NETGEAR RNDP6000-200NAS Diskless System ReadyNAS Pro 6 Diskless 6-bay + SAMSUNG Galaxy Tab 2 + Western Digital Elements 2TB for $799 + Free Shipping

Quote from ituyeh : Been waiting for NAS drive deal for a while, but haven't seen one so far. My budget is below 300 (including the drive). Any suggestions? TIA.

That computer in your closet, OpenMediaVault, and $300 in drives.

how does it compare with the synology 412+ i just got from newegg?

The title piqued my interest into investigating this thread. The offer seems lame for anyone who has some decent computer skills. But the advice and suggestions here have been topnotch so far. I have a couple of dedicated NAS'es and a couple of computers serving as media centers. Other than for sorting and shifting stuff around speed is really not much of a factor. If you are limited to one NAS then speed is going to be essential. I find my old AMD 2100+ in a full tower case with 8 completely hotswappable drives is my most user friendly NAS. Quiet, reliable, uses standard parts in case something needs fixing and cost $0. For anyone who is a newcomer to NAS go the cheap route first and make yourself one out of an old computer first. Then you will be able to make a really informed decision on whether or not you need something like this. My bet is you won't. Also -- don't worry about the warranty on the NAS. It will be your drives or the the power supply that go bad and they are not usually covered under the warranty.

I have decent computer skills (built 100's of customized PC's back in the day, prior network/sys/admin/engineer,run my own IT consulting shop now).

This offer doesn't seem lame to me. Why? Doesn't seem to require the same level of care & feeding or higher power consumption of a typical older mini/desktop PC.

Quote from Kurg : The title piqued my interest into investigating this thread. The offer seems lame for anyone who has some decent computer skills. But the advice and suggestions here have been topnotch so far. I have a couple of dedicated NAS'es and a couple of computers serving as media centers. Other than for sorting and shifting stuff around speed is really not much of a factor. If you are limited to one NAS then speed is going to be essential. I find my old AMD 2100+ in a full tower case with 8 completely hotswappable drives is my most user friendly NAS. Quiet, reliable, uses standard parts in case something needs fixing and cost $0. For anyone who is a newcomer to NAS go the cheap route first and make yourself one out of an old computer first. Then you will be able to make a really informed decision on whether or not you need something like this. My bet is you won't. Also -- don't worry about the warranty on the NAS. It will be your drives or the the power supply that go bad and they are not usually covered under the warranty.

Quote from issai : I have decent computer skills (built 100's of customized PC's back in the day, prior network/sys/admin/engineer,run my own IT consulting shop now). This offer doesn't seem lame to me. Why? Doesn't seem to require the same level of care & feeding or higher power consumption of a typical older mini/desktop PC.

You are going to tell me the difference between a 300W power supply and this puppy is going to amount to any real monetary difference in 5 years? The time you invest in care is the same as you would with this NAS. The difference is in the initial hardware/software setup. No matter which software or hardware you pick there will be time spent setting it up whether this NAS or some other form. This probably has an hour? less setup time than an old PC made it into a NAS. But aside from your lost time. Recycling an old machine and repurposing is definitely greener and any "loss of disputed power gain" would made up for by the savings in energy production costs made in manufacturing this NAS. You might consider this approach in your consulting. My customers have been relieved to find any purpose for those old PCs that just don't have any apparent life left in them, can't be donated easily anymore and can't even be disposed of in the trash.

To answer your 1st question: to some, yes.

300W vs. ~50W for a typical Home/SMB NAS device= ~$20 / month savings for 24/7 operation (local utility rates vary). $20 / month x 12 months = $240 savings / year. More than $1K in 5 years.