation AND you have 2+ sources writing on the NAS will you get anything over 100MB/s speed. And then only rarely. That's a VERY specific use case most people (@home) will never hit. It's far wiser to focus on how fast the machine is with one fast incoming connection - ie not link aggregated.

Quote from fenton : Would this be suitable for windows backups in a domain environment?

Sure; specify it as a target in your backup software. Works great.

Quote from ctsinc : I will never understand this stuff. For $150 you can just buy a desktop computer.

Far higher power usage, far more complex setup, far more maintenance required, typically only holds 2 drives rather than 4, typically does not include iSCSI target, typically does not have easy to use GUI with readymade packages of software. Oh, and my free time is worth something too; I don't need another computer to maintain.

Quote from dclive : Far higher power usage, far more complex setup, far more maintenance required, typically only holds 2 drives rather than 4, typically does not include iSCSI target, typically does not have easy to use GUI with readymade packages of software. Oh, and my free time is worth something too; I don't need another computer to maintain.

1. It doesn't take more power.

2. There's no maintenance required.

3. I can show you tons of micro ATX cases that are super small yet hold multiple drives.

4. There are plenty of iSCSI servers available for most OSes, including many of the servers on the NAS (which are almost all running Linux)

5. What "packages of software" could you be referring to? I assert ANYTHING you can get with a NAS has a more robust and intuitive option available for a PC.

6. See number 2.

Quote from ctsinc : 1. It doesn't take more power. 2. There's no maintenance required. 3. I can show you tons of micro ATX cases that are super small yet hold multiple drives. 4. There are plenty of iSCSI servers available for most OSes, including many of the servers on the NAS (which are almost all running Linux) 5. What "packages of software" could you be referring to? I assert ANYTHING you can get with a NAS has a more robust and intuitive option available for a PC. 6. See number 2.

1. A full computer with Intel chip doesn't require more power? Really? Tell me more, please.
2. No maintenance? I've never seen a Linux or Windows OS, user installable, that had absolutely no maintenance. Can you point me to one?
3. Yes, but we were talking about the $150 computer you'd mentioned.
4. Yes, but you've got to install and set them up; for some that's difficult.
5. That's nice. It's also more complex.
6. Please do.

Quote from dclive : 1. A full computer with Intel chip doesn't require more power? Really? Tell me more, please. 2. No maintenance? I've never seen a Linux or Windows OS, user installable, that had absolutely no maintenance. Can you point me to one? 3. Yes, but we were talking about the $150 computer you'd mentioned. 4. Yes, but you've got to install and set them up; for some that's difficult. 5. That's nice. It's also more complex. 6. Please do.

You tell them dclive, I'm with you brother.

Please add 4 bay server in the title.