Build my own NAS or go with Zimacube Pro/Synology? reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dormoubmadsuz · 2023-11-08 01:51 I'm looking to build a NAS to accommodate my 80TB media collection, and I'm weighing two options: DIY or going for a pre-built solution. My concerns are: CPU: If I plan to use the NAS for more demanding tasks like virtualization or video editing, how powerful CPU should I lean towards? ​ Cost: If I add graphic cards, cooling fans ect, would the overall DIY budget surpass $600? Meanwhile, I’m also eying on a prebuilt NAS: Synology DS1621+ offers the 6-bay NAS at $899. It boasts an AMD Ryzen V1500B 4-core 2.2GHz CPU, 132TB capacity, and a wide range of applications. Although it's slightly beyond my budget, it's a tempting choice. Zimacube Pro selfhosted NAS is a relatively new brand with powerful specifications: 6-bay NAS with n Intel Core i5-1235U 10-core 4.4GHz CPU, 164TB capacity, and a more budget-friendly price compared to the Synology option. ​ Just curious if there is something I'm missing when comparing these options, which NAS has the superior performance, and is there any significant difference in cooling solutions? Or perhaps I should consider the DIY route? ​ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Flenefigrighi · 2023-11-08 02:09 for DIY, you need a beefy CPU to load virtualization or video editing, Intel Core i5 from Zima is the powerful processor to help you, Synology DS1621+ also can fit your need, just from the CPU. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lowbyuenlowbve · 2023-11-08 02:20 Choosing a suitable NAS rack is also important to protect your HDD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jonathanrdt · 2023-11-08 02:41 Synology software is great. I used to build my own x86 boxes, and after moving to my synology, I wont ever bother again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- leandrasayt · 2023-11-08 02:44 get a mainboard with a graphic card slot? different mainboards have different slots, Do Zima and Synology have their graphic card? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- radix- · 2023-11-08 02:50 Synology is so easy and useful. Set and forget and very reliable ---------------------------------------------------------------------- altojusasmd · 2023-11-08 02:56 I did a quickly search about them, Zima has a graphic card with NVIDIA RTX A2000 12GB, and Synology DS1621+ does not, maybe a way to choose Zima if you want to out of the box, or see another Synology? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bearshapedbears · 2023-11-08 02:56 fairly certain there is no capacity limit on any of your options. you're only limited by the amount of drives and they are likely quoting the biggest possible drive you can buy right now currently x6. I personally would want more slots, drives get cheap and you can then add a bunch. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dormoubmadsuz · 2023-11-08 03:04 Woah！ that good! but I am worried about whether it can solidly run video editing. Have you ever tried it? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Extras · 2023-11-08 03:09 As someone who has two Synology machines and will sing their praises day and night, it is not the best for video editing. I have their eight core AMD model which does okay for CPU heavy tasks, but anything serious I'm running on my desktop or my workstation machine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dormoubmadsuz · 2023-11-08 03:11 how about the backup, I have huge video files. can it run smoothly? thanks ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ryosen · 2023-11-08 03:23 You can set up automated backup to a number of different cloud services. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dormoubmadsuz · 2023-11-08 03:27 >As someone who has two Synology machines and will sing their praises day and night, it is not the best for video editing. I have their eight core AMD model which does okay for CPU heavy tasks, but anything serious I'm running on my desktop or my workstation machine. thanks so much! How do you think Intel Core i5-1235U 10-core 4.4GHz from Zima， is it sufficient to support video editing? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- radix- · 2023-11-08 03:54 I use their Hyper backup for both cloud and also an on prem SSD for daily backups. It's very nice ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ninjersteve · 2023-11-08 04:16 I went DIY with ZFS and will never go back. Despite what people say it’s easy to tune ZFS to work with very reasonable amounts of RAM. CPU and RAM will really be about the other things you want to do with it and not the NAS functionality. Can definitely stay under $600 with gently used from eBay. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2023-11-08 04:16 [removed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- flaming_m0e · 2023-11-08 04:25 >Zimacube Pro selfhosted NAS is a relatively new brand with powerful specifications: 6-bay NAS with n Intel Core i5-1235U 10-core 4.4GHz CPU, 164TB capacity, and a more budget-friendly price compared to the Synology option. If you back the Kickstarter early, you can get a Zimacube pro for 900. Otherwise it's going to be $1200. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rocksuperstar42069 · 2023-11-08 04:59 I think youre confusing a NAS for a PC. The nas should be storage only, and is therefore limited to your nic card or disk speed realistically. It's just Network Attached Storage. If you want to do video editing with a gpu and a good CPU, you are basically just building a PC with a raid card. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- spacecowboy77453 · 2023-11-08 05:04 I'm surprised on this subreddit there's so many suggesting the Synology. OP says he wants to do virtualisation, the Synology only has 4GB of RAM and a low performance CPU. The DIY option would definitely make more sense here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- adamshand · 2023-11-08 05:20 Don't use your NAS for video editing. If you want a single machine, just buy a workstation and put a bunch of drives in it and use it as a stand alone video editing station. If you want a NAS (ie. you have multiple machines that need access to the same data) the buy an NAS which does what you need and buy a PC which is suitable for your video editing needs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- krisoijn · 2023-11-08 05:23 My last DIY NAS cost about $600 USD. (Parts are cheaper here in Asia) Jonsbo N3 - 10 bays itx case i3-12100 ASUS H610I motherboard 32GB gskill ram Corsair SFX750 (definitely not needed, but I like it.) Nocta u9s cpu fan Nocta 4 case fans Crucial SSD 500GB + 1000GB ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ShoeShowShoe · 2023-11-08 06:24 Asia looks really fun for PC parts shopping. Those crazy PC malls in China looks insane. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KevinCarbonara · 2023-11-08 06:35 You went with ZFS what? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KevinCarbonara · 2023-11-08 06:36 I have TrueNAS running at home, but I'm going to buy a Synology to keep at my parents' house. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I can't imagine leaving TrueNAS personally, but if Synology had sold their software for home builds, I would have strongly considered it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PmMeUrNihilism · 2023-11-08 06:59 I think you should define your use case in even more detail. Media collection by itself isn't a huge deal since the main requirement there would be number of bays. With virtualization, what would you be looking to do? Depending on the answer, Docker could be a better option. Otherwise, you'd need to look more closely at the CPU. Same with video editing but as someone else suggested, getting a standalone rig for that would make more sense. Outside of that, you need to consider network speeds, RAM, cache, etc. as these things will add to the cost depending on what you require. Like some other comments have mentioned, Synology focuses more on great software. The Zimacube hardware specs look beefy but how good is the software? Different questions need answering so you can find the best option for you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DSPGerm · 2023-11-08 07:05 I feel like this question gets asked a lot. I would build one in your case. I wouldn’t think about getting a GPU for now. I would just get the basics but at least try to plan your CPU/motherboard if you do plan on using it as a full workstation in future. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IllegalD · 2023-11-08 07:29 If you want to muck around with virtualisation, don't buy a Synology NAS, build something yourself ---------------------------------------------------------------------- coder111 · 2023-11-08 07:46 Ages old question- should you have ECC RAM in your NAS? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- krisoijn · 2023-11-08 07:51 I don’t see many itx board with ecc ram support. I will definitely go for ecc ram support if I were building with a matx board tho. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- inforytel · 2023-11-08 07:58 Same, and remote backups with snapshots :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- coder111 · 2023-11-08 08:04 One thing I'm considering doing myself when I have the budget is to: * Get an AMD Ryzen PRO APU. It has to be a PRO version. They are only sold to OEMs but you can find used ones on ebay. * Get an AMD motherboard with ECC support. Quite a few AMD AM4 motherboards are supposed to support ECC RAM if the CPU/APU supports it. Usually it's not used as nobody home builds machines with AMD PRO line of CPUs as they are not available retail. * Get some ECC RAM. In theory this should work. One thing to be careful is that PRO line of CPUs can be programmed (vendor locked) to only work with specific motherboards. Say only HP or Dell motherboards and nothing else. Supposedly for security reasons, but for me this smells like pure vendor lock-in. So the PRO CPUs would have to be tested after purchase and returned if they fail. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- krisoijn · 2023-11-08 08:08 I need intel quick sync for transcoding videos. So no amd cpu for me. :O ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tech2but1 · 2023-11-08 08:15 You're trying to combine 2 machines there. I do have a couple of sites using Synology virtual machines but it is a struggle, it's more like VirtualBox so everything just ends up running terribly if you try and do too much. Definitely wouldn't use it for video editing or anything "intensive" at all. The big advantage of Synology is DSM, but you can run this virtually using Xpenology in say ESXi/or bare metal, or there is DSM for Docker. I'd be looking at a dedicated workstation for then video editing and then something else as a NAS/server. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rocket1420 · 2023-11-08 08:16 There's not much need for a graphics card in a home type server. Unless you have some special use case, Intel Quicksync works very well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- olluz · 2023-11-08 08:42 Maybe have a look at the QNAP models as well. Depending on the model they can be stacked with loads of RAM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DayshareLP · 2023-11-08 08:55 Build one yourself 1000% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Lynxaa1337 · 2023-11-08 09:31 just curious, but what the fuck do u have that its a total of 80tb holy shit. Are you a Filmmaker or something? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- O-o--O---o----O · 2023-11-08 09:34 I have a DS1621+ with 2x 1TB NVMe ssds as cache and an additional 16GB stick of ram. I use it for storing and serving media files with Plex and Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr and a bunch of other related stuff. I also store a lot or raw files for editing in lightroom (those get offline cached on ssds on my pc though). A pretty big chunk of my steam library is also located on the NAS. Realistically, a NAS is not a workstation. You may be editing file stored on the NAS from a PC, but the NAS itself will not be running your editing software. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7WuCF77S95mfQFvfwk7F · 2023-11-08 10:32 > Get an AMD Ryzen PRO APU. It has to be a PRO version. They are only sold to OEMs but you can find used ones on ebay. No need to run a pro version just run a "normal" amd cpu and if you need video output buy a NVIDIA Quadro NVS295 for around 10 bucks on ebay. For example I'm running a 5700x on a z570 riptide with 128 gb of ECC. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Epistaxis · 2023-11-08 10:44 Yeah, I'm impressed with how well designed their OS is and how well it handles tricky situations, e.g. you can keep using a RAID with no fuss after hot-swapping a disk out, and slowly add a new disk to the array while still using it, and even add a larger disk to the array while still using it, and even do that repeatedly till they're all replaced by larger disks and finally scale up the size of the array while still using it, all using the pointy-clicky interface. That said, as others are pointing out, the hardware is extremely stripped down so it can really only handle its one job, and they don't really sell any version with a CPU that can handle much more than that. You'd be better off building a proper server that happens to have a RAID inside it. Or even just plugging a solid RAID enclosure into a lightweight server with a good CPU. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- coder111 · 2023-11-08 10:54 Does the ECC actually work? I mean I've read somewhere that normal Ryzens can sometimes RUN with ECC RAM, but the actual error correction is disabled/non-functional. I.e. it's not correcting any errors. Can you verify that there have been some memory errors and they were corrected? Usually you can cause some errors by tightening RAM timings/overclocking to the very edge of crashing. https://superuser.com/questions/1208761/how-to-test-whether-ecc-is- working-properly https://hardwarecanucks.com/forum/threads/ecc-memory-amds-ryzen-a- deep-dive.75030/ Myself I'd rather have the "official"/"proper" support, and if that means getting a used PRO APU from Ebay, I don't see much of a problem. Besides, I don't need very high performance for my NAS system anyway... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jinxrr · 2023-11-08 11:29 It's possible to run Synology's DSM on your own hardware - [https://xpenology.org/](https://xpenology.org/) \- I'm running this as a VM on Proxmox, no issues so far but I cannot speak for all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LuckyHedgehog · 2023-11-08 12:04 Noob question, but looking at the case (10 bay capacity) and the motherboard (4 SATA ports), are you limited to 4 HD then? Or is there another way to connect the 10 HD that the case supports? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7WuCF77S95mfQFvfwk7F · 2023-11-08 12:20 >Can you verify that there have been some memory errors and they were corrected? Usually you can cause some errors by tightening RAM timings/overclocking to the very edge of crashing. Yes. I did run a couple of memtests when I first got the RAM. But I got the RAM more unstable with undervolting it hard. https://forum.level1techs.com/t/ryzen-5700x-ecc-reporting/197090/20 >Myself I'd rather have the "official"/"proper" support, and if that means getting a used PRO APU from Ebay, I don't see much of a problem. Besides, I don't need very high performance for my NAS system anyway... Thats a good point. When I build my server the 5750 pro was around 200€ more and hard to get. So I opted for a 5700x. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ProbablePenguin · 2023-11-08 12:23 I'm confused, do you want to edit video by running the editing software on the NAS itself? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- c-fu · 2023-11-08 12:57 Disclaimer: I do tv shows production so naturally video editing as well. At 1gbps network speed I can't really do very high bitrate (think 30GB file per hour) per footage. So I use proxy video files (like a much smaller equivalent video file) and that works like a charm. Still, your limit are footages in your NLE time lines totalling roughly ~920mbps as per the 1gb limit minus overhead. Realistically what you (might) need is a NAS that can do double duty, as a file server and a place to store your apps so to speak, like a docker host or a hypervisor. So the ram and cores must reflect the amount of work. J4xxx ain't gonna cut it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- krisoijn · 2023-11-08 13:09 m2 to 6 sata ports adapter ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LuckyHedgehog · 2023-11-08 13:13 I had no idea those existed, thanks! Any suggestions on what features to look for or avoid on these adapters? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- krisoijn · 2023-11-08 13:28 Look for (asm1166 chip) m2 m-eky pcie3.0 to sata6g 6ports I have been using it for a few week now. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- krisoijn · 2023-11-08 13:37 Some main board locked one of your sata port out if your use m2. I know asrock h610m does that, definitely avoid it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- candle_in_a_circle · 2023-11-08 15:42 The biggest advice I can give anyone in these situations is to compartmentalise your workloads. A NAS should be a Network Attached Storage and not a server. Connect it to a server via the appropriate protocol to do your CPU / GPU heavy workloads. There is a reason that the first thing you see happen in enterprise environments is one-box- one-job. Find the best people (at your price range) that do the one thing and connect them with open protocols. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Lord_Saren · 2023-11-08 16:30 > but if Synology had sold their software for home builds It's not official but has great community support. https://xpenology.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- flaming_m0e · 2023-11-08 16:36 I have 80TB of media alone...that's not including all the other use cases for storage in my NAS. None of what I have is for professional use. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- d-cent · 2023-11-08 16:42 Personally, I would go for the Zimacube. I like what that company is doing. I would get a separate machine for video editing though. No NAS is meant to do that while also serving your files and media. I also wouldn't get the Synology for VMs, they don't have enough RAM and aren't upgradable ---------------------------------------------------------------------- akhisyahmi · 2023-11-08 16:50 If you really care about storage. Synology don't support additional HDD expansion later. So if you stuck and full of 8 storage HDD, you need to buy higher size HDD and swap that because it's full. And resale back the old one. And you can't even go above 132TB. 😅 Well, if you're that data hoarder. Im using unraid and didn't touch Synology yet. So this ks only from my POV. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- irate_ornithologist · 2023-11-08 18:57 Yep, and/or an HBA (pcie -> sata) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- opensourcecolumbus · 2023-11-08 18:58 Build your own. Everything else you hear is the marketing. You won't get it done in the budget you have but it will be cheaper than synology or other readymade solutions. If you have some spare from other devices you own, use that. Simplify your requirements. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tenekev · 2023-11-08 20:23 People have asked me to set up NAS solutions for them, knowing "I own a lot of tech" (to put it mildly). I go with synology every time. Reliable, easy to set up, easy to interact with by a non-techy user. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KevinCarbonara · 2023-11-08 21:05 I saw this, and I support the concept, but would *never* trust my NAS with it. Maybe in the future when they have a longer track record. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Frozen_Gecko · 2023-11-08 22:19 What's wrong with building a NAS for video editing? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- adamshand · 2023-11-09 00:09 Video editing software can use a lot of RAM and CPU (and, depending on your setup, a lot of bandwidth). You don't want your NAS to grind to a halt (and thus the performance of all your servers which require it) every time your video editing software gets hungry. Conversely, NAS clients can generate a lot of CPU/network on the NAS (especially when accessing lots of small files). You don't want your video editing to grind to a halt every time one of your NAS clients gets busy. You certainly can combine them, and in specific circumstances it might be the right decision. But in general, it's worth partitioning the workloads so that they both run more reliably. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- aiij · 2023-11-09 03:13 Only if you care about the integrity of your data. If you're storing Linux ISOs you might not care if they're still available to be downloaded again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Lynxaa1337 · 2023-11-09 07:16 Jesus xD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Frozen_Gecko · 2023-11-09 10:30 Ah, that's a fair explanation. I simply thought to myself, just put some nvme ssd's in the NAS, a good high core count cpu, and enough of ram. Bump the network to 2.5 gig or 10 gig, and you're off to the races. Didn't consider your arguments limitations, but rather problems that can easily be overcome by selecting the correct hardware. I really shouldn't think that just throwing more money at the situation fixes all problems. Especially since I don't have the funds to fix problems this way, lol. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kmisterk · 2023-11-09 16:51 ## Post Removed Hey, dormoubmadsuz! Thanks for your submission on selfhosted. Your post has been removed due to a violation of the purpose of the subreddit: **Self Hosting** ## Not Self-Hosted When it comes to posts regarding applications in this subreddit, they must feature a self-hosted tool, or a tool that *can be* self-hosted, or some kind of related information, help request, or otherwise related to a tool that is something that one can self-host. If you believe this post *is in fact* relevant to /r/selfhosted, feel free to [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to= /r/selfhosted&subject=Removed For Not Being Self- Hosted&message=[Removed Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/17qat56/-/\)) with your concerns.