New to NAS: how much does enclosure specs matter?

[joe360]

I'm building a new home network. I am planning on having an Ethernet switch attached to a HTPC, office computer and a NAS. I basically want my NAS to do 3 things:

1) Media storage for my HTPC;
2) General storage for all my work;
3) Be able to access my NAS from anywhere to get access to my work

I'm planning on putting 2x2TB (either WD red or the Seagate NAS HDD; feel free to vote, but from what I've read, can't really go wrong with either).

Do I need a "minimum" amount of specs to be able to do what I've outlined above? Just preliminary looking has lead me to this: https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/overview/DS214se
But I'm finding myself easily getting lost in all the options!

I'm also new to this area, so apologies in advanced, thanks!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It doesn't matter as much as it used to. CPU performance can bottleneck a NAS - I wouldn't want to use a Raspberry Pi for one, for instance, and some older NAS boxes used similar cheap CPUs. (Like the D-Link DNS-321 I used to have. It was reliable as hell, but slower'n mollases.) A lot of home routers with USB drive sharing are equally underpowered.

But if you're just using it for file storage (which is what it sounds like) than pretty much any current-gen NAS will work pretty well, including the DS214se.

 

[Flapdrol1337]

Those are not demanding requirements at all, 214se should do fine, and there's a vpn server in the firmware so you should have secure remote acces.

I'm using an old 210j, never had a problem streaming media as those bitrates aren't anywhere close to the max speed of such a nas.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, Joe!

I agree with the others that any current NAS system should work for your requirements.
However, I found an interesting article about 10 features to look at when buying a NAS that may help you.
http://hometheater.about.com/od/int...ttached-Storag-NAS-Device-Shopping-Basics.htm

Since you plan to mostly use it as a storage station, I'd suggest to pay attention to the capacity, because many systems have limitations. Make sure you have the option to add extra capacity when and if the time comes.

Hope you find this helpful.

SuperSoph_WD