After a few years of attempting to build my own NAS with a self-assembled PC (RAID-5 using a FastTrak SX4000 ATA raid controller), a Linksys NAS200 (horrible buy) and trying to work with Microsoft’s Windows Home Server via the Acer EasyStor H340, I’m finally throwing in the towel and going for a proper NAS DS1511+ from Synology.

Synology Diskstation DS1511+

Microsoft’s next WHS doesn’t impress and frankly I’m more comfortable with Linux to run a 24/7 appliance.

Thinking back, I should have just gone for the quality product when it comes to data reliability. Many thanks to Alan Soon’s posts and reviews on the unit as well as the HDD test. Got 3 x Seagate Barracuda 2 TB LP (ST2000DL003) and will add 2 more WD 2 TB green hdd for 10TB of storage (less after raid config). This will hopefully let me have peace of mind when it comes to 11+ years worth of work and memories.