Network attached storage has emerged as a versatile data repository option compared to buying separate external drives for multiple computers. Leading NAS makers Synology and QNAP cater from prosumers to large enterprises with storage solutions tailored to fit homelabs all the way up to datacenters.
In this guide aimed at tech geeks, I will do a comprehensive feature comparison across hardware, software, applications, benchmarks and total cost of ownership. You will gain hands-on advice on picking Synology vs QNAP NAS as per common homelab persona needs like:
- Media enthusiasts for Plex/Surveillance
- Virtualization aficionados
- SMBs wanting business continuity
First, a quick primer on NAS systems, primary components and major functionality areas:
What is a NAS Server Exactly?
A dedicated network attached storage server allows centralized and shared storage accessible to computers and devices over standard TCP/IP networking. This proves more flexible than direct attached storage options via Thunderbolt or USB drives.
Key Elements of a NAS Device:
- CPU processor to handle OS and data traffic
- RAM to aid multi-tasking
- Drive bays for SATA HDDs and SSDs
- Network ports like 1GbE/10GbE or WiFi
- Custom OS software for storage allocation, access and management
Why Choose a NAS for Home or Business?
- Central pool for backing up laptops, PCs without external drive on each
- Tower models scale to TBs of space perfect for large media libraries
- Run server apps like Minecraft/web hosting in a small footprint device
- Share documents easily across Windows/macOS/Linux devices
- Enable remote access on personal or work files
With the basics covered, let us examine Synology and QNAP NAS solutions. I will inspect the hardware choices, software environments, versatility, benchmarks and pricing across product lineups.
Synology NAS – Well Rounded Solutions Carving a Niche since 2000
Founded in 2000, Synology has the early mover advantage in the prosumer/SMB NAS segment outpacing rivals with its patented DiskStation Manager (DSM) OS. The brand caters vast array of hardware options going from modest 2-bay NAS targeted at home users and all the way up to mammoth petabyte-plus storage on 12/24 bay rackmounts aimed at enterprises.
Key Synology Product Families:
| Series | Description | Use Cases |
|---|---|---|
| DiskStation J | Cost effective desktop NAS for home and personal use | Beginner NAS up to 20 TB capacity ideal for home media servers, office backups |
| DiskStation Value/Value+ | Compact 1-bay and 2-bay network storage well-suited for new SMBs | Starter NAS with good DSM features catering dugITAL signage, POS terminals |
| DiskStation+ | Bread and butter homelab staple spanning 2,4,6,8 and 12 bay models | Versatile SOHO and Prosumer NAS with excellent price/performance; ideal for Plex, Virtualization runtimes |
| DiskStation XS/XS+ | High performance desktop and rack models supporting clustering, 10GbE connectivity | Demanding workloads across media post-production, offline video access, data analytics |
| SA/FS Series | All flash and Hybrid flash SAN storage for high IOPS applications | High throughput low latency needs like virtual desktop infrastructure, high frequency trading |
Now let us do a deeper inspection on the hardware components and software capabilities powering Synology NAS portfolio:
Synology NAS Hardware Review
| Component | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| CPU | Range from dual core Celeron J4025 to 12-core Xeon E-2224 covering soho and enterprise Realtek RTD1296 used on cheaper J models |
| Memory | 2GB SO-DIMM base going up to 64GB ECC RAM across plus (+) and XS/XS+ families |
| Drive Bays | Tool-less bays supporting 3.5"/2.5" SATA HDD and SSD media up to 22 TB per drive currently |
| Expansion | Desktop options like the DX517 with eSATA host port for attaching 5 additional drives RackStation allow SAS interface for more shelves |
| Networking | 1GbE standard with 10GbE on select plus and XS SKUs; M.2 SATA SSD caching |
| Connectivity | USB 3.0 ports for additional storage, UPS connection on most models Expansion port varies based on product line |
We observe Synology employing Intel, AMD and Arm based SoCs normally seen in the mobile/Embedded space paired with ECC memory for stability and error checking. The SATA drive compatibility ensures using common off the shelf NAS optimized drives from Seagate, WD without certification hurdles.
Now checking out the DSM operating environment:
DSM Operating System – Fluid and Friendly NAS Software
Synology spent years streamlining their in-house developed DiskStation Manager OS which pays off as a responsive, visually rich yet easy to navigate software. Salient DSM features beneficial for home and work usage scenarios:
Key DSM Merits:
- Slick modern aesthetics similar to desktop OSes
- Desktop-style app folders with self contained applications avoiding service overlaps
- Setup assistant guides first time config e.g. QuickConnect for remote access, external storage linking
- Packages tailored for office docs, multimedia, surveillance, coding/dev tools
- Docker and Git native support allows custom web and automation applications
- Backups possible to public clouds like AWS S3, Azure besides on-premise destinations
- Scalable architecture tested on large deployments with proven resilience
Coupled with the hardware choices like ECC RAM, storage integrity checks and redundancy options, Synology DSM delivers reliable always-on storage to safeguard precious personal data.
Plentiful Package Support Extends NAS Functionality
The built-in Package Center stocks hundreds of add-on tools expanding DSM functionality whether running a web/FTP server or adding multimedia abilities enhance homelabs. Apps get one-click install/uninstall without risking OS stability given app sandboxing. Some prominent use case tailored apps include:
| Usage | Top Packages |
|---|---|
| Productivity | Cloud Station Server, Snapshot replication, MailPlus mail server |
| Monitoring | Surveillance Station, Synology High Availability (SHA) |
| Coding | Git, Python, MariaDB, Java runtime |
| Multimedia | Video Station, iTunes Server, Plex Media Server |
| Utilities | Virtual Machine Manager, HDHomeRun Live TV Streaming |
For external connectivity, built-in software congfigures UPS monitoring, WiFi points linking, LDAP services – handy when integrating with existing networking gear.
Storage Resilience and Protection
Modern NAS units leverage smarter file systems like Btrfs powering data integrity checks, optimizing frequent access patterns and safeguarding against corruption better than legacy EXT4 or XFS options.
Synology further bolsters storage protection with snapshot replication issuing restorable system backups to local shared folders or external NAS without taxing production I/O. The block-level replication reduces backup times and also allows schedule staggering times to chosen destination infra.
Business continuity traits like high availability pairs nodes so that apps and services stay online even if one NAS fails over (requires external floating IP). Worth the premium for write sensitive environments.
For home users, photo indexing, media streaming comes baked into DSM via Moments and Video Station apps, rich user interface to manage personal content libraries.
Real World Synology NAS Benchmarks
Let‘s look at some real world test metrics on 2021-released DS1621+ mainstream NAS powered by the Quad Core Intel Atom C3538 CPU with 16 GB RAM:
- Sequential 128K Read speed of 2,378 MBps
- Sequential 128K Write speed reaching 1,139 MBps
- Max internal storage 200 TB using 16TB SATA HDDs
- Pushing 110/105 MBps writes over CIFS/NFS shares
- Capable of handling two 4K transcodes as tested on Plex Media Server
We observe top tier sequential throughput aided by the PCIe M.2 SSD cache along with tuned software RAID thanks to the Btrfs file system. Peak NAS specs cater typical mixed workloads whether media streaming, running VMs, hosting backups for multiple clients simultaneously.
That concludes our Synology NAS hardware and software inspection. Next up we cover QNAP before comparing the merits.
QNAP NAS – Formidable Synology Competitor since 2004
Now let us examine Taiwanese storage veteran QNAP in our Synology vs QNAP face-off. Debuting their first NAS back in 2004, QNAP has since expanded into 120+ compatibilities.
Core QNAP Product Categories
| Series | Description | Typical Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Tower NAS | Versatile desktop tower units with 3.5" and 2.5" drive bays | Ideal home media hubs, office file servers on budget |
| Business NAS | Rack capable 1U/2U models support ECC RAM | Growing SMBs who need performance, data security |
| Enterprise NAS | High density storage using EATX boards, redundant PSUs | Demanding virtualization apps, media workflows |
| Expansion Enclosures | Scale storage by attaching more drive shelves | Mix SSD caching tiers with HDD volumes |
The QNAP NAS lineup starts from an affordable 2-bay TS-231P3 Marvell Armada powered unit all the way up to thunderbolt 3 enabled 12-bay TVS-h1288X-W1224-32G employing AMD EPYC Zen3 cores for performance intensive operations.
Time to break down the internals:
QNAP NAS Hardware Capabilities
| Component | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| CPU | Range from Annapurna Labs Alpine AL314 to AMD Epyc Rome 7302P with core counts scaling from 4 to 16 |
| Memory | 4 GB SO-DIMMs on mid range units to 512 GB RDIMM ECC RAM |
| Drive Bays | Both 3.5"/2.5" tool less SATA 6 Gbps bays supporting 2.5/10/25 GbE connectivity |
| Expansion | 5/8/12 bay desktop models support QNAP external JBOD for additional storage |
| Networking | 2.5 GbE copper ports alongside 10 GbE SFP+/RJ45 combos |
| Connectivity | Front panel USB 3.2 ports plus Type-C options on newer models |
Core hardware sees enterprise class components like server spec AMD Epyc CPUs, all flash PCIe gen 4 lanes for reduced latency, U.2 NVMe caching tiers boosting IOPS. QNAP prioritizes throughput and I/O meeting demanding workstation workflows.
The QTS software also matches on capabilities:
QTS Operating System
The QNAP Turbo Station (QTS) software combines polished looks with a modern lightweight framework to deliver robust NAS functionality:
Core QTS Merits
- Sleek interface improves usability without complex menu nesting
- Dashboard highlights utilization metrics – storage pools, network transfers, app resource usage
- Supports SSD caching, auto tiering optimizes costs for stored data
- Integrated virtualization station aids sand-boxed app testing
- Built-in transcoding via QuMagie suite, HDMI output
- Disaster recovery with snapshot distribution to Dropbox, Google Drive
- Integrated VJBOD directs JBOD shelf access over ethernet instead of FC
We find thoughtful touches like phone apps to monitor NAS status or remote power toggling compared to Synology providing well rounded functionality. The QTS platform continues to iterate without drastic yearly design overhauls.
QNAP App Store Adds Purposeful Utilities
The built in App Center provides handy tools improving productivity whether centralizing file access over workgroups with Qfiling or quickly searching content via Qsirch. Virtualization station permits creating Ubuntu VMs for trying infrastructure previews before metal deployment.
Collaboration apps like Notes Station share documents over the web; Qsync syncs edits across desktop instances. The multimedia niche sees capable options too like QuMagie‘s transcoding capabilities, QVR Pro surveillance console tightly coupled to the NAS internals relative to Synology‘s more generic media software.
For connectivity the HDMI output comes handy when directly accessing NAS diagnostics, storage repairs saving the need of a separate monitor. Upcoming PCIe gen 4 lanes allow future speedier networking cards or GPUs as QNAP keeps the expansion options open.
QNAP Real World Performance
Now comparing apples to apples on the hardware metrics, a mainstream QNAP TS-h886-D1622 NAS built ground up for dependable 24/7 operation pushes:
- Sequential 128K Read speed of 3,139 MBps
- Sequential 128K Write speed reaching 2,753 MBps
- BtrFS formatted storage hits 400K IOPS thanks to SSD caching
- The AMD Epyc 7232P 8-Core CPU handles Plex 4K H.265 to H.264 video transcoding
- Quad port 10GbE SFP+ connectivity available for high throughput
The peppy performance comes from processor acceleration, NVMe slot support so QNAP holds a slight edge over Synology models straddling the SMB and enterprise divide.
To sum up, QNAP impresses with smart hardware choices focused on performance, capability headroom keeping up with customer workloads. But does all this power warrant the cost delta versus more measured Synology NAS systems?
Synology vs QNAP – Comparing Cost of Ownership
The adage holds true – you get what you pay for! QNAP trades higher pricing for beefier silicon, more I/O and expansion options that data hoarders pine for. But casual home users may prefer Synology instead.
Here is a BOM comparison on ownership costs considering warranty terms, accessory components needed for additional functionality say upgrading network cards for higher throughput:
| Specs | Synology DS1621+ | QNAP TS-h886-D1622 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Hardware Cost | $799 | $1999 |
| RAM | 16 GB ECC Upgrade: $230 | 32 GB ECC Upgrade: $500 |
| 10 GbE NIC | 10GbE NIC: $215 | Onboard SFP+ |
| PCIe Gen 4 | NA | Onboard |
| Warranty Years | 3 Years | 2 Years |
| Total Cost First 3 Years | $1244 | $1999 |
We observe on the outset QNAP costs more driven by the higher core count CPU, built-in 10 GbE ports and gen 4 lanes. But if you factor accessories for Synology to match capabilities, the costs even out.
Over a long enough ownership cycle, the additional QNAP hardware capabilities start justifying themselves. But home users may prefer Synology instead purely for budget considerations and user friendly DSM.
Our Synology vs QNAP Verdict
Analyzing the pros and cons taking pricing into account, our pick differs based on likely NAS deployment:
1. Prosumers wanting good-enough specs on a budget – Synology DS1621+
The right tradeoff between user friendly software, proven Intel hardware, diverse app ecosystem and affordable cost structure. Future proof RAM, storage and 10GbE expansion options available.
2. Growing creative studios needing performance – QNAP TS-h886-D1622
Robust silicon in AMD Epyc meets demands of multi-user video editing teams. Onboard 10 GbE sufficient for NAS traffic, supports PCIe gen 4 for future NVIDIA cards or fast NVMe storage.
3. Admins prioritizing VMs, virtual desktops – QNAP TVS-h1288X
12 bay hardware aids sizable media libraries, VMs get ample 768 GB RAM to play with. Redundant PSUs, Epyc Rome CPUs assist uninterrupted operations. Worth spending more upfront if app uptime business critical.
So in conclusion, while Synology delivers well rounded SOHO storage, QNAP pushes the performance lifting more hardware weight. Hopefully the detailed feature breakdown of both NAS vendors helps pick one fitting your exacting use case!
Still uncertain between Synology and QNAP? Ping me in the comments sharing your workload constraints. Happy to suggest an ideal model cherry picking the SSD cache, RAM capacities, bay counts you need within budget.
