I currently use an old (2013?) Intel NUC with a 12TB MyBook plugged in as a simple Plex server. I want to get a NAS. Right now at Amazon or B&H I can get a DS923+ w/ two 16TB HDDS for about $1000.
My main question is if I should try to go the DIY route. Am I going to possibly regret putting all my eggs in the Synology basket? I like the DS923+ because of it’s small form factor mainly. But I am sort of keen to use an open source OS like TrueNas.
My main uses are going to be Plex hosting, photo management for myself and wife and data backup. I am a bit of an enthusiast when it comes to electronics. I love messing around with things, trying new software, breaking stuff and fixing it. Are there any major restrictions I am going to experience with Synology? Thanks a bunch!
I started with a DS216Play back in 2016. It’s been running 7 years non stop. It can serve so much including Plex but the cpu is too weak to do serious transcoding. I recently pulled the trigger on a DS220+. As before I got WD Reds as my older 5400rpm have worked so well over time. You can do your own research but at present only intel based can really transcode.
I use my NASes as the primary storage class in my k3s via nfs provisioned. More recently I setup a functional docker registry and portainer.io instance on them.