Tag: NAS

Synology Says No Third Party Drives in Future Plus Series NAS Devices

For nearly a decade, Synology NAS devices have been central to my home data infrastructure, offering more than basic file storage. Their intuitive, web-based interface and built-in cloud service alternatives like the Synology Office suite, alongside capabilities such as Docker container hosting, have made these devices incredibly useful for self-hosted applications.

However, Synology recently announced a significant change: future Plus-series NAS devices will mandate the use of Synology-branded drives. Users will no longer have the freedom to choose their preferred storage hardware, creating potential complications for those looking to migrate from older devices.

I take a look at this shift and why Synology might be doing this in my latest video.

Synology confirmed that the upcoming Plus series would initially require their branded drives, citing system stability as the reason. They did leave the door open for future compatibility with third-party drives following rigorous testing, but the company has made no commitment on that.

Examining market pricing reveals that Synology-branded drives are effectively rebranded Seagate IronWolf or Toshiba NAS drives, differentiated mainly by custom firmware and a slightly higher price point. For instance, an 8TB Synology drive costs roughly $34 more than its equivalent Seagate counterpart. Other drive capacities tend to have about a $30-$40 price premium between the Synology branded drive and one made by Seagate or Toshiba.

Beyond drive compatibility, Synology has made other strategic decisions that hint at a shift away from the consumer enthusiast market. Recent NAS models featuring AMD Ryzen processors lack hardware video transcoding capabilities, impacting home media users significantly. Moreover, Synology discontinued support for certain popular video codecs like HEVC and H.264 in their DSM OS. They also discontinued the Video Station app, although third-party solutions such as Plex and Jellyfin remain viable on Intel-based units.

My take is that Synology wishes to focus on the small and mid-size enterprise market, which offers higher profit margins and fewer competitors. At the same time, consumer and enthusiast sectors are becoming increasingly competitive, with newer entrants like Ugreen, MinisForum, Beelink, and GMKTec offering affordable alternatives. Additionally, free open-source software solutions and low cost solutions like Unraid now rival Synology’s proprietary offerings, further squeezing their enthusiast market share.

Synology’s decision aims to narrow their consumer base to users seeking turnkey solutions, accepting proprietary hardware requirements in exchange for convenience, reliability and comprehensive support. Conversely, enthusiasts looking for customization and flexibility are likely to explore alternative DIY setups, a sector rapidly expanding due to accessible hardware and robust open-source software.

Personally, despite these changes, I’ll maintain a Synology device for mission-critical data due to its reliable backup and support features. However, for many other tasks, my home lab go-to is my hacked together Unraid setup using a GMKTec NAS. See more about that here.

GMKTec G9 Compact NVME NAS Review

For nearly a decade, I relied on a WD MyCloud PR2100 NAS device as the backbone of my home media setup. It served as my Plex server, managed my HDHomeRun DVR, and generally functioned as the central hub for all my media needs.

While it continued to perform reliably, the hardware was starting to show its age. It was limited to gigabit Ethernet despite my upgraded multi-gig network, and its processor struggled with newer video formats, particularly for hardware-based transcoding in Plex. I decided it was time to explore an alternative that offered more flexibility, particularly for installing Docker containers and other self-hosted applications.

Enter my latest experiment: the GMKtec G9 and a Wavlink USB drive enclosure, which is the subject of my latest review.

This compact Intel N150-powered mini PC is marketed as a NAS device, thanks to its four NVMe slots that allow for a solid-state storage array. It also features a USB-C 3.2 port capable of 10 Gbps speeds, which enabled me to integrate a Wavlink four-bay USB drive enclosure. With a combination of SSDs and spinning drives, I set out to see if this unconventional setup could handle my media server needs.

For the operating system, I opted for Unraid. Having explored Unraid in the past, I was already familiar with its capabilities, particularly its flexibility with storage and Docker applications. While Unraid doesn’t yet support the N150 processor’s GPU for hardware transcoding, that feature is expected in version 7.1 next month. For now, that means this setup isn’t ideal for Plex transcoding, but it works fine for direct streaming and other media-related tasks which is what I typically do at home.

One of the main considerations with this setup was cost. The GMKtec G9, priced around $239 with a 512GB SSD pre-installed (compensated affiliate link), offers a relatively affordable entry point for a NAS-like system. The Wavlink drive array, at about $115 without disks, provides a budget-friendly option for additional storage, though it lacks some of the conveniences of higher-end NAS enclosures, such as hot-swappable bays. Instead, drives are secured in trays that require screws, making swaps more labor-intensive. One other important note is that the Wavlink device doesn’t support software RAID on Windows – it’s basically a JBOD array which makes it a good fit for Unraid.

From a hardware perspective, the GMKtec G9 is a compact but capable device. It has 12GB of soldered RAM, which isn’t upgradeable—a potential limitation for users running multiple self-hosted applications. However, in my use case, RAM hasn’t been an issue; even with Plex and a few Docker containers running, memory usage remains low. The back panel offers two 2.5-gigabit Ethernet ports, multiple USB ports, and HDMI outputs, allowing it to function as a compact desktop PC if needed. In fact it comes with a fully licensed version of Windows 11 Pro preinstalled!

One concern I encountered early on was heat management. The NVMe slots lack active cooling, and while I added heat sinks to mitigate the issue, temperatures are still running higher than I would like. Selecting lower-powered NVMe drives may help, but it’s something to keep in mind when configuring this setup especially if you plan to work the array heavily.

With Unraid up and running, I configured my storage into an array that includes four 4TB hard drives, one of which serves as the parity drive for data protection. I also designated an NVMe drive as a cache to improve performance, particularly for media applications. One of the key lessons from this project was the importance of caching in Unraid. Initially, I configured my media share to write directly to the spinning drives, but this significantly slowed write speeds due to the parity configuration. Enabling the cache drive drastically improved performance, allowing for smooth file transfers without the mid-transfer slowdowns I initially encountered.

For applications, I set up Plex, the HDHomeRun DVR, and Immich, an open-source photo organization tool. Plex has been responsive, particularly when browsing the library, thanks to the NVMe storage. However, without Unraid’s GPU support for hardware transcoding on the N150, it’s not yet an ideal solution for remote streaming of high-bitrate content. Once Unraid 7.1 is released, I plan to revisit the transcoding capabilities.

As a whole, this setup has been surprisingly functional. While it lacks the polish of a dedicated NAS, the combination of a mini PC with external storage provides a flexible and cost-effective alternative. It’s not the most elegant solution—there are cables everywhere—but it works. Unraid’s flexibility means that if I decide to transition to a different hardware setup in the future, I can easily migrate my storage and applications without major disruptions.

I’ll be keeping this system running for a while until I come across a better solution. One of the advantages of Unraid is the ability to pick up the drives and plop them into another PC without any need for reconfiguration. More to come on this project!

Disclosure: the NAS Box came in free of charge from GMKTec and the Wavlink SATA Array came in free of charge through the Amazon Vine program. No additional compensation was received nor did anyone review or approve this review before it was uploaded. See more on my disclosures here.

ioSafe 220+ Review

The last two weeks on the channel could best be described as the “not for everyone” series. The ioSafe 220+ is another product not for most people but those who need one will appreciate that it exists. You can see my review here.

The ioSafe 220+ has all the guts of an Intel powered Synology 220+ NAS device inside of a fireproof and waterproof casing. It’s designed to survive being in a 1550 degree fahrenheit fire for 30 minutes and the subsequent water dousing it’ll take to put the fire out. The electronics won’t survive but the drives inside of the fireproof enclosure should.

It works thanks to an endothermic material that is built into the casing. Water molecules are trapped inside of the material and will turn into steam when placed in a high temperature environment. That steam draws heat away from the center portion where the drives are stored. The drive enclosure is hermetically sealed to prevent water intrusion. You can hear more about how it works in this interview I did with the founder of the company back in 2015.

One of the improvements in this version is a much quieter fan. Previous versions had super loud fans that made it difficult to locate the device in an office environment. This one is about as a quiet as a regular Synology NAS.

Performance otherwise is on-part with a regular Synology NAS.

Why is this not for everyone? Price. A regular diskless Synology 220+ NAS sells for $300. This one starts at $940. But there are often corporate and government requirements for data storage that call for flood and fire protection for mission critical data.