HiWire

In practice (on Mac or Windows), you'll probably be auto-mounting the Synology folders via SMB when you boot up, so the rtorrent or qbittorrent clients might see them as regular volumes like your computer's drives.

Yes, link aggregation is good, but don't mistake it for turning two Gigabit ports into 250 MB/s transfer speed. Each port still operates at its own full speed, but link aggregation allows multiple clients to access the device at faster speeds (e.g., two computers can access the Synology at a full 125 MB/s each rather than 60MB/s over a shared link, theoretically). With a single client, you're still limited to the speed of the port.

If you see a need for that kind of performance – you could upgrade to two SATA SSDs in the trays if you were trying to improve the 220+ performance, but it would be expensive at current prices (and I'd only bother setting them up as RAID 1 – no need for striping with SSD speeds). With the various RAID sets, you need to migrate the data (i.e., copy it out) before reforming the RAID, which is a bit time consuming, whereas with Synology SHR you can add new disks without rebuilding the array. RAID 10 is theoretically fastest but it does waste a lot of disk space. Using an SSD cache makes the RAID type less relevant in general use, but the RAID type matters more if you're using an all-hard disk setup. I'd definitely recommend upgrading the RAM. Synology's DiskStation operating system is quite economical, but the more you do with a DiskStation, the more memory you'll want. The DS218 would be all right – the limiting factor is the single Gigabit Ethernet connection. At best, it will be able to move at about 125 MB/s (some modern hard drives can transfer about 250 MB/s). It all depends on your needs and plans to scale up.

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I don't know about the rtorrent or qbittorrent tracker question either, but the DiskStation you choose depends on your use case. The DS220+ has 2 bays and the DS420+ has 4 bays (and they use the same processor), for example, but the DS420+ also has 2 M.2 slots for NVMe SSD cache drives. Using a cache drive makes a huge difference in the performance of the box. In Synology boxes, you can use a minimum one SSD as a read cache or two SSDs as a read/write cache. From a home use perspective, the read cache is more important so you don't have to buy two SSDs. You don't have to set up a cache drive right away – you can always add one later. You can also expand the RAM on each box to 6GB (they have one slot for upgrading with 2GB on the board already). The DS220+ can run as JBOD (just a bunch of disks), RAID 0, and RAID 1. The DS420+ can run as JBOD, and RAID 0/1/5/6/10. Synology has a proprietary RAID version called SHR (SHR-1 and SHR-2) that allows you to dynamically build a RAID set with different drive sizes. Each RAID type describes the number of allowable drive failures (SHR-1 can tolerate one drive failure and SHR-2 can tolerate two drive failures in their arrays). I've heard that SHR-2 is a form of RAID 6. You need a minimum of one drive for SHR-1 (you can add more later) and four drives for SHR-2. You can use their RAID Calculator here to figure out how much storage to set up: https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/RAID_calculator The higher-end DiskStation boxes include features like more powerful CPUs and higher RAM capacities, eSATA ports and 10 Gbit Ethernet ports, along with redundant power supplies, PCIe slots, and more disk bays.

This is a random one: Messer Chups – Magneto

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Kate Bush – The Dreaming I must be in the right mood... really enjoying the album this time. I think the other listens have been while I've been working, which doesn't help with such an intense array of sounds and ideas. Public Image Ltd – Metal Box

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Living in America – The Sounds

I missed their low-end prices (from the 90s), so I ended up getting the HD 599 SE... it's no HD 600, but it's much more versatile with portable devices. It's great for a $100 headphone, but not so much at $200+. Their prices went into the stratosphere like everyone else's, but I think they lost the message regarding the low and mid ranges of the market. It's possible that Apple destroyed this area by including free EarPods with most of their devices and now I see "cool" people wearing the AirPods instead of the ubiquitous over-ear DJ-style headphones or earbuds that were more common years ago.

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Are you feeling the music? Jasmine Jams to Zakk Wylde's solo from Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears... way too short: Scuttle Buttin' – Stevie Ray Vaughan:

For mission-critical data, you need a UPS attached to your storage system with enough power to allow it to power down fully in the event of an outage or brownout. I like a UPS with voltage regulation as well, to guard against sags and spikes in power supply. The enterprise-oriented products often have power protection built-in as well, for example, a redundant power supply and power protection on the board (capacitors and/or batteries) as well as non-volatile cache memory against the possibility of power problems. It kind of goes without saying that RAID is not a replacement for a backup strategy, including offsite backup for most businesses.

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It's a backup of a backup, so I thought I'd try it... so far, so good. Have you noticed any trends in drive failure? I've been checking into the Backblaze reports periodically just to get an idea of trends in the market. I've been buying Seagate Exos drives lately and they've been problem-free so far.

D'oh! I meant RAID 0, 8TB. I'll have to switch it to RAID 1 when I get bigger drives.

I looked into a similar question (but for 3.5" hard drives) and ended up with the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual about a year and a half ago: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MED3ER0GB/ I put two HGST 4TB drives in there and it has been working well ever since, connected 24/7 as a backup 8TB, RAID 1 volume via eSATA to a Synology NAS. SSDs can work in these devices but speed will be limited by the controller or interface. Using something modern like Thunderbolt 3 or USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 will ensure there is no I/O bottleneck.

There are some negative reviews of the Sabrent box, so it makes me a little suspicious (it is also listed as out of stock on their website). I'd definitely have a backup of the data and test the RAID array if I got one – it doesn't seem to have any software so it's really up to your built-in macOS drivers. Also, there are some complaints the fan is loud. Their product page links to a different product on Amazon, the non-RAID version (DS-4SSD instead of DS-4RSS). I'm going to surmise that the RAID variant was too problematic so they discontinued it and they are selling the simpler, cheaper variant for now – one of the Amazon comments mentions using Windows Storage Spaces to run software RAID, but I'm not sure I'd rely on it. TL;DR: There are a bunch of low-priced "RAID" devices with poor reviews online... they probably use the same cheap JMicron controllers and they don't have the performance or data integrity of real hardware RAID devices (which usually cost hundreds of dollars). I think I'd get this instead – run 2 large 2.5" 5TB drives in RAID 1 for a total of 5TB and use this fanless enclosure because I trust OWC more than the other manufacturers: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MEMDC2KIT/

This might do the trick – detachable fan: https://www.sabrent.com/product/DS-4RSS/usb-3-0-2-5-4-bay-raid-supporting-hard-drive-ssd-docking-station-with-fan/ You'd lose half the storage using RAID 10 vs RAID 1, but RAID 10 can be faster in some cases.

Would you consider M.2 SSDs instead of SATA? This QNAP thing seems over the top with a Thunderbolt 3/10Gb Ethernet adapter: https://www.qnap.com/en/product/tbs-453dx

I picked up a 500GB Samsung T7 (non-touch) SSD drive for super cheap last year... the 1TB and 2TB are probably not as inexpensive, but they are some of the best and they go on sale from time to time. It comes with a regular USB Type-A cable as well as a Type-C cable for newer computers. Ditto on Mojave supporting 32-bit apps. You should be able to install and run Mojave on the external SSD you purchase without a problem (I've got Big Sur running on mine).

I forgot I have a Schiit Fulla 2 lying around... I'll give it a go if a pair of Senn 8** ever come around, in the name of headphone science.

Can a pair of Sennheiser HD 800 S be driven well by an amp under $1,000? I've lost track of how current headphone amps stack up... would pairing it with a piece of Schiit Magni be... Heresy?

I think their Momentum brand was trying to gain access to mainstream consumers. They made decent inroads with reviewers, but the high prices of the products meant a lot of prospective shoppers were going for cheaper or more "innovative" (flavor of the month) products. I bought a pair of HD 599 SE to recapture the feel of my first Sennheiser headphones, the HD 320: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sennheiser-hd-320.21653/ It's not a pair of HD 600 (-1), but it was about 1/4 the price and it's easy to drive with portable players. When I think of Sennheiser, I think of well-engineered, high quality, neutral headphones that are usually lightweight and open design. They're not fashion-driven products, emphasizing function over form. I also have a pair of HD1 In-Ear (wired) headphones that I use with my phone. Slightly U-shaped frequency response, but in a pleasant way. Sennheiser planned to rebrand them as Momentums but the product never came out and they're becoming more difficult to find as inventory dries up.