I’m sure that all of You will be able to help me to choose hardware for Roon.
Right now i have Synology DS116 i’m aware that is device is completely ineffective to run Roon. So i want buy something decent and it will be QNAP im sure that. My home library consists of around 10,000 files all of them are lossless. I thought about model TS-253E what do i think ist good idea?
Second thing about the disk i still have this WD RED HDD 3.5" 2TB which is still inside My synology. What disk should i buy for potentially the best effect. One SSD 2.5 for example SSD 870 QVO 2Tb and SSD M.2 NVMe here my question is how big should be this disk NVMe. Maybe 1TB Samsung 980 will be enough?
Why buy a NAS just for Roon when you can build a more powerful ROCK for the same price?
If you want to buy the NAS because you have further needs that a NAS is well or better suited to fulfill (than ROCK or a NUC based PC), then you have to take those needs into account too. If you want advice from others you also have to share them too.
When buying new it is more important that you predict your future needs (how long do I plan to keep the device, how much will my library grow per year, how much will my other needs grow, where will I end-up). There is no point in buying a new system that just fits your current needs – especially if you already have one and want to upgrade/improve.
Note: Streaming albums and local file albums are the same from Roon’s standpoint (RAM needs), local files count toward your storage needs only.
Roon will for sure run smoothly on that one and you have lots of reserves to expand the library. You should not expect roon to be super snappy and reactive as this particular CPU is not the most powerful one among the QNAP home models and I find it to be a bit on the expensive side given the performance. Cheaper alternative with faster CPU (from roon´s perspective) would be TS-262 but that one is limited to 4GB of RAM so your library should preferably never exceed in the region of 40,000 tracks.
I have a lot of experience with several QNAP models running roon and in general can confirm that it is very stable. I see the main advantage of QNAP in the way QTS is handling storage volumes, RAID and backup aspects, so I personally would go for 2 x 2TB (or 4TB) SSD and build a RAID1 for the data volume. You do not necessarily need an additional M.2 for the database but if you want, a 128 or 256GB would absolutely do the job.
So, I plan to use this device for as long as possible. I want to set up something that will meet my expectations for an extended period. Additionally, I use a NAS for my two surveillance cameras, as well as for storing my home media photos and videos from GoPro. My music library grows by approximately 180 songs per year. Lastly, we sometimes use the NAS as a cloud to access certain PDF files
@Arindal You mentioned the TS-262 model. I see that there isn’t a significant price difference compared to the TS-264. Maybe it’s worth adding a little extra?
Your current library size and projected growth don’t seem to be much of load for a decent NAS (if you can stick to the plan and don’t fall for the streaming offerings and suddenly try to add half of the catalogs of those providers to Roon). So your decision is likely not so much dependent on Roon and more on your other needs/plans.
Photos and videos will need space. Often times, with higher quality offerings from the camera manufacturers leading to bigger files, one gets surprised here. Storage needs may quickly overcome the projection (not necessarily in file numbers but because of the larger files).
I have absolutely no experience with such applications but you probably want to make sure the NAS has always enough computing and networking reserves to serve the needs of those cameras and accompanying services.
That is where the prediction becomes difficult. In general though go with new models. With older ones and especially cheap offers (EOL) you will typically lose years of support over a new one. Also you may have to seriously oversize, or at least what you think of as oversized from what you know now (which in turn is based on past experience) or the future realities and potential future needs you currently don’t know about may shorten the lifetime of the NAS in your household drastically. It is not easy to find the right balance here.
Exactly what I was trying to express with what I wrote above. Go for the extra.
PS: I would also go for a 4-bay+ NAS. You don’t have to use all the bays from the start if you don’t need to, but at least they are there in the future. But to be honest I wouldn’t want to use a NAS without some redundancy and the only way to get that in a 2-bay NAS is through mirroring which is in my opinion much to costly and not worth it. A 4-bay+ NAS offers options here.
I’d seconded Black Jack’s idea about 4-bay+ if you can afford it. I’ve only have about 8000+ songs, however, I have a huge collections of photos I’ve taken over the years, and videos. So judge what you’re planning to do with the NAS, mainly future use. Of course back up is easier as you have all sort of option-wise. Good luck!
If your existing NAS is still working and the only reason to change is Roon , why even consider a new NAS , buy a NUC suitably spec’ed and keep your existing NAS either as a source for a NUC/ROCK (an internal SSD would be preferable) or for backups.
The NUC/ROCK set is specifically designed for Roon why re-invent the wheel. It’s really switch on and forget stuff.
Absolutely, I forgot about that model. That seems to be the perfect choice among entry-level QNAPs with a really powerful quadcore CPU (allowing multitasking) and sufficient RAM. My only concern with this series would be the enclosure being really thin and tending to vibrate with higher fan speed and big HDD (in case you opt for these).
The TS-264 also offers two additional M.2 slots so you can have magnetic discs in the main bays and use one M.2 for a fast SSD volume (roon database, surveillance and alike) and another one for caching. A 4-bay is not really necessary in this case if you do not plan to have a third HDD for backup (I prefer an external one for this purpose).