whats the best NAS for mac?

I am getting a bunch of cameras for my house and so now need a large storage solution as well as camera management. I have been thinking of Evocam for the camera management but in looking at the Synology recommendations they seem to have a good setup too. Is anyone using their Synology NAS for camera management? Are you satisfied? How are the tools for masking, alerts, remote view etc, and could the feeds be viewed over appleTV? Is it applescriptable for sending texts or email alerts, or integrating with home automation programs - I use Indigo.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

I have been using Synology Surivellance for years with 1-license camera with PVZ (pan & tilt with night infrared). It's very sophisitcated.

You can decide which area should be monitored. You can decide which area is considered fenced (i.e. people or animals are behind digital fence will not be alerted until they cross the line). You can set up patrol for PVZ. Change camera angle/tilt on specific time frame or run patrol on many angles at a time using the presets. You can make more than one preset and schedule them.

They can be used as evidences for courts. The data integrity is already set up properly in the data-protected recordings.

The only downgrade about Mac support is that you need to adjust Safari to run at 32 bit and change Java plug-in order from 32bit to 64bit (if I remember the instruction correctly). I would like to believe Synology will release a new update that work with 64 bit.

Apple TV, yes you can use AirPlay with DiskStation Surviellenance. Or play around many methods/solutions.

Dear Kibby,

I too am setting up a surveillance camera on my Synology NAS. I bought 1 camera and am ready to start installing. I have two questions perhaps you could help with:

1. When I setup the camera to test it, worked fine. However, when I try to now use "live view" it tells me I need to update may JAVA plug in. I follow the link to download and install but it still does not work. Did you run into this issue, and if so, how did you resolve it?
2. You mention needing to run in 32bit. I had not seen that in any of the instructions I have. Can you send me the link with those instructions so I can follow them? Perhaps this is part of my issue in item 1 above.

Thank you for helping.

Mike

1. See another thread for solution:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5469232?answerId=23954486022#23954486022

2. See #1 😉

Wondering what the failure rate of SATA hard drives are? Take a look at this article: http://blog.backblaze.com/2014/01/21/what-hard-drive-should-i-buy/. Remember, it's not a question of if, but a question of when.

Hey Ryan et al,

I really appreciate your knowledge and advice in these pages.

I am a total Newb to the NAS type stuff so most of these posts are way over my head. can you guys suggest a couple of places for beginners to read up? The general wiki sites give background but not a lot of applicapable info.

Im looking to do two things:

1) Work - I own a small busness with 5 employees. We have a Win 2003 server (donated to us a couple of years ago) that we use for email and "shared" document storage. We'll need to progress away from that sometime this year so I'm looking at options. NAS seems like it could do the trick, but can a NAS host email as well? if so can you suggest a few options/brands?

2) Home - I've been a Mac guy since 2001 and have a desktop and a couple of laptops that have differnent photo libraries and music libraries. I want to consolidate when I get a new laptop this year. Unfortunately the new flash storage doesn't have the kind of space that the older drives had. I'd like to use a home NAS (is a pogoplug worth anything?) to store iPhoto and iTunes libraries and access them in a way that you described above (page 6).

thanks for any tips or leads.

JoshO

RAID (0, 1, 5, 6)

Here are a few resources for explaining RIAD. This helps understand how the servers manage all the SATA drives.

RAID 5 & RAID 6 - All You Need to Know as Fast As Possible

Much longer video Introduction to RAID

If you prefer to read through it A Beginner's Guide to Advanced Storage

SYNOLOGY DSM

For more info on Synology's operating system DSM (DiskStation Manager) and the types of apps you run on it, see this page:
http://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/for_business#tab_2

NAS seems like it could do the trick, but can a NAS host email as well? if so can you suggest a few options/brands?

Synology's DSM does not come with email installed, but you can add Mail Server & Mail Station through the Package Center for free. It offers several other add-ons for websites like Wordpress, Cloud Station, Directory Server, etc. There are also media apps that manage pictures, music, video as well as security apps

is a pogoplug worth anything?

I'm not too familiary with this service, but it looks like a NAS will also offer you similar services. The Synology will and so will ReadyNAS from Netgear. I do not think these work with iPhoto and iTunes directly. Most NAS media servers provide their own interface (e.g., HTML) rather than allowing for iTunes or iPhoto to manage it.

It's true there is an iTunes server for Synology's DSM and Neatgear's ReadyNAS, but it's more like a network connected computer with an iTunes library you can access from another Mac with iTunes. Not a great solution for sharing media, unfortunately. Apple does not seem worried about improving this either. They force all media management through a single Mac computer that then shares it with other Macs & devices. iTunes & iPhoto are the gatekeepers of your media in the Mac ecosystem. (I can access the iTunes media from another computer, but have to navigate the file folders on the NAS. Those files can be copied to any computer. You could even link a second computer to that iTunes folder to see the content via iTunes, but any updates won't show on the second iTunes.)

I've chosen not to use DSM to manage my media. Their software and ReadyNAS's software is weak. I have an Apple ecosystem, and I use my NAS strictly for storage, not media management. So my music library is on a MacBook Pro that uses iTunes to catalog the files and I store those files on my NAS.

iPhoto is a different story. As I understand it (and I may be mistaken), you cannot simply copy your iPhoto database over to your NAS and relink it. It has something to do with how the disks are formatted from the beginning that limits iPhoto's database ability. Again, I have not tried this yet, so not too confident there is a solution out there.

Which NAS to buy?

I like my Synology DS1813+. It's a bit nicer and quieter than my ReadyNAS, I own. The DSM is comprehensive and gives you plenty of options for managing the system. It's also fairly intuitive, which helps. From the start you can manage your different disk partitions, users access, TimeMachine backups, schedules for shutdown and backup of the NAS itself, and the individual drives. You can add services for free like Video Station that is a web-based iTunes and has mobile apps to provide access, and Magento, an ecommerce platorm.

I'm sure there are solutions for you that are smaller and less expensive. Take a good look at your budget and how many years you want to get out of the NAS. Upgrading can be rather tedious and cumbersome to set up. Decide if RAID 5 is too much for your business or if it's crucial. If not RAID 5, then what's your backup strategy? I belive everyone needs a solid backup strategy whether its Dropbox or RAID 5 mirroring to another RAID 5. List out the MUSTs you need in a new server and make sure the one you get can handle it. Some of the smaller storage NASs don't offer email server capabilities.

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have further questions or need further clarification.

Hey guys,

I hope that someone here can give me some help because I'm losing it here...

My original situation was a Windows-PC, a MacBook Air (2011 version) and 2 Lacie networkdrives (one actual and one backup-drive). Because I wanted a more secure file-system I bought a Synology DS412+ which I setup through the PC. It worked like a charm.

But, the connection with the MacBook was not so fast as on the PC. Accessing the DSM through the Macbook was very slow and accessing files was a moment to get a coffee… (tested with WiFi and UTP) The connection with the MacBook to the Lacie is not a problem!

Last year I removed the PC and bough myself an iMac 27 (2013 version) and this is great!

But (once again) accessing the DSM or files is a matter of minutes on the iMac or MacBook. If I am accessing files via the iPad or iPhone it is very fast! Even if I tried to connect with SMB (in stead of AFP) the connections take their time (for every file you’re accessing!)… Yesterday I was able to perform a reset on the DS and load the latest version of the DSM (4.3) on it with no results.

If I browse other fora there are a lot of other users with the same problem. One user told me she had the same problems and said (Quote on) I had the same Problem with my DS411J. Now i have a DS 1513+ and everything is fine. I also have my 250GB Iphoto library on it. (Quote off).

But (and again) will this solve my problem? Because buying this one is again a serious cost on the budget…

I don’t think it is an network-issue because everything else worked fine. I have a local provider’s modem/router/switch (Telenet) who’s dealing the IP's, connected with an Apple's TimeCapsule 3TB (Version 2012) and an Apple Extreme as network-extender to have the entire appartement covered.

I hope there is an explanation for this and that I can solve this with a little help of your expertise!

Patrick and Nathalie (Belgium)

Hello,

You did an awesome in narrowing down the causes of performance issues.

There are a few things you need to further troubleshoot before you make big expenses that may not solve the issues.

Some routers are confirmed not doing as advertised. Such as SPI/QoS handling, not all of them have enough computing power.

Also I like wired solution especially when accessing iPhoto library on DS.

Try different router and see how it fares for you..

Hey Kibby,

Do you mean that Apple's Time Capsule 3TB (479 euro) could be the problem? I have no other router at my disposal , so I have to buy one just for this test... Any other suggestion? 😕

"I don’t think it is an network-issue because everything else worked fine. I have a local provider’s modem/router/switch (Telenet) who’s dealing the IP's, connected with an Apple's TimeCapsule 3TB (Version 2012) and an Apple Extreme as network-extender to have the entire appartement covered."

Patrick (Padinago),

Is the modem/router from Telenet also with wifi, and have you shut down the wifi or not on "mijntelenet.be" ?

Stefaan also from Belgium, if you want you can do it in Flemish.

Goede middag Stefaan,

Maybe we better stay in English so that the other users also can follow... 😉

Yes, I disabled the wifi on the Telenet-modem. And here is an other problem, because I can not use my TimeCapsule as DHPC (where I can use static IP's) but have to use the one that Telenet provides and doecn't allow to use static IP's. But that's for later, first the Synology-problem... 😁

(Dag) Hey Padinago,

I have not a Synology but a Netgear Readynas Ultra 6 and also not a Timecapsule.

I have not disable the wifi on "mijntelenet"

My iTunes library is on the NAS and I think it's perhaps so what the same such as your iPhoto library.

The NAS is also the place for backup with Time Machine on my iMac 27.

I stream also films from the Nas to the Apple TV that is connected with the TV and Stereo.

A Airport Express is also wireless connected for streaming music to the stereo.

My iMac also wireless

I can accessing the Nas via AFP or CIFS.

I give the Nas a static (fix) IP adress, the last number of the range. The range go from 100 tot 250. It's than something like 192.168.1.250

I see no differences when I are connected with a PC or a Mac.

From the modem/wifi router goos a cable to the Apple Extreme.

The connection setup is DHCP (verbind via DHCP) in the Extreme. > button "Internet"

the DNS-servers 195.130.130.132 and 195.130.131.132 (are from Telenet)

Domainname "home"

Button Wirless (Draadloos)

Network modus (Netwerkmodus) is : Maak draadloos netwerk aan

No guest connection.

Button Netwerk

Routermodus : Uitgeschakeld (brugmodus) Bridge modus

When the disc's are in sleep modus on the Nas, and I access the Nas yes than you have a waiting time.

I hope that this can help you, or perhaps a little.

Stefaan.

Hey Stefaan,

I checked my setup with yours and it is almost exactly the same. I can’t give my NAS a static IP because the Telenet-modem is giving the orders.

Yesterday I unhooked the DS from my TimeCapsule and put it directly on the Telenet-Modem. No improvement!

I disconnected everything else from the network, put a gigabit switch between the Mac and the DS. No improvement.

I really want to buy something else, but I want to be sure that that’s the problem! Otherwise it is a very expencive test...

Patrick,

In the network settings of your Synology can you give a fix IP adress ?

I don't know if it gives a difference for the speed by you

The exact setup by me is:

- wifi modem router from telenet > 1 cable to the digibox and 1 to the Apple Extreme on the 1° floor.

- from the AE > 1 cable to the Nas, a other to a switch and the 3° to a network printer.

The AE have a IP adress from the modem/router only the Nas have a fix IP adress that I can give in the network settings of the Nas.

It is not necessary that the switch is yust behind the modem/router.

You have 4 going out ports on the modem/router.

What I think now, look in your network settings of the Synology. Are DHCP enebled or disabled. It must disabled.

Stefaan.