Synology replacement

[kyote4827 3]

I was wondering if I could get some expert opinions on which Synology to replace my DS1515+ that crapped out (won't turn on anymore). 

I was running my Emby server on my Hades Canyon Win10 Ent, 32 GB ram, i7-8705G and mainly using my Synology for storing all of my movies and tv shows, then Streaming tv goes directly thru the Hades Canyon.

Apps that are used varies since I share my Emby with family around the US. Roku/LG/Samsung tv/Android phones/Firestick/etc.

5 x 6.0 TB WD Red drives w/ my library from the DS1515+

So my problem is that my current setup does quite a bit of transcoding (don't know how to limit that) since quality of recordings vary and clients vary as well. 

What new Synology would be better to toss my library on, and would it be better to run Emby off of that NAS, or keep it on my Hades Canyon? I have 5 drives in my NAS, so I'm not sure how I would move to a 4 drive system...

DS920+ or DS1621xs+ are the two I was looking at and the DS1621+ seems better for drive compatibility and future proof, but DS920 would work better with Transcoding... hence my issue.  

(ex of some transcoding)

Stream

arrow_right_altHLS (15.4 mbps 34 fps)

Container not supported

Video

1080i MPEG2VIDEO

arrow_right_altTranscode (H264 15 mbps)

arrow_right_altDeinterlacing (mode=send_frame:parity=auto:deint=all)

Audio

English AC3 5.1

arrow_right_altTranscode (AAC 384 kbps)

 

 

[Luke 37066]

Hi, similar discussion here just FYI: 

 

[Carlo 4330]

If you're running Emby currently on a PC but using the Synology just for storage do you really need another Synology or could you make use of something more dedicated to storage to that would a lot faster as well?  How many drive bays are you looking for assuming you keep running Emby on a PC?

[kyote4827 3]

Thanks for both responses, I'll check out the other thread as well!

 

I current have 5 drives that are used, and full of movies and shows. my Synology died, so I have to get another Synology initially to at least get the data off of those drives. 

My other issue (that isn't really an issue), is that at times my PC resources are competing between Emby and some game botting (8 instances of bluestacks) that I have running on that PC. That was why I was considering to move just over to the Synology full time. Cleaner with less failure points. But I need to make sure it is able to transcode the heck out of things. 

[Carlo 4330]

If you have a computer at present that you can put all 5 drives in you should be able to pull the data.
Do you have other drives to copy the data to?

What kind of volume/pools were you using on the Synology?

Short of the commercial offerings the Synology models you would likely purchase at best will likely have a Celeron with Quicksync built in. It's not going to be  speed daemon.
You may want to rethink that per other recommendations.

If you can't use a PC to access the file system you may want to look on eBay for a cheap replacement if only to use to get your data off, then relist it and sell it back on eBay.

[kyote4827 3]

I don't currently have another machine to put the drives all in. Plus they are formatted w/ the Synology config, which you can't really read from unless it's in a Synology setup, right? 

I have the 5 WD Red drives that are each 6TB. 

I could probably stand to get more drives, or larger drives. I'm starting to butt up into a space issue. 

As far as allowing the best viewing experience, and allowing up to 3 or 4 transcodings (maybe more) at one time, do you see any reason why the HadesCanyon (i7) 32GB RAM, Win10, 2 x 500GB m2 shouldn't be able to handle that? I just know that with everything running on the HC, my CPU it around 100% all the time currently. Would love to get it to a more manageable place. Not sure if that's just reformatting my HC since it has been probably 5 years since I did that, or if it's just a matter of too much stuff is too much stuff to run on it.

But from what it is sounding like, any of the Synology's won't be able to be a full workhorse for storage as well as transcoding. The Qnap and other options listed in your link above might provide a better experience. 
If I wanted Synology to just be the NAS that it's supposed be and only store things, then I could go with the  DS1621xs+ and be able to quickly get myself back up and running, right?

Edited December 31, 2021 by kyote4827

[Carlo 4330]

You should be able to read the data with Ubuntu Linux. Synology has this in their knowledge base.
https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/tutorial/How_can_I_recover_data_from_my_DiskStation_using_a_PC

If that doesn't work you can turn to specialized utilities like Reclaim Me and Hetman RAID Recovery
https://www.reclaime.com/library/synology-recovery.aspx
https://hetmanrecovery.com/recovery_news/how-to-recover-data-from-raid-synology-nas-ds415.htm

I don't know where you're located or your time table, but I could help you out with the drive recovery if that would be of help.  I'm in the process of adding additional storage (below) to a new server and storage cabinet but could leave open 5 or 6 drive bays.

Then I could either try this for you or set you up a a virtual machine with the drives passed through and let you try and recover the data. I'll have plenty of new storage space available for sure. Assuming that works, your old drives could be reformate however you like and could have the data copied back onto them.

If this would be of help, let me know and I'll leave the drive bays open and not fill them yet.  The help is free but shipping of the drives is on you.

Edited January 1, 2022 by cayars

[kyote4827 3]

I'm not going to lie, that box is amazing... Some day I'll have a need for that much storage. But I'm not starting my own AWS in my home office, lol. 

I'm way over in Arizona, not sure if shipping them would be that easy, but a huge thanks for the offer!

I'll probably see if I can get a Synology at least temporarily  to get my data off of it. After that, still not sure which direction I'm going to go with it... I'm just having too many performance issues with my NUC. It just runs too maxed CPU all the time, so can't do more than 1 or 2 transcoding's at a time, and even then, playback may not be smooth.  

The easiest solution for me still sounds like  DS1621+ since it has the drive space for all of my drives and could just drop it in. Down side is that I still need to use my NUC for transcoding, so need to fix that issue still. 

I'll try that for now and see how it goes! Thanks for all the insight. I'm sure I'll reach out again when I have it set up to see if there's any good tweaks I can do in order to provide a better experience for the family using Emby remote. 

[Carlo 4330]

Those are all Data Center 12Gb SAS UltraStar HGST drives that I've been ordering a few drives at a time after verifying batch numbers. I've been careful to make sure I have no more than a couple drives from the same batch/lot. This way every group of drives in a ZFS vdevs will be manufactured at a different point in time and be unique. Nothing worse than having a whole set of drives go bad at once due to some defect in manufacturing or Quality Control that didn't get caught.

They should all fit in a USPS flat rate large box with plenty of room for foam and packing. Priority mail is 2 or 3 day delivery and usually packages are treated a bit nicer then the big box delivery services. Pretty sure that's around $20 one way or $40ish round trip.  So keep that in mind.

The problem with the 1621+ is that it has a AMD Ryzen Quad-core 2.2 GHz proc which isn't ideal for streaming as it has no GPU on board. Great box for pure storage but not ideal as the media server itself. A Celeron with QuickSync would be more useful as a media server as it could offload 4 or 5 transcodes via QuickSync.

Here's a 5 bay DS1019+ for less than $700 https://www.aztekcomputers.com/DS1019-Synology-1K3PCI13FOE.html

But let me ask you this.  Have you tried changing the power supply? You said in the first message it doesn't turn on.  Any lights at all? Have you tried another power supply if you have one handy? With the case off any PC power supply would work for testing but to get the correct one for fit: $76 to your door https://www.ebay.com/itm/254989342826

I would certainly try that first if you haven't as a power supply issue is easy to fix and then everything should start right up with no fuss.

[kyote4827 3]

I haven't tried a new power supply. It does sound like it is getting power when I plug the cable in. But I found a video that sounds like my problem with a bad transistor on the mobo. Once they got into soldering items, I was out.  

I don't have another power supply to give it a shot the other way. 

I'll check out the DS1019+ and see how it compares...

 

[Carlo 4330]

Oh that's super easy.  You have to try that. 

You see exactly which two things he's shorting/connecting correct?

All you have to do to access that is remove the outer case. If you don't have a multi-meter grab a metal paperclip and bend it in a U shape (cut it in half first if you want).
Grab a pair a needle nose plyers or similar to hold the paper clip and make that bridge connection to see if the power supply kicks on.
It's low current there so shouldn't be anything to worry about but if you like put on a pair of gloves to hold the paperclip directly with or the plyers.

If that worked you're in business.  Unplug it from the wall and take it over to a friends house that can solder and just have them bridge it vs tracking down the resistor.
All that does is activate the switch so you can essentially leave on constantly on.  Plug the NAS into a power strip with a switch and you're good.  You will almost always want to power down the box via DSM anyway to close apps.

If you don't have any friends who can solder you can do a temp job on it by laying the NAS on it's face so the board is parrallel to the table/work space. Cut a small wire stripped on both ends just long enough to go around the bottom of the black thing in the middle that looks like a jumper in the picture. Cut two small strips of electric tape, medical tape or similar sticky tape to hold the wires in place firmly.  Test.  If it works and boots up you can get to your data.

At that point, you could decide to just run it that way but if you don't intend to get someone to solder it then I'd power it down lay it back on it's face and put a drop or two of some type of instant glue (ie crazy glue) on each side to hold the tape in place making it more permanent.  You can also use a drop or two on the wire itself to bond it to the board while you hold it down. Now give it 15 minutes to fully dry and harden and you're in business.

BTW, if you have an electronic store around such as a Radio Shack or something like that you can take the NAS and cord in and show them the picture above on your phone and ask them if they could solder a bridge for you or even replace the resistor like the guy did in the video so the power button still works.  I know the guy at my local/former Radio Shack would say something like $2 for the resistor and a hot cup of coffee from Wawa and I'll have it done by the time you get back. Anyone who can solder half way decent will spend more time waiting for the iron to get warm then the job will take.

[kyote4827 3]

Sorry for delay in response. Tons going on. BUT, I did try this out with the paperclip, and it did start up when I attached that. So good news there. Bad news is that I don't really know anyone that solder items. But I guess I can buy some items and give it a shot! It would really be nice if the power button still works, so I guess I'm figuring this out!

I also tried to buy the  Synology NAS DS1019+ 5 bay NAS DiskStation DS1019+ (Diskless) Retail but it didn't go thru and they cancelled the purchase. 

Another reason why I'm willing to give soldering a shot!  I'm buying items now and will let you know in the next day or two.

[Carlo 4330]

If you've never soldered before spend a half hour to an hour doing a bit of practice with some wire so you can get the solder joint perfect.  It's not hard but you want nice shiny solder joints not murky joints.  It's just a matter of learning how hot the soldering iron needs to be and using the right solder.

All you need is a basic iron. They are cheap.  You don't want a gun to start with (maybe never).  Get either a roll or yard of thin solder (about paper clip in width) that is 60/40 and if you can with lead. I know you might think lead is bad for health but you're going to wash your hands after using it and won't be sticking you fingers in your mouth or running you eyes. Rosin core solder (flux in the middle) Lead based solder is easier to work with but not always available.  Learn to "tin" the wire. Flux is nice to have but for just this quick job don't worry about it.

Here you go, I found a great youtube video about 16 minutes long that covers nearly everything you would want to know.  30 minutes practicing to get the hang of it and you'll be soldering like a pro.

 

[HawkXP71 99]

5 hours ago, kyote4827 said:

Sorry for delay in response. Tons going on. BUT, I did try this out with the paperclip, and it did start up when I attached that. So good news there. Bad news is that I don't really know anyone that solder items. But I guess I can buy some items and give it a shot! It would really be nice if the power button still works, so I guess I'm figuring this out!

I also tried to buy the  Synology NAS DS1019+ 5 bay NAS DiskStation DS1019+ (Diskless) Retail but it didn't go thru and they cancelled the purchase. 

Another reason why I'm willing to give soldering a shot!  I'm buying items now and will let you know in the next day or two.

If you dont feel comfortable soldering, I would try to contact your local Ham Radio Group.  Not sure where in AZ you are, but Phoenix has a ton.

Many guys in ham radio, have a ton of soldering experience and will likely help you out for a beer or two

[Carlo 4330]

That's a great idea. That would also allow adding the resistor back as well which would be a no brainer and I'd bet a HAM would likely have it as well.

[kyote4827 3]

I have bad news, good news, and bad news.

I tried to get the Ham group to help, and I msged their Facebook group, but no responses for 2 weeks. 

I WAS able to get it soldered and up and running... after 10 or so tries. 

But now I'm getting a message that says the volume has crashed. 

So it's on, but it's not reacting very nice. I'll see if leaving it on for a bit might help it go thru a process.

But it's on and I can get into the system, so that's always a good first step!

[kyote4827 3]

MUHAHAHA, I got it working now! Thanks for all the help! After scanning my Drive 1, it found some bad sectors and now it's up and running like normal!

That's probably the last time I'll work on soldering items. Turns out I'm not very good at it. But a good experience to figure that out.

Yay success! Thank you for all the help everyone!

[Carlo 4330]

I've been having my own Synology issues as well the last couple of days (probably self induced) and presently moving as many files off it I can to do a factory reset.

When they work correctly you take the little miracle box for granted but every once in a while they like to give us a reminder they're still a computer and have issues like any other computer.

It's really good to hear you were able to get the hardware problem fixed and then turn around and solve a problem like that without loosing your cool.
I bet you feel a lot more comfortable now knowing you can handle these types of things!

Great job!