Thecus NAS

[sal]

Out of your short list only the Synology (barely) have the "grunt" for 1080p transcode. All of them max out at 8GB RAM, mroe or less making them unsuitable for running VMs, especially coupled with the lacklustre CPUs that don't even support HW based virtualisation.

The likes of the HP microserver have the same form factor and installing a dedicated NAS OS like FreeNAS NAS4Free or unraid takes an hour of reading and several clicks - after that it's no different than out of the box solution in terms of day-to-day use. The main difference is that oyu get more bang for your buck and if the OS stops updating or supporting something you are free to install another, rather than having to bin the HW.

[Dark Black]

If you are only going to use it for file shares - brand doesn't' really matter. If you are interested in more "advanced" features like VMs, web, vpn servers etc. you will have to give us a list of what you are after in order for us to make a proper recommendation, as different brands have different strengths/weaknesses.

This has been discussed several times in recent months already.

Personally I will always prefer DYI solution which is not only cheaper, but much more flexible in terms of features.

Yep I take your point about the DIY options but these days I'm just after an out-the-box solution. I've been running a couple of ReadyNas Duos for years but they are starting to show their age now.

I know there's been a few threads about this recently (which I've read) but not seen anyone mention the Thecus boxes hence the question

My main requirements are fairly simple:

• Basic file store (obviiously)
• Ability to stream media files with enough grunt to transcode if necessary
• Four bays

Nice to haves with a view to the future:

• Capable of running surveillance apps
• Maybe a VM server
• Built in HDMI port for direct connection to AV gear (although noted that would preclude having the NAS in the office/study where the current ones are)

Current shortlist (in no particular order):

• WD My Cloud Pro Series PR4100
• QNAP TS-453A
• Synology DS918+
• Thecus N4810

[sal]

If you are only going to use it for file shares - brand doesn't' really matter. If you are interested in more "advanced" features like VMs, web, vpn servers etc. you will have to give us a list of what you are after in order for us to make a proper recommendation, as different brands have different strengths/weaknesses.

This has been discussed several times in recent months already.

Personally I will always prefer DYI solution which is not only cheaper, but much more flexible in terms of features.

[Dark Black]

Anybody have experience of these NAS?

In the market for a new 4-bay NAS, thought I'd got my shortlist down to offerings from QNAP, Synology and WD until someone lent me a recent PC-PRO which had a NAS group test in it.

The Thecus boxes came out rather well but I don't have any experience of their products.