Advice Required: N5200 Pro

[BrantRaven]

Hi Everyone,

I had pretty much decided on buying a Thecus N5200Pro ($1200 Australian) when I stumbled onto this site and began reading some of the issues people have been having. I was especially intrigued with some of the problems in a very early thread which was based on the inital review on this site.

So at this point I'm not sure what to do. I’m fairly computer savvy, but not a Linux person by any measure. Are people still having serious configuration, setup, stability, and usability issues? Should I buy a Thecus or build my own file server?

Any advice and direction appreciated.

Brant

[peterfu]

Hi Brant,
I have the N5200 now since FW Version 1.00.05 - I think I purchased the box in January 2007 with 5 500GB Samsung HD (Type : HD501LJ) equipped.
I had some issues in the beginning, but since a few month it runs perfect. It seems that it is essential, that You have HD's which are tested from Thecus and which are on the compatibility list, cause some HD's cause problems. There are also problems with corrupted DOM's, but they should be replaced by Your dealer in any way. Support quality has increased dramatically compared to some month ago - especially in this forum thecus is very active (thanks Yvon!!).
I had a self constructed file server based on linux, but administration of the N5200 is much easier.
I use it as SAMBA Fileserver, as FTP Fileserver and as source for video and music streaming with a module.
I can recommend it, especially there are not many NAS on the market where You can install additional modules, which are from users around the world.
br
Peter

[Steve B]

I purchased an N5200 RouStor this month, and it's been fantastic. It was relatively simple to get configured and now that it is, serves as a media storage unit.
Get one

[RServranckx]

I received my N5200PRO earlier this week - I use it to store digital music and images. My N5200PRO also runs Slimserver to stream my digital music to a Squeezebox.

I've never had equipment that is so simple to install and configure! This applies to both the N5200PRO, the Squeezebox and the Slimserver. I'm simply amazed...

The N5200PRO has been streaming music all day for three straight days without a single glitch.

Rob

[bloodyguitars]

I received my N5200PRO earlier this week - I use it to store digital music and images. My N5200PRO also runs Slimserver to stream my digital music to a Squeezebox.

I've never had equipment that is so simple to install and configure! This applies to both the N5200PRO, the Squeezebox and the Slimserver. I'm simply amazed...

The N5200PRO has been streaming music all day for three straight days without a single glitch.

Rob

Same case here. Received my N5200PRO on Tuesday and been playing with it since. SS runs beautifully. I am waiting for my network media player to test the media player functionality. Should I use the Media Server inbuilt or should I use a different one? If so which one would you recommend.

Also, about the SS/Squeezebox topic, if I make the music folder private it doesnt scan the music. But if I make it public it works as a piece God just made for me. I dont want my music to be lying around on the network unsecure. Any advice onhow I can secure it and still listen to it on the SB would be greatly appreciated.

Did I mention that its fast as hell and too quiet to be true

Thanks in advance

[omega]

Hi together,

congratulations for your new N5200.....

I'm happy to hear that someone is using the modules and that it's working.

Enjoy it....

Andreas

[BrantRaven]

Thanks for the assistance and comments everyone.

One of my greatest concerns with the N5200 is support. Living in Australia, which by world standards is a technology wasteland, we dont enjoy the same support and turn around times as they do in Europe and the US.

Imagine the frustration of a failed device for whatever reason (DOM for example), and not being able to retrieve data from your RAID set becuase your waiting four weeks for somthing to be replaced. Yeah.....sounds a little to flaky for me. Its a nice idea even given the price point...and I almost parted with the money. But seriously, building your own..while slower performance wise, certainly seems to be a more secure option.

Perhaps Yvon can weigh in here with some discussion and suggestion.

Brant

[BRoche]

I'm also in Australia (ass end of the world in technology)
That is also my biggest worry with the N5200B that I run. I have a W2k server running second copy to backup the N5200. That way if the N5200 dies, I have a ready to go backup (well I lose a days work if it dies just before the backup is run)
I also run it off a UPS for spike, brownouts and powerouts. I have lost a few power supplies on other PC, but there easy and quick to get a new one, I'm sure it would take 4+weeks to get a replacement PSU for the N5200.
I am so far happy with the N5200B running FW2.00.01 and am about to put it into production, only doing a small amount at first (3 inkjets, 5 Macs and 3 PCs).
If that goes well (main concern is the folder Quota management, does it work???) I will add a few more users till it replaces my very old W2k server.
Time will tell.

[Stefan Huebner]

how much is $1200 Australian in Euros? It sounds like so much...

[BrantRaven]

@Stefan:
$1200 Australian is about 718.00 Euros. Very expensive as you can imagine. But really, support is the biggest problem.

@BRoche:
Yeah...Australia is the arse end of the world technology wise. We are about 3 years behind and we get the worst after sales support. Dont even get me started on the internet. After careful research on the N5200, I think I will pass and build my own. As I mentioned, if any part of the hardware on these devices fails....you would likely have to wait a very long time in order to get a replacement and re-initiate your drive array to retrieve data. I also dont see the point in having one of these devices, only to have a dedicated server for backup, just incase the device fails. To me that is doubling up on everything.

Building a NAS significantly increases the probability of recovery as the OS is doing all the work, so it is the only thing that need to be re-initialised. Sure, it may not look as good, and it may not perform as well...but it will recover much quicker.

Food for thought.....

Brant

[DR]

Anyone who has issues with support should have noticed that this care@HEXUS forum has made life a lot easier, you now have a way to communicate with other Thecus users and Thecus are giving direct input and support - quickly

I've used a 5200 and 5200 Pro - and the only issue I have ever had was with early firmware on the 5200 - now the product has matured I really have not had any issues and the only time it goes down is if I have a power failure

[BRoche]

This forum is great of software bugs, or software help, and maybe a few hardware problems, but If there is a hardware failure, you are going to be off line for at least 4 weeks (maybe?).
I don't expect any spare parts to be kept in Australia, or resellers to be too helpful when a problem happens. (I'm only going on past experience with OS hardware)

[DR]

I suspect that depends on the RMA support from the retailer - I don't believe Thecus do direct RMA?

[BrantRaven]

This Thecus device has been the source of a great deal of indecision in my technology life. On one hand it is the perfect soultion, offering a great feature set in a single box. It looks good and makes really good sense if your any sort of data junkie...and lets face it..in todays world, with documents, digital photos, movies, dvds, music..etc..etc we are ALL data junkies.

On the other hand though..as I have implied..I get a sinking feeling each time I ask myself if I would trust my data to the device! If I was intimate with its inner workings, and could buy parts to do the repair myself...as I might with a broken PC..sure. But if I couldnt..and had to trust a courier to get it back to the manufacturer, the manufacturer to repeat my problem and fix it, the courier to get it back to me safely and then to have it work perfectly with the data array I had previous to failure...Hmm I dunno, the probabilities just dont add up.

Brant

[DR]

Well I've run one for over a year and not had problems - I love them I think they are small, quiet and have good performance - you can't really beat it. Everyone says they can build a NAS box but it will be bigger and more effort

[Stefan Huebner]

@ BrantRaven: actually, that's pretty cheap. We sell it (German market) for 815,- EUR (the N5200 PRO). And we're pretty good in offering these devices at low prices here in Germany.

@ DR: RMA is done with the retailer, Thecus doesn't do it directly.

@ all: reliability of modern technology is like gambling, unless every single piece of the product is calculated and fabricated with german "Sicherheitsfaktor für lebensbedrohliche Bauteile" - security factor of 5, it may or may not break at some time.
RAID does not secure your data. It makes it available even if one piece of hardware fails - that'S the whole idea. Nothing can replace a backup!