A Cloud of My Own...

[bulbasaur]

So I am in the market for my own personal cloud.  I could just pay for the service, but I think having my own little cloud is fun.  Has anyone else done this?  How is it working for you?  I am looking at a few right now....

WD My Cloud
Synology Diskstation
Seagate Personal Cloud

They all have different versions.  I am not sure which one to get yet.  Maybe I'll find another option from another company.  I'm still researching. 

[tsabsuav]

I am interested in learning more about this. Keep me posted on your findings and final decision.

[Sifu]

I bought a nighthawk and have used their Netgear cloud service.  It works.  I just never use it very often.  I didn't get the router for the service but the router was the best hardware I purchased last year.

Pretty simple.  It has a USB3 and a USB2 port.  Plug in USB stick or external HD and set it up (simple).  Wham bam done.

Funny thing is that I use M$ onedrive 96% of the time.

[tsabsuav]

My current router also supports cloud service, but I never set it up because I know I wont be using it. Plus I find myself use Dropbox more even if I have it setup. If at anytime I need to access my server, I just enable remote desktop service on my router via my phone and rdp to the server.

[bulbasaur]

There are many workarounds for a personal cloud.  I could setup a computer.  I think my router actually let's me do it if I plug in a hard drive.  I could just go very old school and just FTP.  However, I might be sold on the features of these new little boxes. 

Seagate is out of the race at this point unless I can find something new about it.  WD and Synology are in the running.  Buffalo is still only in the running because it is apparently very fast, but difficult to setup.  Currently checking out Qnap. 

[bulbasaur]

This was supposed to be a cheap weekend project.  Now, it is becoming a bit pricey.  What I want may not be what I really need.  The pricing ranges quite a bit, and I keep flip flopping.  Do I really want to throw a lot of cash on a business level cloud when I am not even using it as business?  Should I go all out and get the best performance?  I would be happy with the performance, and the system would last longer.  But, it's expensive.  Or, should I keep with my original plan and just get a cheap little cloud of my own without the bells and whistles?  If I go this route, I might find myself upgrading to the system I am looking at now.  Thus, it would make going the cheaper route useless.  Decisions Decisions...

I kinda given up on the 1 bay option despite that it was my original intent to get a 1 bay option.  The question now is whether I want a 2 bay option or a 4 bay option.  The data I plan to put on these drives is not sensitive.  It's just for fun.  If I get the 2 bay option, I might just run it in scary raid to maximize storage.  However, the idea of a backup is nice, so there is the 4 bay option.  Or, run all 4 in scary.  Decisions Decisions...

WD EX series and Synology are leading the race right now.  WD is at a slight advantage.  WD just seems so easy to setup.  That being said, Synology seems easy, too. 

[tsabsuav]

I say if you don't plan on using it as a business and more of a personal level or need to know how it works, unless you have extra cash, use the free services like Dropbox, One Drive, etc. For additional capacity just subscribe to their service. This is probably the cheapest and quickest alternative. Using other cloud services such as what you are trying to accomplish in my opinion is more suitable for other critical needs.

Again keep us posted on your findings.

[Homer_Simpson]

I've used ownCloud, which is free or opensource and runs on pretty much any Linux variant. It worked great when I was using NAS4Free OS for my custom-built NAS. I've now converted it over to Xpenology, a hacked version of Synology DSM. The Synology Cloud Server and clients have been working great for me similar to the ownCloud solution. Cloud technology are all pretty much the same. Some have embedded Web access, some you need a client. Just pick one. It has been a very useful tool for synchronizing data or files across multiple devices or computers automatically. It's also a great way to maintain an always up-to-date copy of you data even if you're not synching between multiple devices.

[slude]

i have the wd mycloud. easy installation, good performance. no raid so you're have to usb an external hard drive for backup. also no on/off switch so the box is always on. can install app on any devices to allow access to the cloud.

[Envy2]

Can I get access to your porn collection?

[bulbasaur]

Making and setting up my own NAS is always an option, but I want to give these little boxes a try.  Some of the features are quite nice. 

I've narrowed my search down to...

Qnap TS-251 ($313)
Synology DS215 ($400)
Synology BeyondCloud BC214se 2300 ($350)
WD My Cloud EX2100 ($250)

$400 is probably the most I want to spend on an enclosure.  That's already 4x as much as I originally planned for this project.  I still need hard drives, but I suppose I can live with the ones I have laying around the house for now.  I have a few WD Green drives not being used.  If I don't buy new hard drives now, I will have to do so later.  Those new WD Red and Seagate NAS drives seem more reliable for this setup. 

Qnap TS-251 has a lot of bells and whistles.  I really like the transcoding and the HDMI output straight from the box.  This and the Synology DS-251+ seem to have similar performance, and probably the best I have seen in this price range.  Also, this Qnap is able to expand its memory and connect to an expansion bay if I ever want to expand in the future. 

Synology DS-215+ does everything really well.  This doesn't have all the bells and whistles as the Qnap, but it seems very easy to setup.  I like the easy setup because I don't always have the time to troubleshoot if I am busy.  Plus, it apparently emulates a good Dropbox service. 

Synology BeyondCloud BC214se 2300 doesn't perform as well as the top two, but the setup is incredibly easy.  Plus, this already comes with the hard drives.  At $350, it is a really good price.  The performance may not be as good as the top two, but I am not sure if I would even notice the difference for what I am doing with it.  The low price comes with other drawbacks though.  Little room for expandability.  The box doesn't use NAS hard drives. 

WD My Cloud EX2100 doesn't perform as good as the top two, but it's easy to use and cheap.  It already does everything I want.  I could spend the extra cash on hard drives.  Also, it is cheap enough that if I won't feel bad upgrading to something better down the road. 

Any other suggestions?  Which one would you get? Any other cool little NAS boxes I haven't considered?

If I can't make up my mind, I will just upgrade the router and setup my own NAS. 

[bulbasaur]

I decided!  I just went and got a Qnap TurboNAS 251. 

[bulbasaur]

So why the Qnap 251?  It has all the other features of its competitors and a bit more, such as...

Transcoding
HDMI
IR Reciever
4GB RAM
Ability to expand to another Qnap NAS.

If end up not using it as a cloud, I can use it as a little media hub for my entertainment system.  I really like the Synology and WD interface more, but the Qnap just seemed more versatile.   This is a bit more than I planned to spend, but I figure a little more is worth not having to upgrade for a while.  Plus, if I do decide to add more HDs, it can expand with other Qnap products, so it won't become obsolete too fast. 

I will set it up soon.  Hopefully all goes well.

[bulbasaur]

Instead of using one of my old hard drives, I decided to go get an actual NAS HD.  I was looking for the WD Red.  I would have settled for the Seagate NAS.  But then, I come across the Toshiba NAS.  The WD and the Seagate are almost the same price, but the Toshiba was considerably cheaper.  However, the WD has more reliability since it has been out the longest (and it has a cool ad).  Decisions. 

[bulbasaur]

Looks like I made the correct choice...
http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/11/the-best-network-attached-storage/#continued