When should you upgrade your NAS?

Videos mentioned:

My Synology Recommendations*:

#synology #nas

TOC:
00:00 Introduction
01:33 Running out of space
05:58 Performance limitations (CPU, RAM, networking speed)
10:17 End of security updates
12:23 Should you wait for the next new unit release?
18:46 What to look for when choosing an upgrade unit
21:30 Conclusion

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[duncan-mcrae]

My 4x bay synology is 11yro. It's been maxed out with 98% full for years.

[TheCrawler]

I upgraded my 1513+ about 6 years ago with an 1618+. I run 4 drives in both. I kept the 1513+ and use that to back up the 1618+. I swap in new, larger drives into the new NAS, then put the replaced drives into the old NAS. The main reason for upgrading to the 1618+ was that I had maxed out the CPU/memory on the 1513+ (2 cores / 4GB) and I wanted to have more functionality like that for running Docker, VMs as well as video transcoding that the older NAS couldn't handle. Also, at the time, the 1513+ didn't support BTRFS, although I think Synology has since included support for that model.

[maciejjablkowski]

I upgraded a couple of months ago. My 414 is still running with all four HGST also from 2014. But I was afraid one of the components would die any day so I got 923+ with 2 16TB Synology drives so far. And I’m very happy with it. Have not upgraded anything yet and it is snappy and quiet enough.

[JackupTraining]

My first synology is still running... DS115 😁
It still has it's purpose

[greenleaph]

That's it! I'm done waiting and researching. After 1.2 years of research and savings, I've decided on the QNAP TVS-674T.

I know people give it a lot of hate for its security flaws, but I don't intend on using their apps anytime soon. I have a single use case for it and had nothing to do with their apps.

Bought 6x10TB drives and 2x2TB M.2s.

Will be setting up an MFA/2FA just in case.

[jodajackson]

Still using a Synology DS1815+ but as a backup for a QNAP TS-653D both of which are data duplicated on a new UGreen DXP8800 Plus. The DS1815+ has been very reliable (RMAed for new manufactured model in 2017 with the C2000 errata fix). The real issue with the DS1815+ is its DSM 7.x.x limited upgrades and its anemic C2000 series SoC. Still works great though.

[johnc_canada]

I had a DS 1512+ that I finally decided to upgrade after Synology dropped support for DSM 6.2. This time around I built my own and put Truenas on it. It supports 16 drives, 64gb ram and dual 10gbe network ports for about half the cost and no worries about being unable to upgrade hardware/software down the road.

[markmonroe]

Excellent presentation. Thank you. I still have a DS2413+ from 2013 with 4g memory and 12 4tb Seagate Enterprise drives in it at RAID-6 with BTRFS volumes and plenty of snapshots. It works perfectly and I use it daily mostly as a unit for storing backups of systems. I wish it had 10g network interfaces. Doubt I would buy a new Synology with all of the proprietary drive/memory/card issues now.

[biwageezer]

Thanks for another great video! I've been running a DS1019+ since it came out, filled with 12TB Ultrastar drives which are still going strong. I have two 512Gb NVMe drives installed, but no other upgrades (networking not available, but came stock with 8Gb of RAM, so that's been nice). My application has just been backing up local NVMe arrays and accessing the NAS remotely, so I haven't needed that much horsepower. I'm waiting for the 1825+, but if it's a unit that "officially" only supports Synology drives, I'll just buy the 1821+ and the network upgrade (hopefully at a discount). I use GoodSync to back up the NAS to an old OWC Thunderbolt-3 72TB (60TB RAID5) array which is backed up via Backblaze. Not elegant, but it works...

[PowerUsr]

Synologys are amazing for SMB type of projects. My first unit is a DS216j....That bad boy is still in service TODAY and its only used as hyperbackup vault and a secondary location for my xcp virtual machines if the primary nas fails.

[TLBJ]

Just getting started with my first NAS, but I looked into the hardware/features to cost and I went with the UGreen NAS. $599 for a six bay with dual 10Gbe network ports, 12th GEN 10-CORE INTEL Core i5 Processor and 8GB ram standard (expandable to 96Gbe) was an excellent deal. I was waiting and waiting and waiting for a new a new six bay unit from Synology, but it's been 3+ years that I have been looking, so I just pulled the trigger on the UGreen Unit. I filled it with 24TB drives and 16TB NVMe ram, so I'm hoping this will buy me a few years of future proofing.

[AllAccessConstruction]

Been running mines since 2016..8 bay.. 😊😊

[thy]

Functionality has turned out to be more important to me than storage in my NAS. The new DSM update where I lose H.265 support was the last nail in the coffin for me. I have purchased licenses for two additional cameras, but I am now considering switching to something else.

[christopheroliver]

I given up waiting for DS1825+. So I have upgraded my trusted DS1813+ with 8 x 4TB HGST that still working perfectly for 24/7 for last 11 years. Gone for DS1821+ and 4 off EXOS x24 20TB + add 4GB RAM module = 8GB.

[cyberwasp]

Been running a DS920+ for 3 years at 42tb and love it. Only have used 5tb total so far. Only issue I have is the OPENVPN won't let the mail plus app on my phone to connect since 7.2 but am working on it. I hope to see a video on the new ones coming out soon!!

[JustinKingOffroad]

my 920+ is humming right along but i do wish it had 10gbe networking. my 2.5gbe switch and network port in my pc would be much happier lol!

[DBR]

Please make a video on how you maintain your beard! Hands down, it’s my favorite!

[AllAccessConstruction]

Great video.. I have 1815 plus.. Ten years ago.. Still working good but running out of space 8 4tb red drives.

By this being an older system. What's the biggest hard drive I can use with it? Appreciate your time

[compudude]

I'm perfectly happy with my 920+... drives in it are relatively small 8tb, so I can start swapping in larger drives and gain a ton of space if I start getting too low. CPU usage is very low, RAM is medium, (due to my main VM) but RAM can be added easily. The one thing that kills me is networking speed, capped out at 1G. (Ok 2G-ish, since I bonded them, but still not the same). For my next leap I'm thinking of getting some less expensive hardware (like Terramaster) with more bays, and putting UnRaid or TrueNAS on it, and then keep this one to backup the new one, adding an Expansion unit if needed, and it can continue running my VMs. (Home Assistant and a couple Docker containers I need 24/7, since it does just fine with those). Then the new one can just be pure storage.

[Starlight-AG]

Greetings. One thing you did not mention when deciding to upgrade/replace is this... I have a DS412+ 4 x 4TB drives. Working fine as file server etc but, short on space so decided to upgrade drives. Turns out it will only support a maximum drive capacity of 4TB each drive so upgrading drives is not an option. So, I got a DS1522+ and put 5 4TB drives as I had them already. Works far better and will support larger drives (although I cannot find info on how large per drive). Much better CPU. Wish they had a 2.5G network upgrade instead of the 10G available. Old DS412+ used for backups, Drive images etc and central data server for programming etc accessed from multiple machines so works fine. The DS1522+ is basically for Media server. 🇨🇦😀