HexOS vs Synology

[NAS_noob]

Hi there. Im an absolut noob (not even a beginner) when it comes to NAS but I want a NAS for qiute some time. The thing is I dont really know if I should try HexOS or buy a prebuild (like Synology). Maybe you can help me decide (I know its hard, espacially because HexOS is only in Beta)?

The thing is, I dont know if I need all the options (Apps) that Synology provides. At the moment I think I just want do store data (more or less everything I have on my PC and pictures from my phone) and stream movies. Accassing my NAS from everywhere is not something I need for now (meaning I can wait for HexOS implementing something (App) for that; as far as I know you can do that with Synology).

The price/performance is also a factor Im not sure about: I could get this https://aoostar.com/products/aoostar-n9e-intel-n100-mini-pc4c-4t-up-to-3-4ghz-with-w11-home-8-16gb-ddr4-3200mhz-ram-256-512gb-m-2-2280-nvme-ssd?variant=48813283475754 for about 460€ after taxes and customs (lol, it just sold out) + ~100€ for HexOS. For about the same price (610€) I could get this Synology NAS: https://geizhals.at/synology-diskstation-ds923-a2846784.html. Especially RAM is a quite a big diffrence (not sure about the CPU). But I heard when you have a Synology NAS you dont need the "best" hardware to get the same performance, is that true? Also, is the AOOSTAR NAS overkill for my usecase?

Something I should alos add: I dont have the time/knowledge to try and fix any problem that may occur (at least not on a regular basis; Im currently in University).

 

I hope I was able to explain my situation and that someone can help me decide on what to do.

Thanks 🙂

[arvinpw]

Do you have old pc laying around? Or you could buy old pc for that matter and add your own choise of storage. It will cost even less than aoostar. Because both aoostar and synology, you still need to buy your own storage (HDDs or SSDs).

As from HexOS, you do not need current gen CPUs either, some 10-15 years of CPU can run HexOS just fine, especially when you just need to store data and nothing more. And RAM requirement just 8GB.

Hope this helps you out.

[NAS_noob]

44 minutes ago, arvinpw said:

Do you have old pc laying around? Or you could buy old pc for that matter and add your own choise of storage. It will cost even less than aoostar.

Sadly, I dont have a spar/old PC, but maybe I can find an old, used one. The only problem I have with this solution is, that its quit big (I dont have much space). Also, what about powerconsumption? Isn't the hardware in the Synology/AOOSTAR specially selected so that it consumes little power? Or in other words, isnt an old PC more power hungry?