NAS Primarily for Media +phone, ipad, laptop background backup

Please offer 3 products from Qnap or Synology for the following users. Thank you.

User background:
a. Family of 3
b. 3 cell phones (1 apple, 2 android)
c. 2 laptops (windows)
d. 1 ipad (apple)

Specs wanted:
a. wifi to backup cell phone
b. ideally, have ssd cache to speed up apps or files

Mostly used for backing up and viewing media files:
a. photos
b. video
c. music

Typical user story:
1. Jenny, takes photos and videos with her cell phone away from her house, but then when she returns home, she places it on the counter top. Unaware to her, files are uploaded without her noticing. On another occasion, she takes a video in the house but then leaves the property without the file completing the upload. When she return, the file completes the upload. This is all done via wireless to the NAS.

2. Henry works on a project from work on his laptop and decides to have both his work and personal files backed up on a NAS.

With a focus on media like pictures and videos and easy backups I would recommend Synology. The cheapest option will be DS118 which is a 1 drive option and capable of doing all these tasks. Just remember to have a backup on external drive just in case unexpected happens.

Another option is DS218+ which is most popular 2 bay NAS today. It will not only do all these things mentioned above but it will also do it quicker and allow more users. You can even transcode and stream your video collection while away from home. The two drive option will let you create RAID1 allowing one drive break down without loosing any data and still being able to use it despite it.

The top of the range model is DS718+ which does whatever you want it to do. And it will also let you add another 5 drive expansion if you run out of the space later in future. This is a popular choice among people would want this to be an investment for another 5 years (very future proof).

Synology comes with many great free apps and also allow third party app installations. DS Video app will allow you to make your videos accessible even without internet connection- very handy for road trips and flights. The moments app will organise you photo collection based on Geo location, time and even object recognition function like Facebook. Very useful to find things in seconds. It will also back up all your photos and videos in the background once you connect to the WiFi (or even over 3g/4g if you want to). For a full backup like contacts and settings, you need to look at third party app like Acronis.

 

Acronis True Image is a backup software which will let you backup Computers, Android Phones or Apple iPhones to your NAS. It is an incredible app because not only it can backup few folders, but also an entire image of your computer. This is super important if you need to get your computer restored ASAP after a massive system crash, virus or other disasters (Manual to set up NAS as backup destination). Backing up a mobile device means capturing all of the data – including contacts, calendar, photos, videos and other files – so you still have them if something happens to your smartphone or tablet.
Backup software for mobile devices makes sure you are saving copies frequently, reliably and safely. It automatically produces a backup and makes it easy to restore your files.
Link to Acronis True Image= http://aklam.io/biKQsh
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What can I connect to a NAS?

Wireless Speaker Sonos

The great thing about Sonos is that you don't need to pay for music subscription service. With the cheapest NAS at home like DS115j or any other, you can have your backups done for all of your devices and still use your network drive as a Sonos music library. Sonos will connect to your NAS via your network and let access your provided music library. If you have little more of IT knowledge, you can even set up your Alexa or Sonos with Alexa built in to play music on your voice commands ("Alexa! Ask DS Audio to Play Music!").

Casting devices

Nowadays it is so cheap to upgrade your old TV and make it smart. All you need is Google Chrome or EZcast alternative plugged into your HDMI port at the back of your TV. Now you have great functionality added to your TV to send a video file directly from your NAS to a TV. No need for wires and chargers and other mess. You can use your phone as a remote to go to your movies or family videos and cast that content on your TV during family or friend gatherings.

 

Apple TV

Amazon Fire TV

You may not have a smartphone, or you just simply prefer to control your content with a remote in that case Amazon Fire TV will be a great addon to get to your TV. It also plugs into your HDMI port and will play content from your NAS to a TV. No wires no mess.

nVidia Shield TV

It gets even better! If you want some more entertainment and all previously mentioned functions - nVidia TV is a great thing to get. You can use it for playing games and watching movies from your NAS. The greatest thing is - shield TV does video transcoding. So even if you have a cheap NAS with a weak CPU, in a combination of shield TV you can now automatically on the fly change video file size and format for a destination device. It is a great way to reduce network load and let older devices to play video content which normally was not supported on the device.