I watched the Synology vs TruNas video with interested. And decided I wanted to try Free/TrueNAS. My current home file server is starting to flake, and I was planning on replacing it. I could build my own, but wanted something to just drop in. I can get a Synology for under $400, but the IX Mini starts at close to twice that diskless. Is there a cheaper middle ground between DIY and IX? Software and Networking is not a problem for me, but I hate hardware issues. And just to add a monkey wrench, I like what I read about TN Scale. Should I stick with Core, or try for Scale? Or just plain Linux server like I have now.
What storage protocols are you looking to run?
Mainly Windows shares. Some backups with RSync, or something to backup PCs. Nothing fancy.
I would stick with a Linux file server then. If you planned to do things with virtual hosts (iSCSI or NFS) I would get a Synology.
I’ve got two QNAP NAS’s and wanting a third backup faced the same problem you have encountered. What I ended up doing was buying 2x5 USB Bays and plugging this into a Lenovo m900 tiny, then used OpenMediaVault as a file server. Opted for this solution as both cost and space are optimised.
Did also try this solution with a Raspberry Pi 4 with Ubuntu Mate but it was running hotter than molten lava.
I’d recommend a QNAP or Synology as a primary storage and I think the above is ok for secondary / tertiary backup.
Under $400 would be a DS418 model or lower, which in my opinion is not a fair comparison to an Mini E.
Synology and IX Systems have different approaches to their hardware builds. Synology has a wide line of different models with different capabilities aka something for everyone. IX Systems offer less model options but tends to give you more room to grow within a particular model.
Synology doesn’t charge you for what a system can’t do. Where as IX Systems charges you for what a system could do.
I would stick with Core for now, especially if you are considering DIY and you do not have the time to tinker.
I’ve been using Synology for the past 9 yrs without any issues. I replaced a DS 218+ last year with a DS 918+ going from 2 bay to 4 bay, the 918 has more bells and whistles that I would ever need, but Synology in general just works so well. I’ve setup the old 218 as a backup as part of my 3 backup redundancy. Prior to going with Synology yrs ago, I did try try the home-built route, but got tired of having to maintain and tinker with it. I just needed something that would run in the closet with very little concern. I’ve setup my Synology with all the security options in place including 2FA, reports sent to me, so basically set it and forget it.
well, I was leaning towards a synology because price. But I just had a Synology RS2416+ die over the weekend. After some research it turned out that adding a resister brought it back up , tho I’m not sure the client trusts it any more. As such, I’m reevaluating the TrueNas system, even at the higher price. So, any thoughts?
Another very good reason to go with the iXsystems Mini ZFS as opposed to BTRFS. TrueNAS Core’s ZFS file systems has features and reliability that is unmatched, just select business class SATA drives.
1 Like