This being said, Synology is starting annoy me a little bit, particularly things with their cloud offerings, but you can completely ignore all of those services and not have a problem. I just have been getting the feeling that they’re trying to move in a hybrid-cloud direction as a company, which I disagree with.
My advice for connecting to it securely: No matter what option you go with, you shouldn’t port forward to it, you should instead connect to it with a standard self-hosted VPN or a VPN like Tailscale (You could port forward to the NAS if you run a VPN Server on the NAS directly for this purpose, just only forward the VPN server port).
This topic is 1.5 years old, I was wondering what was the situation now? What would be the recommendation for NAS brand?
I’d also have some questions:
Are all Synology NAS the same UI (or similar?)
Same question on UI but for Asustor?
Are there any other better brands then those 2?
Does the audio app on Synology and Asustor use the ID3 tags for rating songs (5 stars)?
Is the photo app comparable to Google photos in terms of loading time?
Is it easy to connect to the NAS online?
Should tailscale be used to connect to the NAS online instead?
Maybe I would migrate from QNAP to TrueNAS instead. Is it much more time consuming?
How has been your experience with TrueNAS so far? Here are my needs:
1- Plex
2- Music app that manages ID3 tags for rating songs (5 stars) like subsonic or its forks
3- Photos app similar to Google Photos (I know Ente would be a solution, but apparently self-hosting it is super complex?)
I think Synology is generally the best choice for privacy and security, with Asustor as a good alternative, while QNAP still has lingering security concerns despite recent improvements.
For secure NAS access, use a VPN like Tailscale instead of port forwarding. Synology and Asustor UIs are consistent across models, and both support ID3 tags for song ratings in their audio apps. TerraMaster offers a budget-friendly option but lacks the security polish of Synology and Asustor.
For something like Tailscale, do you just create burner gmail accounts, since they don’t let you use email alias services? I went to set it up, but ended up just using Synology QuickConnect instead because I couldn’t sign up without a gmail account.
I’m also unsure if ProtonVPN supports it, which I was planning on switching to from Mullvad, now that I have Proton Unlimited, and paying for two different VPNs seems kind of goofy. Do you have any experience with that side of things?
TrueNAS offers more control and customization but requires more time and technical knowledge to set up. In contrast, Synology and Asustor are easier to use and quicker to set up, making them ideal for those who prefer simplicity.
No Problem Sir!
TrueNAS is like Linux for NAS flexible but harder to set up, taking hours for advanced features. Synology and Asustor are easier, with user-friendly interfaces and quick setup. Choose TrueNAS for control or Synology/Asustor for simplicity.
Honestly haven’t used it too much yet, I’m still transferring data to it from my old NAS.
However, I did install Immich on it and the setup was super simple, so I can vouch for an easy Google Photos replacement anyways. It has an “app store” for things like that, like most NAS systems.
Last question I had is if I go the TrueNAS route, then could I use just any NAS? I mean, is it like Windows? I could just use my QNAP NAS to install TrueNAS OS and just delete the QNAP OS?
Great! I see Plex on there so I guess that should be easy to setup as well. Only thing remaining would be a music that manages ID3 ratings tag. Probably that a subsonic fork works.
Probably not, most dedicated NAS hardware is specialized for a particular OS and locked down. TrueNAS is like Windows in the sense that you can just install TrueNAS on most hardware, but you can’t install Windows on a QNAP or Synology either…
This is the biggest problem with the DIY NAS setup in my opinion. There isn’t a lot of hardware options in as nice of a form factor as the pre-built devices.
This part list looks pretty nice for a 4-bay TrueNAS setup though:
I see, thanks for the answer! That’s the catch then! This would be too much time investment for me to build it myself as I’ve never done this (although, it shouldn’t be much more complex then a PC). I’ll stick with the original plan and go with the next deal I see on a Synology NAS!
I’m including the above points to give an idea of what CPU / RAM is required.
Questions:
A friend told me you there are better ways then using raid1. Is this true? If so, maybe I don’t need a 4-bay nas? I tried reading on ZFS, but an ELI5 would be great.
Do I understand TrueNAS is more flexible, but more painful to setup then HexOS?
Is HexOS even fully open source? I know it’s based on TrueNAS, but not sure to what extent.
What would be recommended parts?
Which motherboard to pick and how?
Same for CPU
Same for RAM
Same for Case (does it come with a power supply?)
GPU?
Anything else?
Any deals I should wait on? Black friday?
@jonah what is your experience with TrueNAS a year later? Any do’s and don’t’s? Any tips are welcome
Please be patient with me. This will be my first time doing a DYI NAS setup.
I tried HexOS briefly and definitely would not recommend it over regular TrueNAS. It isn’t easier to use and isn’t providing any value in particular. Maybe that will change? For now, no.
I did not stick with TrueNAS. I can’t imagine it would have problems for the use-case you’ve described though.
Looking more into this, I see that both Zima and TrueNas have “ready-to-use” devices. In order to save time, I might go with that instead and wait for black friday to see if they have any deals.
So now I need to decide the OS first. ZimaOS, CasaOS or TrueNAS. Why or why not?
This would be too much time investment for me to build it myself as I’ve never done this (although, it shouldn’t be much more complex then a PC). I’ll stick with the original plan and go with the next deal I see on a Synology NAS!
