UniFi UNAS Pro – FIRST TIME SETUP GUIDE

Last updated on 22 Oct 2024 📧 Subscribe
Contents hide
1 UniFi UNAS Pro First Time Setup Guide – Get It Right First Time
1.1 Choosing Between Offline (LAN Only) Setup vs Using a UniFi Account
1.2 HDDs, SSDs and Storage Installation
1.3 Network Cable Connections
1.4 Power On First Time
1.5 iOS/Android Mobile Setup
1.6 Web Browser Setup
1.7 Dashboard
1.8 Adding Users and Connecting Services
1.9 Creating Shared Drives and Sharing Them
1.10 Setting Up Snapshots, Locking, and Restoring Them
1.11 Setting Up Remote/Network/Cloud Backups to UNAS / SMB NAS / Cloud
1.12 Creating Encrypted Drives and Folders
1.13 Mapping a Network Drive
1.14 Managing Updates
1.15 Notifications and Alerts Setup
1.16 UniFi UNAS Pro Setup Guide Conclusion
2 Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

UniFi UNAS Pro First Time Setup Guide – Get It Right First Time

Setting up the UniFi UNAS Pro NAS is a straightforward process that allows you to quickly integrate it into your network. This guide will walk you through the steps to get the device up and running, from physical connections to configuring advanced settings like snapshots and remote backups. Whether you’re using a mobile device or web browser, this guide ensures that your UniFi UNAS Pro NAS is set up for optimal performance and functionality.

Choosing Between Offline (LAN Only) Setup vs Using a UniFi Account

Before proceeding with the setup, you need to decide whether to configure the UniFi UNAS Pro as a completely offline system (local area network only) or as part of the broader UniFi ecosystem using a UniFi account on UI.COM. Each option has its advantages:

  • Using a UniFi Account (UI.COM Integration):
    Setting up the device with a UniFi account gives you access to remote connectivity via UniFi’s relay servers, allowing you to manage the NAS from anywhere with an internet connection. It also provides additional features like NAS-to-cloud backups, access to email notifications, more options for updates, and multi-factor authentication for added security. This option is ideal for users who want to manage their NAS remotely or use advanced cloud backup features.
  • Offline (LAN Only) Setup:
    If you prefer to keep your NAS isolated from the internet and manage everything locally, you can set it up without connecting to UI.COM. This means no remote access or cloud backups, and you will rely solely on the local network for file transfers and management. However, basic features like local file sharing, snapshots, and backups to other networked devices will still work as normal. This option is more suited to users who prioritize data privacy and want to keep the NAS entirely within their local network.

Key Differences:

  • Remote Connectivity: With a UniFi account, you can access the NAS remotely, manage it over the internet, and sync with cloud services. Offline setup limits access to the local network only.
  • Backups: UniFi account users can back up data to the cloud, while offline users are limited to local backups.
  • Security: A UniFi account allows for multi-factor authentication (MFA) and remote monitoring, while offline setups focus on LAN-based security measures.
  • Update Control: UniFi account users have more control over update schedules and can access release candidates or early access updates. Offline users can only apply stable updates manually.

Now, with this decision in mind, let’s proceed with the setup.

HDDs, SSDs and Storage Installation

  • Power off the device if it’s on.

  • Open the storage bays and insert your HDDs or SSDs into the drive slots. Ensure the drives are securely seated in the bays.

Close the drive bays and ensure that they are properly locked.

Network Cable Connections

If you choose to set up with a UniFi account, ensure the Ethernet cable is connected to your router with internet access. This will allow the NAS to communicate with UniFi’s servers and facilitate remote connectivity and cloud services.

  • If you prefer an offline (LAN only) setup, connect the Ethernet cable to your local router or switch, ensuring the device will remain within the local network without internet access.
  • Insert one end of the Ethernet cable into the UNAS Pro’s 1GbE or 10GbE port, and the other into your router or switch. This will provide network connectivity for the device.
  • Ensure that the Ethernet connection is stable, as this will be required for the initial configuration and any subsequent operations.

Power On First Time

Connect the power cable and turn on the device by pressing the power button on your mains power outlet – the system will auto boot.

  • The front panel’s LED indicators will light up, showing the power and network status.
  • Wait for the device to complete the boot process.

iOS/Android Mobile Setup

  • Download and install the UniFi Network app on your mobile device (from the App Store or Google Play).
  • Open the app and use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to detect the UniFi UNAS Pro.
  • Follow the on-screen instructions to adopt the device into your UniFi account.

  • Set up your device by configuring network details and choosing between local credentials or your UniFi account for admin access.
  • Once the device is adopted, you can manage it remotely through the UniFi dashboard via UI.COM.

Offline (LAN Only) Setup:

  • Download the UniFi Network app. Follow the same process to connect via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, but choose the option for local setup. No internet connection or UI.COM account is needed.
  • Once configured, the NAS will only be accessible through the local network, and there will be no remote management capabilities.

Web Browser Setup

With UniFi Account (UI.COM):

  • Open a web browser and go to unifi.ui.com to access the Site Manager.
  • Log in with your UniFi account to access the UNAS Pro. You will be able to configure cloud backups, updates, and remote management settings.

  • You can connect directly to the local IP address of the NAS, which can be found in the settings during the mobile setup process. No internet access or UniFi account is required.

  • You can configure your storage protection and hot spare on the next page

  • Once logged in, you will have access to the device’s local configuration options. Remote management features and cloud backups will not be available.

Dashboard

  • Once logged into the web interface, the Dashboard is the main area where you’ll monitor the system’s health, manage storage, view snapshots, and more.
  • The Dashboard provides key metrics such as storage usage, network performance, and active users.
  • You can customize the widgets to suit your monitoring preferences.

Adding Users and Connecting Services

With UniFi Account (UI.COM):

  • Navigate to Settings > Admins & Users to add users. You can invite users via their Ubiquiti account email or create local-only users.
  • Assign permissions to users, enabling personal or shared drive access as needed.
  • Connect services such as cloud backups or multi-factor authentication for enhanced security.

Offline (LAN Only) Setup:
You can still add users by creating local-only accounts. These users will not have access to remote services or cloud backups but can access the NAS over the local network.

Creating Shared Drives and Sharing Them

  • Go to Drive Management from the main settings.
  • Create Shared Drives for different teams or groups.
  • Set permissions for each drive (read, write, or admin access).

With UniFi Account (UI.COM):
You can create Share Links that can be shared both internally and externally, including through cloud services.

Offline (LAN Only) Setup:
Share Links will only be available for internal users within the local network, and external sharing is not available without internet access.

Setting Up Snapshots, Locking, and Restoring Them

  • Navigate to Settings > Snapshots.
  • Select a Shared Drive and configure the Snapshot Limit and schedule.
  • Set up a daily or weekly snapshot schedule to protect your data.

  • Snapshots allow for point-in-time recovery, making it easy to restore lost or corrupted files. Click on the Snapshot icon in a shared drive to view version history and restore files as needed.
  • Enable Snapshot locking to prevent accidental deletion of important snapshots.

Setting Up Remote/Network/Cloud Backups to UNAS / SMB NAS / Cloud

With UniFi Account (UI.COM):
Go to Settings > Backups. Set up remote backups to another UNAS, cloud server, or remote SMB NAS. The cloud options will be available if you are using a UniFi account.

Offline (LAN Only) Setup:
Remote backups will be limited to local network devices like SMB NAS or another UNAS connected within the same network. No cloud backup services will be available.

Creating Encrypted Drives and Folders

  • In Drive Management, select the drive or folder you want to encrypt.
  • Enable encryption and choose a strong password for the encryption key.
  • Once encrypted, the data stored in this drive will require the encryption password to access, adding an extra layer of security.

Mapping a Network Drive

For Windows:

  • Open File Explorer and right-click on This PC.

  • Click Map Network Drive and assign a letter to the drive.
  • Enter the SMB path (\<UNAS IP address><drive name>) and finish the setup by entering your credentials.

For macOS:

  • Open Finder and select Connect to Server from the Go menu.
  • Enter the SMB address (smb://<UNAS IP address>) and choose the drives you want to map.

Managing Updates

With UniFi Account (UI.COM):
Go to Settings > System Updates. Configure automatic updates for the NAS OS or select modular updates for individual apps and services. You can also access early access or release candidate updates via your UniFi account.

Offline (LAN Only) Setup:
Updates will be limited to stable releases only. You will need to manually check for updates and apply them.

Notifications and Alerts Setup

With UniFi Account (UI.COM):
Navigate to Settings > System Log > Push Notifications. Enable email or push notifications to receive alerts on storage issues, backups, user activities, or security events.

Offline (LAN Only) Setup:
Without a UniFi account, notifications will be restricted to local system alerts. Email or external push notifications will not be available.

UniFi UNAS Pro Setup Guide Conclusion

Setting up the UniFi UNAS Pro NAS offers flexibility, whether you’re opting for an offline setup limited to local network use or leveraging the power of the UniFi ecosystem through a UniFi account. By following this guide, you’ll ensure that your UNAS Pro is configured for optimal use, securing your data and enhancing your network’s storage capabilities.

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔


    🔒 Join Inner Circle

    Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


    Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

    This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

    Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

    Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry.

      By clicking SEND you accept this Privacy Policy
      Question will be added on Q&A forum. You will receive an email from us when someone replies to it.
      🔒Private Fast Track Message (1-24Hours)

      TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
      If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
       
      Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
          
       
      Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

      ☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕
       
      locked content ko-fi subscribe
      💎 INNER CIRCLE
      Private 🔒 Inner Circle content in last few days :
      (Early Access) UniFi UNAS Pro - COMPLETE SETUP GUIDE
      (Early Access) UniFi UNAS Pro - SHOULD YOU BUY (Short Review)
      (Early Access) UniFi UNAS Pro VS QNAP NAS - WHICH SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
      (Early Access) Synology vs UniFi UNAS Pro - WHICH NAS IS BEST?
      (Early Access) Terramaster F8 SSD NAS - SHOULD YOU BUY? (Short Review)
      (Early Access) Terramaster F4-424 Max NAS - Should You Buy (Review)
      (Early Access) Samsung 990 EVO PLUS SSD Review - A Gen 4.5 SSD?
      (Early Access) An UnRAID NAS in Your Pocket - NICE! (Minisforum S100 Review)
      (Early Access) Big Update on the UnifyDrive UT2 NAS - More Tests and New Stuff
      (Early Access) Minisforum MS-A1 - A Good DIY 4 Bay NAS Server? (Review)
      (Early Access) $30 Synology Upgrade = 5x NETWORK SPEEDS
      (Early Access) The BEST Alternatives to PLEX for Your NAS Media
      Access content via Patreon or KO-FI

      DISCUSS with others your opinion about this subject.
      ASK questions to NAS community
      SHARE more details what you have found on this subject
      CONTRIBUTE with your own article or review. Click HERE
      IMPROVE this niche ecosystem, let us know what to change/fix on this site
      EARN KO-FI Share your knowledge with others and get paid for it! Click HERE

      230 thoughts on “UniFi UNAS Pro – FIRST TIME SETUP GUIDE”

      4. Thinking if these do well they will come out with a ‘Max’ and ‘Enterprise’ editions.
        I’ve been looking at getting a Synology or building my own TrueNAS system for home. Now this came out, I have more research to do to see this will work for my home and families needs.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      6. Having already invested in Unifi gear (including a Pro switch with a spare SFP+ port) and already having a fairly beefy Proxmox host in play to host applications this seems like a great option!
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      7. It’s pretty clear their goal for this device is having basic file storage for users of a home/small business that are going to connect to shared folders on mac and windows systems. What a NAS by definition really is… I see a lot of people complaining about lack of redundant network ports, NFS, iSCSI, etc. IMO, I think all those features they’re wanting are things needed when you are building enterprise infrastructure and Ubiquiti knows that’s really best handled by a proper SAN product from the likes of Dell, HP, IBM, NetApp, etc.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      11. 11:30 on my Synology rs3614rpxs, those read and write speeds are what I was getting with five hard drives, over a SPF+ DAC cable. When I switched to a LC om4 fiber SPF+ cable, I was achieving 750MBps or 7Gbps.
        Not sure why I’m getting better numbers from fiber cable over the copper cable. Both cables are rated 10gigabits per second
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      16. This is just a NAS network attached storage only. Not able to complete to Synology, QNAP, UGreen, etc. at this time. Is this NAS going to support docker, plex, etc
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      20. Have you actually logged in via SSH and poked around the system? I’m curious what filesystem its running on those drives; given the feature set, it sounds like they are using btrfs.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      24. Maybe I missed but is there any thermal test for this machine? The front design of those drive bay let me suspect it might have thermal issue once you use it for some years later.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      27. Some what disappointed, this is just a software patch of the UNVR with a slightly more RAM. I’m sorry to say this but I’m not going to buy it, well not until an NVME slot, 1x 2.5 gbe lans and 2x 10 gbe SFP+
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      29. Dude this is amazing how many people are now entering the consumer space. honestly if the software is stable and good like synologys and as a storage server this seems like a no brainer for a home user who doesn’t want to configure a lot.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      31. A product like this is for a specific market and it’s not me. I prefer DIY… A used 12bay 2U server is about the same price but way more powerful and more versatile. I do like and use their networking hardware though.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      33. Such a detailed review, thank you ???? It is a pity about Docker/VM/Plex support (or lack of!), but I understand why Ubi have focused on making just a NAS right now.

        Also re reply you made to another comment, I would love to watch the story of how you had to reshoot this video multiple times. Fair play to you on the patience.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      34. disappointed in the power consumption. Granted being 7 bays at 500$ seems decent but my AIO server is a much better fit long term. I hope they continue to add to their offering.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      36. Finally someone is throwing a bomb in the NAS market, $500 is CHEAP for a proper built system with solid software and hardware support from a company that is represented in the whole world.
        And those that shout “software”, that is something completely different, it takes way more resources to come up with comparable features that Synology has. If that is the need Synology have you covered at a high price with weak specs.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      38. I think it’s very nice to have a system that’s actually ONLY a NAS. I do use docker on my Synology devices at home and in the office. And the Synology backup between these two sites is so great that I wouldn’t be without it.

        But for something like an actual online disk system in the office, this fits the bill nicely at a much lower price. Also, as an on-site backup for the backup, this would do well.

        The only reason why this is the case is the price, of course. If it had been comparable to Synology, why would you ever get it? It’s nice to see someone hitting Synology with a price hammer, though. They’ve been getting a bit pricey over the years.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      41. I know you are looking for proxmox setups with the GMKtecK8 mini PC. Do one with the mini running proxmox and a vm like home assistance os (needs a vm) and another vm or proxmox container to run docker containers. The data or docker volumes are atore in the new Unifi nas using SMB (I hope one day it gets NFS)
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      42. I did have a question, understand you were able to put a large seagate hdd without issues. But don’t you usually need more ram when total storage size is much larger? If so is there a limit? For instance, if I fill all 7 bats with 24tb drives let’s say, is it capable of that? Or will the 8gb ram be an issue?

        Also if I put 3 drives inside, does it have the ability to add more drives as you go and expand your storage without wiping data from existing raid array?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      43. Now I need ubiquity to make a 1U server that can run media apps like plex or any of its alternatives and make it for about $200 since rackmount chassis are about $200 on their own which is insane
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      48. No redundant replaceable power supplies or network , awful network options in general … sure feels like they left to much out for a Pro max / SE model later
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      49. Can you mix and match drives? On the nvr pro it made me use old 2tb drives because when I tried to put in 2x 10tb, 2x 8tb, and 2x 4tb, it wanted to only use 4tb of d ery drive.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      50. My entire feed is now just tech tubers reviewing this device. I’m guessing they must have all been waiting for an embargo to end. I am, of course, watching this guys review because he’s THE MAN.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      52. I love your review. No shade on any of the other reviewers, but your review is geared more towards how “I” am looking to use a NAS for my work loads.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      53. It’s all a bit bizarre. Let me check…. yes, it’s definitely 2024. As always, beautiful interface, Ikea-style Unify minimalism, but NIC redundancy, no NVMe, single PSU, it’s all a bit drab. Can you run TrueNas on it ????
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      54. Can be cool if those who dont have a server rack to be able to have Unifi Drive on a cloudkey g2 to have a small file storage without redundancy. Or even on the drive of a UDM.

        As they keep the UNVR frame, im assuming they will have a UNAS Enterprise as well with the UNVR Enterprise frame 🙂

        And no need apps on a NAS… its a NAS and not a server… I have Plex on my truenas and I regret not having it on my proxmox instead.

        I will for sure ditch my TrueNAS for UNAS and migrate my Plex on a VM
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      56. This is the “beta” product. They will cut production quickly and check how many buyers, then renew the team that made it to continue with next unit. New unit will have slot-in PSU (regular server style) but still no backup, as they want to encourage purchase of the Ubiquiti UPS battery. Two SFP ports (depending on cost and users making use of 10G speed, could be one 10G and one 2.5G) and two RJ45 ports (probably regular 1Gbps or using the new 2.5G that throttles when hot). Likely one fewer drive bay. Newer CPU. More RAM. Double the price.
        Pro: all driver ports will be SATA/U.2 compatible, much more expensive CPU, possible socketed RAM slot (onboard or soldered 4GB or 8GB). Pro will be around 10x the price.
        Ubiquiti developer team isn’t huge, they will not support apps or VM until far future. Best you can hope is to SSH and attempt to install your own OS.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      59. The only thing I would have liked was for them to drop the RPS connection and put in dual hot-swappable power supplies. But I get it, they are using the existing hardware from the UNVR Pro so it takes much less effort to make one of these. I plan on getting two of these. One for my primary backups and then the second one for backups of my backups. I will use my current Synology NAS that I am currently using for backups as a Docker system running HA and Plex and move my backups from Synology to the Ubiquiti NAS.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      62. I would buy this without hesitation if I could split data pools to have a 4 drive raid 1 nas as a data replication for my Synology, and a 3 bay raid 0 for unifi protect. To add to that, I would love love LOVE to also be able to use the drive bay in my UDM SE as an additional storage option for unifi protect. (I don’t need redundancy for my home cameras Ubiquiti, I just want as many days recorded as drives I have available).
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      64. This will save me a ton on having a NAS to backup my 1821+. My old 4 bay Synology died. So, I’m backing up one volume on my 1821+ to another volume on the same NAS, which obviously worries me. I can’t justify buying another 8 bay Synology, but I can justify this easily. As soon as it’s proven itself in production environments, I’m getting one.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      65. I quite like the NAS and just NAS approach they took. I have separate machines for hypervisors to run VMs and containers on and like the separation. Two of these in a shadow mode active-passive fail over setup would be tits.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      66. I feel like you miss the point of the single PSU. Unifi devices all ahve a single PSU and they have a solution for it that connects to multiple devices and acts as a secondary psu for them. I do not know of any NAS or computer/server that people typically use at home that have duel psu’s.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      69. Hopefully the firmware up-downgrade will be even easier than their other network devices, as they do sometimes release stinker of updates. Currently they broke many widely used IoT devices like shelly. It would probably be good for install-and-forget areas though.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      75. WOW, excellent review, I have Unify network setup at home along with a QNAP NAS and heard on the grape vine that there may be a Unifi NAS released soon, and that price, you can’t go wrong… Can’t wait for future updates to see whether they include docker etc as I do like having the utils that QNAP provide. ????
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      76. For my Home Lab this is almost what I need. I have QNAP 8 bay ARM (~1000€) but it’s not rack mounted. But I also use ssd in raid 0 as a cache. And I have about double the ram. I really use it as SMB store so thats fine. I wanted so bad to replace my QNAP with this but it seems, it will just be a backup for QANP storage with speeds I see. UNAS Pro MAX would just need to have 2 NVME bays for CACHE, double SFP+ and give us the 12 bays and 3U. But who knows, maybe the UNAS Pro is enough for raw video editing of SMB and playing games with Steam?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      79. All I need is my private dropbox, ability to back up family phones and view uploaded and edited videos from hols on TV and phone. Dont care about plex or dockers (what are these?:)Is that going to cut the mustard?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      80. Hey there! Finally it came to life, so many years! Now I’m glad I never did spend time on switching OS on a UNVR, that time is now _saved_.

        thoughts: It’s good that there’s no concept of pools. keep it this simple or it will just not fit into its very limited scope anymore.

        If I could, and if it would already support the right bits, I would put one in each access switch cabinet and use them as archival storage or similar. Not as team folder or anything they would suck at. but as a way to spread out tertiary storage. The price is right, the URPS connector is suitable, don’t need a second 10g port for that either. Integrate moosefs or similar at the same level of hands-off-no-choices setup and this would be nice[tm].

        I also would say the lack of WORM features is a pity. how well do they have that down in UNVR? it’s not a trivial feature to implement to any non-laughable level of reliability.
        Given the price point, I’d even ejnoy a toggle switch that makes the whole device read-only and can only be cancelled at the front panel. Fill it, lock it.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      81. Kinda a bummer, i was holding out building something for myself. Sure Not having plex is a bummer butttttttt…. Not allowing Unifi Protect to be used on the NAS is a deal breaker….
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      88. Good review.

        I’ve a question about user management and “directory integration”. Does it mean that instead of creating local users in this NAS, if I’ve a MS AD server on ny network, I can assign rights for some network users on some directories ?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      90. Thanks for really nice video!
        When sharing a folder, you can add a user. What user is this? Is this something that you create on your machine?
        And how does the remote login for it look?

        I’m currently using Nextcloud on Truenas to share large video files. All my friends and clients have a personal login where they view/download/reshare the media. I’m curious if I can replicate this with the UNAS.

        Also, when you preview/stream remotely a video file does it transcode? If yes, does it also do h265? Sorry for the interrogation 😛 It’s just it can be a dealbreaker or dream for me depending on the answer.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      92. For the price, this is great! I usually have my Plex server and VMs and stuff on another machine anyway. Seems pretty desirable to split the two so you have some redundancy.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      98. Nice start, but not a homerun.

        Give it:

        More cores/threads (n305)
        Replacable RAM
        NVME storage
        Usb ports
        Alligned front drives, not this masonry pattern

        I’d like to run docker and apps like photobackup, torrent, jellyfin, home assistant.

        Happy to pay twice the price
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      99. Got it, this is intended to be mostly a pure NAS not a compute and app platform. For the cost that is a great value prop for SMB. They currently seem to have more interest in nailing the NAS basics rather than trying to run any and all docker apps. This seems ok. woah, directory integration, hope they extend that to the whole control plane and not charge a subscription for that.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      101. Given Ubiquiti’s history of never delivering promised features on new devices before they reach EOL, I’ll wait to see if they actually deliver the app that simplifies mounting of drives for end users before I decided to make a purchase… I’m over here having “Security Scanning Radio, SHD-AP” flashbacks…
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      105. Great video, lots of details thanks! One question, can you mix and match different HDD sizes? As someone who hacked unvr to NAS, I have installed 4 disks which automatically turned on raid 5. Is this the same case with UNAS PRO?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      108. Kind of limited to me but I can see this being great for a lot of people, especially those already using Ubiquity equipment and/or who might be on the fence about buying Synology. Kind of refreshing to see a ‘pure’ NAS though as someone who still believes in separating storage and compute.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      109. Great video! will be using your link to purchase one.
        I currently have a TrueNAS box that has 9 drives in it but going to scale down to 7 drives anyways to save power consumption (yes for me it does make that big of a difference). That is the biggest thing for me… when my NAS is at idle it is 90-100w and reading/ writing heavy it is 160-200 w. I don’t do docker or anything like that on my NAS, I have another machine for that. I just need something efficient and that will do the storage thing well, and it will match my other Unifi equipment…. lol
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      110. I actually like that it’s not a Synology or QNAP. I can’t stand how those brands are trying to turn their NAS into a Swiss army knife. I don’t need my NAS to be a VM host, run Docker containers, host OpenOffice, Nextcloud, Home Assistant, act as a DNS or DHCP server, or provide LDAP, etc. I hve proxmox clusters, DC servers, and Routers that already do all of that. I need my NAS to do one thing, and one thing only—store stuff. And that’s exactly what this does. It’s a no-frills solution for straightforward storage.

        That said, Ubiquiti has a bad reputation for exciting the world with new products then abandoning thrm 9 months to a year after release and leaving a bunch of early adopters with useless doorstops after they stop supporting it (ask me how i know), so I think I’ll hold off buying one until its been around for a while but it looks like a great jumping point for a platform. as it seems to be based off the UNVR Pro, I imagine the UNVR and UNVR Enterprise will eventually join the ecosystem as the UNAS and UNAS Enterprise so well see. lot of potential here.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      111. For simple business NAS this is probably more than adequate but anyone who wants a server like Synology/QNAP or something more advanced like Unraid won’t be interested in this at all. What would be cool is if they launched a 4U rack mount case with tons of hot swappable drive bays so we could build what the client (or Prosumers) wants.

        I have a 90TB Unraid server in a desktop style ATX case. There are not many rack mount cases that work great imo other than those massive LTT style servers they build (forgot the companys name) but they don’t just sell the case.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      112. If it can do storage and permissions better then unraid/truenas then I could care less about vm/docker support. Proxmox does vms better and docker is just better on a dedicated machine
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      113. I’ve got multiple Synology’s in my house, and I love them. I also have a full Unifi setup. I’d love to try transitioning to one of these in the future, but I’m going to wait until the software gets a little more polished, and some more features get added. But $500 for a 7 bay rack mountable NAS is a great price!
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      118. It’s surprising to see the same hardware as the NVR Pro, running Drive but doesn’t support Protect. If you combined the NVR and NAS into a single product line, eliminating the need to purchase and manage two separate sets of drives, I’d be ready to purchase it, even with the current software limitations. Over the past few years, Synology has been scaling back on features while continuing to charge a premium for hardware that is outdated. It’s hard to justify paying top dollar for a NAS that still ships with generations old CPU and 1Gb Ethernet. Unfortunately, UniFi’s solution doesn’t seem to be quite there yet either. I had high hopes that UniFi was going to get me out of the Synology downward spiral.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      119. What’s the underlying file system, BTRFS? No NFS 3 or NFS 4.1? No iSCSI LUN and target support? Upgradeable memory? Does it deliver data fast enough for 4K streaming (Plex) running on a connected device? Does seem disappointing compared to Synology.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      121. I don’t understand the connectivity/single PSU complaints. The thing’s 500 bucks. It’s got SFP+. This is 100% a repurposed NVR, and fit for purpose at a frankly insane price. Great for storing your jellyfin library and similar workloads. Don’t ask it to do stuff it wasn’t designed for.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      123. I really like this product. Most home users these days want a “NAS” but really they want a home server that runs a lot of different services and stores files for their network and they think their NAS is supposed be that device. I appreciate that this device goes back to being what a NAS was originally intended to be and seems targeted perfectly to the small business and home business market.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      124. I’m not sure if it supports dynamic expansion, such as adding more hard drives later like SHR, or flexibly expanding by replacing one hard drive with a larger capacity. After all, not everyone is a professional who would spend a large amount of money to buy all the hard drives at once.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      126. You mentioned it’s quiet and I’ve heard the same from other reviewers. What HDDs were you using when you put the mic on it? It sounded just like my UNVR, which is very quiet. I can’t get over how quiet these Unifi devices are compared to my Synology with Ironwolf drives, which I can hear 2 rooms away.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      127. I’m not terribly impressed with the documentation on the website as it doesn’t cover what the back plane and system support. is it all SATA3 6Gb or does it also support SAS 12Gb? yes there’s only one 10Gb port BUT the fewer drives you need to saturate that bandwidth the more drives you can allocate for redundancy if you aren’t just looking to maximize storage volume. Despite my grump there, the price alone makes this device appealing and thanks for the video!
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      131. @liamfoneill We have to wait for the UNAS Pro Max for NVME M.2 drive support!! 😛 😀 🙂
        It’s also worth noting 1 PSU isn’t a big deal, it has a connection (from what I see from your pictures) for an RPS.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      133. this NAS is a good machine for back-ups over the network
        the only think I want to know is what if the unit fails (mobo/PSU) can I remove the drives and move them to another unit and have the data?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      138. Needs to have SFP+ for me to leave synology 2.5Gbps. I am very happy with synology software ecosystem (drive, photos, audio, video, VM Manager). I can’t leave that either.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      140. I’m wondering if the storage can be increased by adding more drives without destroying the data already there. Say you set it up in RAID6 with 4 drives and then add 3 more, do you have to wipe the array and start over or is there a way to expand the storage without losing the data already there? 7 disk bays, 10 gig and an easy to manage interface for $500 seems like a crazy good deal if you don’t want to hassle with a DIY job (which I’ve done and hate).

        Edit: LOL should have finished watching the vid first
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      144. Cheap is not good. There could have been a bit more hardware and software for a 20% higher price.
        It’s just a data repository with a fancy interface, there’s still a lot to do. I have UGreen NAS as an EA, it could do more than NAS when it came out and it’s not more expensive. For the little that the UNAS can do (lack of synchronization between PC and MAC, no NFS and iSCSI, no M.2 NVMe) you don’t need a “special” interface. And the worst thing for me is that I have 7 disks and I can’t set them up in different storage pools.
        Is the video also available in slow mode? Many of the interfaces are hard to recognize and the video is extremely hectic.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      147. Great Video thanks. I’ve been waiting for something like this since I turned off my Power hungry Apple 1U Servers and huge Apple RAIDs and bought a Qnap, which I have hated for years. All I want is mountable storage , easy to use, no faffing about, couldn’t care less about Apps and Containers and real hot swappable storage. Gonna get one for sure.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      149. give us Max version: x86 platform at least 4/8 core, nfs+iscsi, 4x NICs /2+2 10G/, nvme storage, wasabi+backblaze backup target, native apps or dockers. will happily pay 899+ EUR any day.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      152. I guess the price reflect the features. But you can use it for Protect archiving recently released. I guess you have UDMP with protect and archive to this or the cloud. The cpu and memory on this are slim because it can’t run any other apps but it’s good for shuffling files. Also the Microsoft / Google account integrations for identity enterprise could be a big feature for businesses.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      153. I was excited until I discovered it does not have NFS or iSCSI, as I consider those services a fundamental requirement for even an entry-level NAS. I’d also love to see an NVMe RW/RO cache option.

        I’d have instantly given UI my money if it had iSCSI, NFS, NVMe cache, and dual 10GB SFP+.

        I guess those will come as a PRO MAX version 😛
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      155. Thank you, thank you, thank you for a great video on this system. I felt your review was very honest and unbiased. I totally agree on your Pro’s and Con’s and for me, I think the ‘current state’ of this unit is underwhelming for my needs. Maybe if they release another unit that will allow third party software, unifi surveillance integration, a better CPU, and memory upgrades. BTW. I’m almost all in on the Unifi ecosystem although I do have a QNAP and Synology NAS.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      158. Well there goes my hope of not having to wait for synology. So you think if we dont get a synology announcement by first week of Nov no release again this year? I dont see how they would miss the holiday buying period. Unless their plan is to sell old NAS on black friday and release the new one right after and really p everyone off.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      161. The “Create a UI account” really seems to be disingenuous on UniFi’s part. Not being at all familiar with Unify, I would just think that it’s the normal user name and password to login locally to the desktop *User Interface* and not an online account. Unify could have been far clearer about this but I suspect that a fair number of people would have blindly proceeded with setting up the UI account which is what they are counting on. And, to put that in perspective, think back to your review of HexOS and the really solid push back by those who did not want an online login. I don’t like to do business with anyone who runs their business like that. No thanks.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      162. Synology is the only NAS brand where I think their software adds value beyond being a storage server. But if I’m being honest, over time as I’ve migrated most of my docker/VM services over to Proxmox or XCP-ng and have very little running on the Synology hardware itself.
        I could see myself being interested in exploring Unifi as a storage server in the future, but I’d need a higher performance version.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      165. Defiantly going to pick one of these up. Don’t give a hoot about the docker side, that’s why I have servers. I want a storage NAS that does just that, store things and get data to the right users, I don’t want to host my docker apps from it as well. Great video thanks for the review!
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      168. Is it even possible to saturate a 10G connection with spinning disks? Other than that, i assume this is meant to be connected to an SFP+ aggregator (USW-Aggregation) switch to split between multiple storage units
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      169. A silent rackmount NAS is what I was searching for! Other rack mount NAS are too loud! I do not need docker, because I have docker on my Proxmox computer.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      171. This device is the beginning . It’s affordable and it’s easy to use.

        If it catches on, you bet you’re bippy, more will come.

        I’ve got four Synology unit in use between my family members and they are great but … I would love something that just efficiently stores data.

        It also appears that it may easily, allow safe direct remote access.

        I’ll have to watch how things go before I would purchase.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      172. So I see some real good here; one, Unifi has a track record of software upgrades, so I fully expect items like NFS/ISCSI. I do not in any way expect Plex, Docker, etc. and I shouldn’t – that isn’t who this product is aimed at. Two, the remote management through the UI account management system is a potential IT godsend in comparison to the way that this works in Synology. Three, I do like the snapshop methodology in comparison to the way that this functions in synology. Now, the biggest items I see that will be big is that it fits directly into the UI ecosphere, and that is good. Now, I can see a lot of room for improvement, but I can see where this can have a big future with some of the integration options this is going to have. I do like how this is a business ready product that isn’t moving to drives that are made by them and nothing else (screw you Synology on that one)
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      175. Soooooo ugly. I like Unifi, have a lot of their hardware. But just can’t understand why 7 drives? Why layout is so strange? Just… why? Can’t they just stack two 4-drives cases?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      176. Thanks for the review, well done and thorough. Not surprised to see no availability for Docker at this point. At the price point, this is great for fire storage. It’s not HA or high-speed system, which is fine. There are other players for that type of equipment. It appears that UI gave us a purpose-built system that does one thing really well, at a price that is hard to not smile at.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      177. This looks like a decent start – funnily enough while eating my bacon, egg and black pudding (and watching this video), I got the email from Ubiquiti titled “Welcome to Unifi Drive and UNAS Pro” (1134hrs EDT). As others have commented though, I won’t be swapping my DS920+ for the UNAS Pro. I do have a Ubiquiti network setup, so was very excited when I saw your video this morning. As always – great video and thanks for taking the time to post!
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      178. I am… underwhelmed.
        I was not expecting perfection, but… it lacks so much to be an instant buy. But yeah, it’s truly cheap (especially for Unifi) for a 2U 7 drive bay (which is really something) and would play nice into the ecosystem. But… no ZFS, no NFS, no iSCSI, no docker (because let’s be honest, even if purists say that a NAS should be just a NAS, but… it makes sense to have those hosts a few docker).

        I know Unifi makes update, albeit slowly.. but.. at the moment it’s not worth it. But 500 euros… it’s super interesting when they started adding features.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      180. First galance. Where does the air flow come from to cool the drives. As not much air is going to get around those solid caddie faces. As a rackmount. Its supposed to have front to back airflow. The almost solid front panel raises questions.

        The network ports have one up and one pointing down is an odd design choice. Not to mention being in the front.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      183. This is just a pure NAS. Nothing more. I mean, yea. But at the same time it does not go up against things like Unraid or Truenas. Even OMV has more functions. For what this is, it is about $200 more then it should be for what you get. I was really looking forward to this to replace my Unraid server, but damn.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      184. I’d consider going with a Unifi Nas, but I don’t want rack-mount (5 bays would be great) and I’d like to see more configuration options. Docker support would be (really) nice.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      185. I’m disappointed in the backup options on this nas. Let’s be honest, no one will be backing up their 7 drives of data to Google Drive. That would be a insane cost. So this device doesn’t have a real, usable cloud backup that you can use. It doesn’t also have USB backup, so to backup this device you need to… get another NAS. Because you haven’t payed enough just yet.

        I do agree it’s a good value target for a synology backup.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      186. The device feels like the perfect unit for low cost offsite backup storage. Easy to lock away in a comms rack and you wont saturate the write speeds over the wire.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      188. This is an superb video !

        You really know your stuff and you really gave us an insight into the product, what it can and can’t do with lots of visual showing of it
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      190. This looks really interesting to me. My big question though, what if you get more than 1 of these? Say I expand and need more than 7 drives, could I buy a second unit and have the pools merge between the 2? Because that would be cool. Also seeing performance stats of SATA SSD’s would be nice too!
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      191. people complaining about the features for a $499 NAS drive from Ubiquiti, common guys .wait for next more expensive version will probably have all those missing features.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      193. what a disappointment, only 1gib network port. I would have liked it to have another sturdy switch, depending on the equipment, at least 1/2.5/5gib network connector.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      194. The demand was a bit manic. I missed the official announcement but guess it was today. Interesting there is only 1 of each network connection but let me watch the video
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      196. This seems interesting and I might even pull the trigger. It would be nice to have a single pane of glass to manage everything and not to have to worry about Synology and the lack of 3rd party device support. I mean from a NAS perspective it literally does just that and anything else can be added later.

        Also, do we know anything about the file system or did I miss it in the video? Is it BTRFS or EXT4?

        Also, more information about the backups would be awesome! Like is this sort of like hyper backup?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      197. Great and very timely review Thanks! Did I understand you correctly, can you uses different sized drives in the raid array (like Synology Hybrid raid) or do all drives the array need to be the same size?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      202. I have nevered owned a NAS…just an OWC Thunderbay 4 nut need a NAS u now. So now that this item is released I’m wondering whether for my first NAS I should still stick to getting the Synology DS1522+ as a SOLO videographer and editor using 10TB per year?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      208. Genuinely worried about this as ive been using a UNVR Pro for a while as a nas using SSH to install samba. I hope they dont artificially block people using the UNVR Pro now that there is an official NAS offering
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      209. They could’ve gone with an Intel N100 or N200 which would’ve been so much better, even if they tack on an added $100-200 dollars to the price tag, unfortunately I’ll not be considering it. It’s nice tho, maybe they’ll release something with an Intel/AMD chip in the future…
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      211. It’s one strange NAS.
        Strange layout. Strange software. Strange hardware. Thermals are dubious. Rackable but lacking features standard for rack hw such as modular redundant PSUs.
        Good for undemanding brand fanboys only.
        When b- and c-tier brands and even nonames have started pumping out decent NAS devices, seeing such a device from a respectable brand is utterly perplexing. I’d love to get into the product development team’s heads and learn their thought processes that led to the appearance of this bucktoothed inbred monstrosity…
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      212. Phenomenal review and THANK YOU for the well labeled chapter marks in the video. Wanted to jump around to just my highest importance spots first in the video before watching end to end.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      217. I think you hit it on the head at the end Robbie. I’m defo going to be replacing my onsite backup ext. drives with one of these (going by how stuff sells out on their site though, that’s probably going to be around 4/3 2025!). But it won’t be replacing the Synology for day to day work stuff that’s for sure.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      222. So is this the unvr but with new software. How are the temps.. 70?? . Can it transcode .. sorry soo excited, disappointed and confused at the same time by this nas
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      225. Their thinking on the 1G port is probably to use that on a management network for config management and use the 10G for data only. At least that’s usually how appliances set up like that are intended to be used. Would be nice to have more ports for flexibility though if you’re trying to do something like directly attaching vm hosts.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      227. Looks like your last video comments for opening CCTV and NAS has been addressed? I have just purchased the UCG_Max (F*kn brilliant!) and adopted 2 ONVIF camera (out of 3 in my setup) Awesome! And now I can also bin my sh!ty Google Doorbell and get the G4 doorbell! Oh.. and a Unify NAS? I hope i can connect that extra storage to my UCG Max!
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE