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Synology DS918+ 4 Bay NAS 4GB $649 + Delivery @ Shopping Express

350

Not the cheapest ever, but good enough and around the standard discount price lately, for those looking to bite the bullet like myself.

Delivery was $12.40 to Melbourne CBD.
Surcharge for Paypal and maybe others. I used zip which had none.

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  • About the going sale price for the 918+ these days, good unit though

  • +2

    Still struggling to see the value in this. It's a black box with 4 empty bays, with a 1.5ghz CPU and 4gb ram, with some proprietary software loaded on it… for over $600…?

    Why do people think that this is a reasonable price? Is it because it looks cool? Or the software support from the vendor? I just don't get it?!

    • +1

      It's easy, and once you plug a drive in. It's pretty much ready to go. A lot of people dont want to have to worry about building something from scratch and setting it all up, just to save $100.

      • +1

        If it was just to save $100, I'd have already bought one I'm sure!!!

        • At this size/form factor. I can't imagine you're saving much more than that at the moment. If you're happy with a tower, then sure. It'd be closer to $200.

          • @ONEMariachi: $450 for a pc tower with no hard drives in it? Seems very pricey to me. But you could well be right.

            • +1

              @clandestino: Yeah m, pretty expensive at the moment. Dollar has pooped itself , on top of covid pricing. You may even be hard pressed to pull that off right now.

      • +3

        I have one of these and it's fantastic, replaced a pc that was doing the same job. I've got 12Gb Ram, and 4x 6Th WD good drives in Raid 5.
        This has far less power consumption, and I'm running 5 docker containers, a win10 VM, and Plex.

    • +1

      You can buy cheaper units from other brands like qnap or terramaster. I think the big difference is software and paying for the better and leading product.

      • Not really much cheaper when you compare the specs and bays on this compared to the Qnap and Terramaster alts

    • +9

      It's super low power. It's pretty hard to build a NAS that uses 12-40W. Also the software is nice. I'm not going to argue it's not overpriced, but I have one of these and it's rock solid.

        • +7

          Tech websites have done tests. 43.5W under load, 4 drives.

        • Do you wanna build a PC with drives running 24/7? Or do you want a small device that uses much less power, creates less heat and noise….

          Of course these have a purpose.

      • It's actually not, I originally thought this until I discovered the J series Intel + Motherboard combos.

        https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/J5005-ITX/

        • Except there's no Raid support. So good for a PC, no good for a storage device

          • +2

            @darkly: lol no raid support? you know synology is just software raid right? you can run synology on this j5005 board

      • This is the exact reason why I prefer a NAS even if it's more expensive than building your own

    • +2

      Can you show me an example build of a PC that has a similar form factor that comes in cheaper than this?

    • Easy to setup and support from synology.

      Good solution for home and small business.

      I lost count on how many hrs I spent on tweaking my diy server lol.
      But on the other hand, diy is way more flexible.

  • Does it support 12TB HDD?? It seems like can use up to 10TB per bay.

    • Yep, up to 14TB

  • I've got a HP N36L that I was thinking of setting up with xpenology.

    Does anyone here have experience doing this? it seems a bit daunting!

    All I want is a place to keep media files for home network use - just sharing folders in Win7 at the moment….

    • Got N36L been using for 8 years and recently grabbed a like new N54L. Stuck 16GB RAM and a GT710 and TX50E into PCI slots. Working like a dream as media server. Tempted to try Xpenology too but haven’t seen a real need over standard WHS2011 on old one and Win10 Pro on new. Everything just works great. What am I missing specifically?

    • I used Xpenology on a Gen8 until I got one of these. I was happy with it! Just know that upgrading DSM can be an issue (don't do it unless you have to). There are plenty of guides online.

    • I have XPenelogy running on Gen8, it's rock solid, just make sure you don't accidentally upgrade the software from DSM. Heaps of tutorial online and in youtube.

  • Godd O! I would jump at it exept I already bought one last year. Pricey but worth every dime!

  • What's the consensus of this vs the recently announced models?

    • 920+ has a newer processor which would help if you plan to run Plex Media Server. Otherwise not much else changed, still has dual gigabit ports like the 918+

      • From what I've seen on the newer model its not that much better, I would still get the 918+ at the lower price point.

      • +1

        https://nascompares.com/compare/ds918-vs-ds1019-vs-ds920/

        Interesting to note the big downside of the 920 is not being able to decode Codec h265 10bit (if that's important to you).

        • That's weird. Wonder if it's an error in the specs - doesn't make much sense for Apollo Lake and Gemini Lake CPUs to support it but a Gemini Lake Refresh (J4125) not to. Couldn't find any solid info to confirm one way or the other though.

        • Yeah, pretty sure that is just an error in the specs.. As Jabba said, it would be harder for Intel not to support it on a Gemini Lake Refresh CPU when they already do on the existing Gemini Lake CPUs.

          That being said, i was all set to wait and get a DS920+ for the added future proofing even if it cost me a bit more, but looking at one of the Aussie distributor's preorder pricing it is listed at $945, which seems like terrible value by comparison.

  • +4

    More like $670 after shipping and surcharge, plus no Cashback. No thank you. Will wait for a better deal.

  • does this support the hard drive health reporting, checking SMART logs to let you know when a drive is about to fail?

    • 99% sure it will, but don't have this exact model to check.

      I'm running an older model (1812+), but considering upgrading to this. The Synology OS (DSM) allows for SMART checks, both short and long/extended. These can be scheduled at whatever interval you'd like, then when bad sectors are detected you get a warning (and email notification, if set up). You also get a stack of other stats per drive, like power-on time and reconnection counts.

      The caveat to all of this is that I'm not running the exact model, but I should be running the same DSM, so I'd be shocked if this wasn't an option on this model.

    • does this support the hard drive health reporting, checking SMART logs to let you know when a drive is about to fail?

      Yes, I've got a DS918+. You can view each individual HDD's SMART attributes and their raw values (which provides the exact same information you'd get from HD Tune Pro or Crystal Disk Info), run "quick" or "extended" SMART tests on demand as well as schedule monthly health reports that can be sent via email and set up alerts/warnings for whenever bad sectors/reallocated sectors are detected.

  • Looking to start data hoarding and storing a few terabytes. Planning to add 2x10TB drives and see how it goes. Should I buy this, or the much much cheaper DS218j? I just need it as a file server, I won’t be running plex or docker or whatever.

  • Where can I get a good deal on 8TB WD Reds for this baby?

  • argh this is so tempting, with the 12 TB drives posted as well. I might wait until the newer one is released and then hopefully there is some cheaper stock around…or i might just get it. have a day to make the decision

    • +2

      I might wait until the newer one is released and then hopefully there is some cheaper stock around…

      The successor to this has already been announced (it's identical save for a newer, slightly better CPU) and is already available via limited distribution to retailers in Asia, so stock should reach Australia next month.

      I wouldn't bother waiting for any discounts on the previous generation Synology line-up; the pricing for computing products has been thrown completely out of whack thanks to pandemic-related supply chain issues, impulse buying, retailer price-gouging, low stock levels and logistical problems.

      or i might just get it

      Just get it. The last time the DS918+ was going for a significantly cheaper price than this was at the start of 2019.

      Who knows what's liable to happen with pricing or stock availability in the future.

      • +1

        Ok took you advice. A little eid present for myself!

        Now I need to find some drives. 4 or 6tb drives should do for starters. Any ideas?

  • I have a HP Gen8 Microserver that I bought many years ago. Was originally running windows home server but recently installed windows 10 as whs is quite dated now and won't recognise > 8gb ram.

    Been thinking about upgrading lately. How does this compare to to the HP Microserver?

    edit: Main things I have currently on the microserver:

    • plex server
    • Jackett, Sonarr and Radarr
    • VM with vpn and deluge torrent client
    • Ubiquity Unifi controller
    • +1

      i went through the same process.

      in the end ive decided on the nas for a couple of reasons.

      plug and play (i just dont have the time i did 5-10 years ago to get things right)
      has enough tailoring to keep me occupied (going to run jellyfin in docker etc)
      low energy consumption/always on
      DSM is a solid well regarded platform with 1st and 3rd party apps aplenty.

      • I have to admit, I don't have a lot of experience with docker containers.

        So if I wanted to install a torrent client (deluge) + sonarr + jackett + radarr best way would be via a docker? Assuming can't run a VM on this.
        Can I have a specific docker container go through a vpn?

        • +2

          Super super easy mate.

          Install docker and most combos are on YouTube.

          https://youtu.be/7dHf3h3a6tM

          Looking at a similar setup once I get mine

          Docker resolved the need for vms as it packages so dependencies for an app into its own container, so you don't have to worry about interoperability on a software level

          • @aaminoz: that actually looks easier than my setup!

            Tempting

            • @IdBuyThat4aDollar: yep super easy, one of the major reasons for me will be ease of setup and maintenance. i'm new to this setup through (Tor/sonarr etc) so looking forward to having a play around. if you have any tips let me know!

              • +1

                @aaminoz: Yeah so sonarr is for auto downloading tv shows as they get released. Radarr is the version for movies. It also auto moves and renames the files once downloaded so ties in nicely with your plex library.

                Basically on sonarr and raddar, you need to setup your indexers which is what it uses to search for tv shows/movies as they get released. There might be some inbuilt ones you can use (like RARBG off memory) but if you want to use piratebay, extratorrent, etc, better to download this other application called Jackett. That lets you use basically any torrent site or nzb site as an indexer via their rss feeds (I think), which you can configure into the indexer section or sonarr and radarr.

                Then you also need to setup your toreent or nzb client on sonarr/radarr via its web-gui setting (eg. deluge or transmission are usually the torrent clients used for torrents).

                You can further tweak sonarr/raddar settings to prioritize or only grab releases you like eg. 720p, WEBRip, BRrip, x265 etc.

                It should be set and forget once you got it all running. Took a bit of learning. Can't remember the exact tutorial I used but just found this just now.

                https://www.cuttingcords.com/home/ultimate-server/setting-up…

  • Serves me right for procrastinating.. out of stock now.

    • Go to r/synology and look at the unboxing of the 920 to make yourself feel better.

      Mayhap the price for the 920 will be comparable but with covid caused supply chain issues it'll be a while

      • Yeah, I was all set to wait and get a DS920+ for the added future proofing even if it cost me a bit more, but looking at one of the Aussie distributor's preorder pricing it is listed at $945, which seems like terrible value by comparison.

        • Yeah not worth it. 50 to 75 and ita worth considering

          • @aaminoz: Yeah, though I’d have considered as high as $800 at launch, given the 918+ doesn’t tend to come in under $720 when not on a deal at the moment.

            • @Arsenal: yep i would agree with you. the 50-75 was based on the pricepoint for this offer (670). with the 918 on around 725-775 mark, you may as well wait.

              • +1

                @aaminoz: Now it’s not a great sign in terms of availability that the distributor I’ve been looking at has now taken all the new x20 models off their site again, but perhaps on the bright side they’ll be a more competitive price when they come back. I should note they also previously had the 420+ as slightly more than the 918+.

                • @Arsenal: yeah pricing is all out of whack. i suspect they put them up and then looked at currency changes, and decided to pull until they have actual cost and stock in hand before landing on a price

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