Synology 409 vs. Seagate Black Armor 440

July 25, 2009 2:14 PM

Help me decide: Synology 409 vs. Seagate Black Armor 440 for my next NAS?

I currently have a mix of Terastations and other NAS hardware with small drives. i'm looking to add a multi-terabye device (4-6TB) to my home network to store all my digital photos and music and maintain backups.

I'm torn between the Synology DS409 and the Seagate Black Armor 440 configured with 4 1.5T drives to give it the same capacity of the Synology.

Both devices seem to top out the charts with regards to throughput on a gig-E network, which is very important for me. The Synology has been out for longer and is about 1/3 cheaper than the Seagate device when you buy the drives yourself. I am leaning toward it unless something compels me to get the Seagate.

One feature that i'm interested in is robust error-reporting. Currently my Buffalo devices do not have the ability to email out error reports with SMTP authentication beforehand, which is a must because my ISP requires authentication before it will pass mail. This means I need to check the HDD status of my drives weekly to avoid data loss (as opposed to getting an email alerting me of the issue immediately).

If anybody out there has any first-hand experience with either of these appliances i'd love to hear it.

Thanks

posted by monkeybutt to computers & internet (4 comments total)

I have a simpleshare, and it fits my needs.

I can't speak of the synology, but I have NEVER had a seagate HD burn out on me. Every damn brand of HD has burned out on me, except for seagate.

Thats the only thing I can speak about.
posted by hal_c_on at 4:13 PM on July 25

I just set up a 2-bay Synology NAS for the same reasons and am pretty happy with it. Ultra simple HD install. Their documentation could be better, though. Regarding your question about notification with SMTP authentication: I'm looking at the Notification section of the web admin client, and it does allow you to enter credentials for authentication, option for secure connection (SSL/TLS), and ability to enter both a primary and secondary email address to receive notifications. I have not enabled or tested this functionality on my system, but it looks to have what you need. Feel free to email me if you have any other questions and I'll do my best to answer.
posted by sapere aude at 6:17 PM on July 25

The Drobo, with the Drobo share might also be worth a look.
If you want to be able to expand the new Drobo Pro offers eight bays
at a price.
http://drobo.com/

I own a Drobo, and I have been pretty happy with it.
posted by digividal at 7:10 PM on July 25

sapere aude: thanks for the info...that's exactly that type of stuff i was looking for. the Synology is looking better and better.

digividal: i considered the drobo+share but the throughput is pretty low compared to other NASs out there. i like their credentials but the specs don't add up for my needs.
posted by monkeybutt at 8:18 PM on July 25