"Silent enough" NAS, is Synology or NetGear an option?
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 1:05 pm
I'm thinking about moving into the NAS world, and while I know none of the ready-built models are SPCR silent, at the moment I don't have the time or inclination to build my own. I also don't have the luxury of putting it in a garage, closet or attic (at best could try to place it behind some paneling or furniture to dampen some of the noise), so I would need a model that is or can be made at least tolerably quiet.
I've mostly been looking at 4-bay models, and so far narrowed down my research to either a Synology 412(+) or 413, or one of the NetGear ReadyNAS models. Those manufacturers mainly because of the flexible RAID modes (SHR and X-RAID), good interoperability including OSX Time Machine, a track record in firmware updates to maintain said interoperability, as well as a developer community for 3rd party add-ons, though I'd be happy to learn about other options as well.
The unit would most likely be populated with WD Red drives, which should help to keep vibration noise down (though probably not as good as my current suspension-mounted drives).
Synology has at least some kind of rubber mounts in the drive sleds, and there's been a couple of threads here to suggest that it might be possible to make fairly silent with good drives - anyone tried with the Reds yet?
ReadyNAS would probably need a fan mod (voiding warranty and possibly tech support, which makes me a bit reluctant to do it), unless they've started using more silent fans than what I've read. I'm thinking either swapping in a better 92mm fan, or also an adapter tube to accommodate a 120mm fan outside of the case (also putting some distance between the fan blades and the components). Any insight or experience with this?
If none of the 4-bay models fit the bill, I could also think about getting a 2-bay model, running it as RAID-1 at 3TB net capacity, and relegating it to a backup role if I need more space later - but I'm not sure if it would be noticeably more silent, especially if I would populate the 4-bay unit with just two drives at first. After all it's pretty much the same fans, same drive mounts and similar airflow design between those.
I've mostly been looking at 4-bay models, and so far narrowed down my research to either a Synology 412(+) or 413, or one of the NetGear ReadyNAS models. Those manufacturers mainly because of the flexible RAID modes (SHR and X-RAID), good interoperability including OSX Time Machine, a track record in firmware updates to maintain said interoperability, as well as a developer community for 3rd party add-ons, though I'd be happy to learn about other options as well.
The unit would most likely be populated with WD Red drives, which should help to keep vibration noise down (though probably not as good as my current suspension-mounted drives).
Synology has at least some kind of rubber mounts in the drive sleds, and there's been a couple of threads here to suggest that it might be possible to make fairly silent with good drives - anyone tried with the Reds yet?
ReadyNAS would probably need a fan mod (voiding warranty and possibly tech support, which makes me a bit reluctant to do it), unless they've started using more silent fans than what I've read. I'm thinking either swapping in a better 92mm fan, or also an adapter tube to accommodate a 120mm fan outside of the case (also putting some distance between the fan blades and the components). Any insight or experience with this?
If none of the 4-bay models fit the bill, I could also think about getting a 2-bay model, running it as RAID-1 at 3TB net capacity, and relegating it to a backup role if I need more space later - but I'm not sure if it would be noticeably more silent, especially if I would populate the 4-bay unit with just two drives at first. After all it's pretty much the same fans, same drive mounts and similar airflow design between those.