DIY for the WIN! I agree it will all depend on how much you really like to the DIY approach. Personally I don't use OMV. Install bare linux install docker, cockpit, samba, etc. Done. OMV is too bloated and not everything works. Over time if you tinker with it too much it will break. Since you don't know the command line you won't know how to quickly fix it. If you just want a NAS get the Synology. If you want to learn linux and it excites you to build it yourself get the Raspberry Pi. Great video!
There is definietly an argument to be made of how comfortable one feels with console vs more managed solution. I usually say to buy professional stuff if you just want the thing to work and spend the time on something you actually like doing. While it's possible to have most of things DIYed... I don't think any sane person would take that approach :)
I decided to go Raspberry Pi but the reasons are unique: 1. I am only really running a Plex server - both choices are equivalent 2. I already had the storage, not just the drives, but I use a pair of Apple AirPort Time Capsules w/ 4TB drives so they are already on the network 24/7 3. I just need something to serve the plex role, and stream the files from the Time Capsules. 4. I used to have an Asustor NAS way back when and it was great, but the Deadbolt malware woke me up to potential for any NAS that is accessible outside your network to be vulnerable to attack - either deletion or encryption and ransom. I believe while my solution is not foolproof. It would be difficult to attack. My storage volume is not directly accessible outside my network and there are two copies on two different devices, not like RAID where one array is still vulnerable to same attack. If I did not already have this setup, I would choose the NAS. So much easier and all-in-one solution, but again, no matter the company's promise, it is risky to put all your eggs in one basket for security.
Good point. both are good options... It only depend on user's skill & POCKET...... Because a NAS with virtural processing that can also host my Home Assistantt is far from my budget, I am more than happy to stack 3 PIs on top of eachother to run my OMV & HA & Volumio. Such config is more than useful for an entry & medium level user.
What's power draw like on the Synology? Considering replacing my Unraid box to: A - cut power usage. B - cut admin time fixing it. Or maybe put my cash into more Google storage?
Synology about 26W in use, 8W in hibernation. Not sure if this would suit your need but having a scheduled power on/shutdown at times when you go to bed with WOL wakup in emergency would probably work well for me. This would cut down time by 50% for me
How much memory does yours use? You need the 8gb model for disk cache ? My setup is it the attic, so you wouldn't need a fancy box, you could just put a pi in an old pc case or not bother with a case at all. But then you could save a lot on a 2 bay Synology too. Probably use less power to.
You don't need 8GB version. 2GB is ideal and 4GB is more than enough. The problem with 2 bay is that you either run out quick or you end up paying premium to max out your bays
@@notenoughtech I mean the Pi has not RAID controller in it while the Syniology has. Regarding redundancy you cannot have a RAID 1 for mirroring 2 disks in the Pi while you can in the Synology, OMV has the support for RAID configuration but not with USB connected disks.
I believe this is software implemented on OMV. From the usability perspective Cron job would be a safer choice to mirror data to prevent the disk failure but you can set up raid 1
you forgot the main drawback of an RPi: sdcards, which use to be very sensible to power issues, corrupting data... so maybe your data will be on the ssds, but you can't get them until restoring a new OS...
At the Synology shows in it's specs at 2GB of RAM; 8GB RAM for a pi NAS is overkill also £140 for an enclosure overkill and it is optional. £20 for pi heat sink pads would be more realistic . Undoubtedly Raspberry pi is by far still the cheapest way to go but that's just looking at money
How? Speed. There are bus contention issues in the Pi limiting throughput. Reliability. USB is notoriously unreliable for use in a NAS. You want SATA/SAS for RAID. Price. You may already have the hardware, and a used 6th gen i3 box is less than a Pi4. Properly tuned for sleep/wake, a PC can even use less power than a PI. Mine uses 5W when asleep. If you just need a couple light always-on containers, then yes a Pi4 is good for that. I have one. For storage, a Pi4 is simply not the right choice. A CM4 with a SATA card is better, but a PC still beats it.
The issue with a PC is the power consumption. At $0.50 / KWH in New Zealand that can be in the $100s of dollars per year and when taking into account payed cloud storage/time/security it starts to not make sense. A pi on the other hand had very low power consumption
DIY for the WIN! I agree it will all depend on how much you really like to the DIY approach. Personally I don't use OMV. Install bare linux install docker, cockpit, samba, etc. Done. OMV is too bloated and not everything works. Over time if you tinker with it too much it will break. Since you don't know the command line you won't know how to quickly fix it. If you just want a NAS get the Synology. If you want to learn linux and it excites you to build it yourself get the Raspberry Pi.
Great video!
There is definietly an argument to be made of how comfortable one feels with console vs more managed solution. I usually say to buy professional stuff if you just want the thing to work and spend the time on something you actually like doing. While it's possible to have most of things DIYed... I don't think any sane person would take that approach :)
I decided to go Raspberry Pi but the reasons are unique:
1. I am only really running a Plex server - both choices are equivalent
2. I already had the storage, not just the drives, but I use a pair of Apple AirPort Time Capsules w/ 4TB drives so they are already on the network 24/7
3. I just need something to serve the plex role, and stream the files from the Time Capsules.
4. I used to have an Asustor NAS way back when and it was great, but the Deadbolt malware woke me up to potential for any NAS that is accessible outside your network to be vulnerable to attack - either deletion or encryption and ransom. I believe while my solution is not foolproof. It would be difficult to attack. My storage volume is not directly accessible outside my network and there are two copies on two different devices, not like RAID where one array is still vulnerable to same attack.
If I did not already have this setup, I would choose the NAS. So much easier and all-in-one solution, but again, no matter the company's promise, it is risky to put all your eggs in one basket for security.
Thank you for sharing your thought process on this. Insightful
Good point. both are good options... It only depend on user's skill & POCKET...... Because a NAS with virtural processing that can also host my Home Assistantt is far from my budget, I am more than happy to stack 3 PIs on top of eachother to run my OMV & HA & Volumio. Such config is more than useful for an entry & medium level user.
I keep my automation server separate, I play way too much with it to keep it on the same hardware as my data. You know... just in case things happen
What's power draw like on the Synology? Considering replacing my Unraid box to:
A - cut power usage.
B - cut admin time fixing it.
Or maybe put my cash into more Google storage?
Synology about 26W in use, 8W in hibernation.
Not sure if this would suit your need but having a scheduled power on/shutdown at times when you go to bed with WOL wakup in emergency would probably work well for me. This would cut down time by 50% for me
How much memory does yours use? You need the 8gb model for disk cache ?
My setup is it the attic, so you wouldn't need a fancy box, you could just put a pi in an old pc case or not bother with a case at all.
But then you could save a lot on a 2 bay Synology too. Probably use less power to.
You don't need 8GB version. 2GB is ideal and 4GB is more than enough.
The problem with 2 bay is that you either run out quick or you end up paying premium to max out your bays
What about RAID capability?
Can you be more precise? The drive configuration tested is the slowest. So all figures only go up from there (expect the network bandwidth related)
@@notenoughtech I mean the Pi has not RAID controller in it while the Syniology has. Regarding redundancy you cannot have a RAID 1 for mirroring 2 disks in the Pi while you can in the Synology, OMV has the support for RAID configuration but not with USB connected disks.
I believe this is software implemented on OMV. From the usability perspective Cron job would be a safer choice to mirror data to prevent the disk failure but you can set up raid 1
you forgot the main drawback of an RPi: sdcards, which use to be very sensible to power issues, corrupting data... so maybe your data will be on the ssds, but you can't get them until restoring a new OS...
Ovm has plugins that manage the writes bit that's a good shout I should have mention it. Argon ion has extra usb port inside you can use to boot from
@@notenoughtech good to know! :)
RPi can boot off usb3 now, so you can use a small usb3 ssd instead of the SD card.
At the Synology shows in it's specs at 2GB of RAM; 8GB RAM for a pi NAS is overkill also £140 for an enclosure overkill and it is optional. £20 for pi heat sink pads would be more realistic . Undoubtedly Raspberry pi is by far still the cheapest way to go but that's just looking at money
If you know what you are doing the ram won't go to waste. :) All these plugins and extensions
An old PC is almost always a better DIY NAS than a Pi4.
define "better"
I'm just in the process or rebuilding old PC NAS to Pi4 after checking latest energy bill (80W vs 14W is a ton of difference).
@@VojtechLiska indeed. No point of getting ferarri to run to the corner store for milk :)
How? Speed. There are bus contention issues in the Pi limiting throughput. Reliability. USB is notoriously unreliable for use in a NAS. You want SATA/SAS for RAID. Price. You may already have the hardware, and a used 6th gen i3 box is less than a Pi4. Properly tuned for sleep/wake, a PC can even use less power than a PI. Mine uses 5W when asleep. If you just need a couple light always-on containers, then yes a Pi4 is good for that. I have one. For storage, a Pi4 is simply not the right choice. A CM4 with a SATA card is better, but a PC still beats it.
The issue with a PC is the power consumption. At $0.50 / KWH in New Zealand that can be in the $100s of dollars per year and when taking into account payed cloud storage/time/security it starts to not make sense. A pi on the other hand had very low power consumption