Synology CloudStation Blog Post

A brief post was added recently on OnlineBackupReviews.org regarding using the built-in Synology CloudStation software to set up an off-site storage solution accessible by various users.

Unlike a lot of cloud storage solutions, a privately owned cloud system though something like CloudStation would be able to avoid fees based on usage and capacity, though the downside would be that whoever runs the storage would require a certain level of technical know-how that some small business owners

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FreeNAS Server Blog Post

Joe over at High On Solder, a site focused on electronic and photography projects, recently wrote up his experience setting up a FreeNAS server to serve as a local backup solution for his personal data. As the name might indicate, FreeNAS is an open-source storage platform aiming to make sharing easy between Windows, Apple, and UNIX-based systems.

Instead of going through the available documentation from FreeNAS, Joe opted to follow a brief tutorial over at Engadget. This was probably a

FreeNAS Server Blog Post

Thecus N7510 Review

SmallNetBuilder has recently put out a fairly comprehensive look at the Thecus N7510, a seven bay NAS by Thecus. The review goes into quite a bit of detail on the N7510, including detailed performance tests and comparisons:
I tested the N7510 with 2.03.08.cdv firmware, using our NAS test process with RAID 0, 5 and 10 volumes. As is our standard practice, four drives were configured in each volume type.

Windows File Copy tests show read throughput running 10 - 15 MB/s lower than write for

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Thecus N5550 Review

TweakTown has posted a review of the Thecus N5550, a 5-bay NAS released by Thecus. The review is fairly comprehensive, including specifications, benchmarks, and speed comparisons to the QNAP TS-869 Pro, which they reviewed in early November, eventually arriving at a very strong 93% rating.

As great as they think the TS-869 is, they seem even more fond of the N5550. According to them, it might just be the best value on the market today, helping them arrive at their final rating of

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Western Digital Sentinel DX4000 NAS Review

XBitLabs recently released a fairly comprehensive review of the Western Digital Sentinel DX4000 NAS, a 4-bay NAS made by Western Digital, primarily known as a hard drive manufacturer.

XBitLabs put the Sentinel through its paces, including a speed test as part of their coverage:
The peak read and write speed are 100 and 80 MB/s. The external disk is comparable in performance to the dual-disk RAID1. Compared to other NASes with similar hardware, the Sentinel DX400 is somewhat slower than

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Drobo Mini Review

TrulyNet has released a review of another not-quite-NAS device, the Drobo Mini. The Drobo Mini is a small, lightweight 4-bay Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 storage array.

According to TrulyNet, the biggest upside of the Drobo Mini is the form factor, as it is quite a bit smaller than most similar external storage solutions:
The upside: the is the smallest unit we've seen, and looks great. But the footprint might not matter much for a unit that is going to be largely stationary and likely be

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Lifehacker NAS Vote Concluded

Lifehacker recently conducted a vote on the five best NAS enclosures. The voting began with a nomination phase:
There are plenty of companies that make NAS enclosures, but not all of them are worth picking up. There are some hidden jewels out there, and we're betting you know which ones are worth a look. Alternatively, we're sure many of you would rather build your own. Whatever you think, let us know in the discussions below so your vote can be counted!

Lifehacker
After the nomination

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Drobo 5D Review

PopPhoto.com has a review of the Drobo 5D, a five bay RAID external storage device. This Drobo device is not a NAS, but it can perform similar functions if connected to a computer on a home network).

Since PopPhoto is a site centered around photography, the review is slanted toward what a photographer might need and the technical knowledge someone not necessarily in a technology field might possess.

Overall the review had a favorable wrapup for the main selling points of the Drobo 5D,

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Synology DS713+ NAS and DX213 Expansion Unit Review

Kitguru has an eleven page review of the Synology DS713+ NAS and the DX213 two drive expansion unit. The Synology DS713+ is the latest iteration of Synology's top of the line two drive NAS unit. Kitguru has a pictorial breakdown of the unit on this page. The DX213 allows for adding two extra drives to the DS713+, which expands the potential storage into the 16 TB range if using 4 TB drives. This page has some test results running the DS713+. With read results in the 120+ MB/s range and write speeds over 100 MB/s - the NAS is one of the fastest test. It is only bested in the results by two other more costly Synology NAS servers. Performance is summed up:

Overall performance is excellent, ranging close to the top of the chart. The fast 2.13ghz dual core processor can handle small data files quickly. Kitguru

Two more bits of useful information - noise and power usage indicate that the unit is quiet and power effecient:

The YS Tech fan in the DS713+ doesn’t emit much noise, even when it spins up slightly when ambient temperatures rise inside the chassis. With only two internal hard drives, the fan never has to work that hard. The unit is rather efficient, demanding only 18 watts when idle. With two drives fitted, this rises to around 32 watts under load. Kitguru

Use of the expansion unit does not slow overall performance:

The DS713+ is enhanced with the addition of one of Synology’s DX expansion units. Today we tested the DX213, and it was able to match the internal performance of the main unit while doubling the storage capacity. Kitguru

I've said before - I run three Synology NAS servers - and the reason I do is because their performance is phenomenal.

How To Create A Home Server With Ubuntu, Amahi & Your Old Computer

Makeuseof has a new post about how to create a home server using Ubuntu Linux software with Amahi and an old computer. The author used an old laptop as his new server. This was a follow on to an earlier post at Makeuseof which installed Amahi using Fedora Linux which was the only supported OS for Amahi at the time of the earlier writing - early 2011.

Using an old Laptop (Dell), the author downloaded an Ubuntu ISO and made a bootable usb drive to install the OS. Overall, the article is a nice

Read More About How To Create A Home Server With Ubuntu, Amahi & Your Old Computer

WD Red 3TB NAS Hard Drive Review

Legit Storage Reviews has done a comprehensive review of the Western Digital 3 TB Red NAS drive. The reason for the NAS drives for use in a NAS:
Anyone that has ever built a NAS before knows that buying hard drives and running them in RAID can be tricky, so WD has been working with NAS box manufacturers to make sure the WD Red series is compatible and that they are optimized for both power and performance.

Legit Reviews
Some of the features of the Red drives:
The WD Red series costs a bit

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Synology DiskStation DS213+ Review

Expertreviews.co.uk has a review of the DS213+ Synology NAS server. They like just about everything about the 213+ and make it their new 2-bay NAS favorite:

Verdict:
With fast transfer speeds, a great processor for the price and the brilliant DSM 4.1 interface, this is our new favourite two-bay NAS enclosure.

Expertreviews.co.uk
All of the Synology NAS devices are highly recommended by us

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