I’ve been using a Zyxel NAS542 with two 4 TB WD40EFRX drives in RAID 1 for several years. It has served me reasonably well, but I’m now reaching its performance and flexibility limits.
- Main use cases: Kodi playback (SMB over LAN), torrent downloads, storing all personal media (movies, series, music, audiobooks, study material, solidworks models).
- No Plex for now, but I might try it later.
- Kodi will be moved to a TV app eventually, but currently I'm using Minix U9-H as the media player.
- All content is on the NAS, I don’t use cloud sync or have backups elsewhere (yet).
- NAS is wired via Ethernet to a Deco X20 mesh node, which connects wirelessly (Wi-Fi 6) to the main router.
- No HDMI needed, and I don’t use Docker or advanced server apps (yet).
I’d prefer to reuse my existing drives for now. Budget is around 400–600 EUR, though I might stretch it a bit if there’s a major long-term benefit. I’d like something that performs clearly better than NAS542 and could support modern features if I need them later.
Also, let’s be honest – my Zyxel NAS is probably near the end of its natural life (if not already past it 😅).
What would be a good step up from NAS542?
I’ve been considering something like QNAP TS-264 and Synology DS423+ – any experience or pros/cons between these two in this kind of use case? Or maybe an another contender?
Any help or insights are much appreciated!