NAS buying advice


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Hi guys!

 

I am looking to buy a storage solution for my home and since it is the first time I need some advice.

 

What I need:

- simple/easy solution for sharing files (90% movies) to my Dune Player.

- not interested in enterprise features (mail server, AD, Itunes etc.)

- it needs to have an FTP Client so I can download content from some FTP on the internet

- no important files will be stored so no backup is really needed but welcomed.

 

Should I go for a Synology (DS114) or would a WD My Cloud be enough?

 

The most important is the FTP Client which I should be able to access from anywhere over the NAS interface.

The main idea is I want to download from an external FTP Server files without my PC being involved (Basically I want to remove my PC as a go-between between my seedbox and my NAS.)

 

As far as I know Synology doesn't really have a proper FTP client (which is ridiculous for a NAS).

 

Thanks!

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All Synology NAS devices have FTP. I use it every day on my DS1513+ plus some 2 bay ones at work.

 

Depends if you're going to use all of its features though as they are quite powerful, ie: Plex and cloud capabilities etc.

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You sure? From what I tested on a friends Synology the DSM5.1 does not have an FTP client?

I didn't manage to make it work over the download station. I think you need to put add the FTP link to the exact file every time you want to download something

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You sure? From what I tested on a friends Synology the DSM5.1 does not have an FTP client?

I didn't manage to make it work over the download station. I think you need to put add the FTP link to the exact file every time you want to download something

Yes the Download Station will download from FTP servers.

 

Could you put the files on a Dropbox or OneDrive account, the Synology can sync from there with the Cloud Sync app?

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Will about 5-10 MB/s data transfer be enough? Do you have some experience with Linux (ie. navigating around and installing apps via a terminal)?

 

I wouldn't use FTP for security reasons (login credentials transmitted in plain text for a start).

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5-10MB is to slow. My internet connection is 250mbps so I would expect at least 20MB/s. With my PC I hit 27-28MB7s 95% of the time... Never drops under 25MB/s

 

@Tomo

No, I can't. They are huge.

Actually all I want to do is download from the FTP directly to the Synology without any PC. Only over the Synology Interface....

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5-10MB is to slow. My internet connection is 250mbps so I would expect at least 20MB/s. With my PC I hit 27-28MB7s 95% of the time... Never drops under 25MB/s

Woah, that's a fast connection. I was going to suggest a raspi and an external hard disk.

 

An old Mac Mini would also be a solution. Mac OS X has FTP inbuilt.

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Yeah but that defeats the purpose  of getting a NAS.

Otherwise I can live with my PC and external HDD :).

Most NAS systems didn't offer the flexibility I needed. That's why I went ahead with a raspi.

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Why would anyone be using ftp.. There clearly is a web interface, over https - which is way more secure than ftp. Or just vpn into your network and use standard windows file sharing. You use ftp to access files on your seedbox? Why not something like rsync, also more secure option or simple wget over https..

Ftp is a deprecated protocol that really has no use.. Other then if that is the only option some host provides - which I would prob just move hosts ;) Doesn't your host have sftp? Wanting an ftp server/client on your nas is kind asking for horn that plays La Cucaracha on your new Bentley ;)

If you want to do "other" stuff with your nas - then get a box, put whatever OS you want on it. That will run the other software you want to run.. NAS is just network attached storage, something running windows 7 is a NAS if that is what you use it for, etc.. I have a n40l runnig esxi, if I want it to do something I just put another VM on it if none of the current vms can do that other something. One of the vms is my storage, the other vms are all kinds of other things, router, syslog box, monitoring box "observium", one is my wireless controller, etc. etc..

If you have some long lists of things you want some "nas" today.. I would really just go with something running VMs to allow you all the freedom you want with whatever it is you want to do. That is my 2 cents.

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Yes, I want to download files from a seedbox. I use FTP over TLS/SSL not just plain FTP.

STFPT is slow...

rsync will sync everything! I don't want to download everything from the seedbox...just specific files.

 

A NAS would have been a simple solution to avoid using my PC every time I want to download something.

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https://www.lacie.com/US/products/product.htm?id=10584

2bigNAS_left.jpg

 

This is one I use for work. It's located at my home and I backup my work server to it via sftp.It was easy to setup and works.

It supports these protocols:

Network Protocols :  File Server: SMB, AFP, FTP, SFTP, NFS*
Web access: HTTP, HTTPS
Others: NTP, iSCSI, DHCP, Apple Bonjour?, BitTorrent?, Apipa

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Sorry but sftp is not slow unless there is something wrong or your higher level encryption than you need and the box is overloaded already. No rsync does not grab everything unless that is what you tell it to do.. You can filter rsync as much as you want.

So you think your ftp over tls/ssl is faster than simple wget over https? Are you using secure data channel for your transfer? Or you isp can easy tell what your moving.

Who said anything about PC.. You grab a box, could be something as simple as a raspberry pi with usb flash disk on it to grab your stuff for you on some schedule. Or you go with something be more beefy run whatever OS you want to run on it that does what you want. Get something low power if going to be on 24/7, etc.

Or how about simple vpn to your seedbox or stunnel, and move your data through that with whatever commands you want be it encrypted or not. But in general ftp is dead -- its use of 2 channels control and data make it cumbersome to work with through nat.. Are you active/passive? When you use ftps you just encrypted the control channel that allows the nat routes ftp helpers to change the IPs to pubic vs the ones the cient or server can give out depending if active or passive, etc.

Its a dead protocol if you ask me - much better ways to skin the cat then use ftp or ftps or ftpes or ftp-ssl, etc.

Maybe it will make a comeback with ipv6 and loss of the nat problem? ;)

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I don't care if it's encrypted or not. In my country it is legal to download anything for your OWN use.

 

All I need is something flexible and easy to use. I don't want a schedule etc.

From the same box I want to share the folders where the movies will be so I can stream them to my Dune box.

FTP is faster than HTTP, at least in my case.

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Um if you don't want to schedule it, then why not just use ftp from your PC and save it to your storage/machine you stream it from. Or remote to the box from your phone/tablet to kick off the xfer.

My point only is that ftp is a dead protocol - saying your nas/whatever needs to have support seems restrictive in your choices. While many of them will have ftp server support, what it seems like your asking for is a ftp client. If you just buy a lowerend box with I would assume room for multiple disks and interfaces be it sata/usb/esata/etc You could prob get by with a pogo with arch linux on it. Those can be had for $25 and have multiple interfaces for storage. And can do dlna to your devices wanting to watch media on it.

I would suggest you get something like a microserver

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859107921&cm_re=microsserver-_-59-107-921-_-Product

$400 has room for 4 3.5 disks in bays. Can be modded quiet easy to add more disks in the top optical bay location, or add usb or esata to it. has slots so you can add nics if you want so you for example move your router/firewall to something running in a VM. Memory can be added to it really easy. Or just use as is with your fav OS be it windows or linux/bsd, etc. Its small, it is quiet and it uses very low power. But gives you options to do almost anything you could think of with it.

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