Looking to setup a NAS

[ssm300]

I am new to the whole NAS thing and am looking to set one up. I have narrowed it down to the following models below, unless someone suggests another unit that's better. I decided to go a step up from the entry models for future proofing.

I am looking for advice on which model to go with, keeping in mind reliability and price.

Western Digital My Cloud PR2100
SYNOLOGY DS218+
SYNOLOGY DS218

Thanks

 

[USAFRet]

I have a Qnap TS-453A. 4 x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf drives.
It has been absolutely flawless.

 

[kanewolf]

What features or capabilities do you desire from the NAS? Just shared storage? Media server? Video transcoding? Cloud storage upload? If so which provider? FTP? E-Mail? DNS/DHCP? Does it need to be part of a Windows domain? There are LOTS of capabilities that the commercial NAS units have. To choose between them you have to know what you want to do.

 

[ssm300]

What features or capabilities do you desire from the NAS? Just shared storage? Media server? Video transcoding? Cloud storage upload? If so which provider? FTP? E-Mail? DNS/DHCP? Does it need to be part of a Windows domain? There are LOTS of capabilities that the commercial NAS units have. To choose between them you have to know what you want to do.

I am new to this and don't have answers to all your questions yet. What I am looking for now is shared storage, backup, and having my music playlists in a central location to play off any device around the house.

As for a media server, maybe down the road but don't have any plans for it right now.

 

[USAFRet]

What features or capabilities do you desire from the NAS? Just shared storage? Media server? Video transcoding? Cloud storage upload? If so which provider? FTP? E-Mail? DNS/DHCP? Does it need to be part of a Windows domain? There are LOTS of capabilities that the commercial NAS units have. To choose between them you have to know what you want to do.

I am new to this and don't have answers to all your questions yet. What I am looking for now is shared storage, backup, and having my music playlists in a central location to play off any device around the house.

As for a media server, maybe down the road but don't have any plans for it right now.

Next, define how much space you think you need (x2), and a budget, including the drives.

 

[ssm300]

What features or capabilities do you desire from the NAS? Just shared storage? Media server? Video transcoding? Cloud storage upload? If so which provider? FTP? E-Mail? DNS/DHCP? Does it need to be part of a Windows domain? There are LOTS of capabilities that the commercial NAS units have. To choose between them you have to know what you want to do.

I am new to this and don't have answers to all your questions yet. What I am looking for now is shared storage, backup, and having my music playlists in a central location to play off any device around the house.

As for a media server, maybe down the road but don't have any plans for it right now.

Next, define how much space you think you need (x2), and a budget, including the drives.

That part I figured out, 2TB WD Red x2. I am stuck on which Synology unit to get.

 

[USAFRet]

That part I figured out, 2TB WD Red x2. I am stuck on which Synology unit to get.

Of the two you listed, the DS218 is discintued and hard to find.

There is the DS218+ and DS218play.
Just have to look at the individual features and see what matches.

 

[ssm300]

That part I figured out, 2TB WD Red x2. I am stuck on which Synology unit to get.

Of the two you listed, the DS218 is discintued and hard to find.

There is the DS218+ and DS218play.
Just have to look at the individual features and see what matches.

That's odd for the DS218, I was reading on span.com that it came out like 2 months ago.

Do you think the DS218play is enough for what I am looking to do? Or do I need to go better/higher model?

 

[USAFRet]

That's odd for the DS218, I was reading on span.com that it came out like 2 months ago.

Do you think the DS218play is enough for what I am looking to do? Or do I need to go better/higher model?

You appear to be right on the 218
http://nascompares.com/2017/09/20/the-synology-ds218-diskstation-nas-2-bay-diskstation-nas/

For your use?
Investigate, in detail, all the features of each. See if anything is missing that you want/need.