A Guide to the Best Photography NAS Drives to Buy Right Now
Many users first time hearing about NAS drives will often be when the limitations of their 3rd party cloud storage space (from the likes of Google, Apple or DropBox) start to become clear, with few groups feeling this pinch more than keen amateur or professional photographers. In the beginning, backing up your photo collections onto a space free or low price subscription cloud space seems so convenient! Backing up those photos from your phone so easy, the space you can free up from your phone periodically is so useful – but within a year or two it suddenly becomes apparent that you have been digging quite a hole for yourself! Limitations such as small capacities, slow backup speeds, regular payments towards something you will need to pay for indefinitely without true ownership and the every present nagging query about if your photos are completely under your control. Many users who want to quit the cloud are going to need somewhere for thosae photos to live eventually and the more time passes, the bigger the collection becomes. Now a NAS drive is so much more than a simple ‘hard drive on the internet’ and in reality is a multi-faceted storage system that can serve as an easy photo backup device, smart AI-powered photo recognition and organization tool, an editing target, a professional sharing space for business or all of those together (with plenty of other services leftover). Thanks to the continued evolution of NAS’ keeping up with the advances in camera technology, the result is that a NAS can provide an equal/better level of photo data management than all the cloud platforms on the market, with the added benefit that YOU have FULL CONTROL of your photography. Today I want to discuss the current three best NAS drives on the market for Photographers, ranging from the best value, to professional business photo storage and ending at the ultimately photo NAS right now.
Note – If you are looking to migrate your Google Photos photo collection over to a Synology or QNAP NAS, I recommend you check out the two guides below (they also include video walkthroughs) that will show you how to move your data over as easily as possible. Remember to keep the .json files that google will also include with your photo data, as this is the important metadata (camera type, photo location, etc) which the NAS can then use for cataloguing and presenting/filing your large photo collection in the best possible way.
What Have All the Best Photography NAS Drives Have in Common?
It is worth remembering that although there are ALOT of different Photography NAS drives available to buy, they are by no means created equal! With numerous super budget brands popping up online, it can be tempting to consider these alongside the premium NAS brands. However, all too often they offer solutions righty seem ‘too good to be true’ and then are gone from the web before your warranty even gets cold! So, whether you are looking at the three best Photography solutions that I am recommending below OR are looking at another Photography NAS you saw on offer/recommended elsewhere – the best NAS system ALWAYS include the following software and services:
- Combined Hardware & Software Solution – That means that you are buying the hardware, but it ALSO includes a web browser GUI, mobile apps and desktop client apps (including backup, media, streaming, surveillance and file management software)
- All NAS systems in this guide are compatible with (and can be accessed by) Windows, Mac, Android and Linux operating systems
- All NAS Solutions arrive with between 2-3 years Warranty (with the option to extend to 5 years)
- All NAS drives can be accessed locally over the network, as well as secure remote access is possible with brand supported services (at no additional cost)
- The most modern and regularly updated NAS systems will support the very latest 20TB NAS hard drives (such as the Seagate Ironwofl 20TB and WD Red 20TB)
- All the recommended solutions support multiple drive configurations (RAID) for drive failure protection and performance enhancements
- All solutions receive regular updates to their security, features and services
- All recommended NAS drives can connect and synchronize with cloud services (Google Drive, DropBox, OneDrive, etc), as well as Business/Enterprise services such as AWS, Azure, Backblaze and more
- All NAS solutions (regardless of brand) feature the ability to host a shared drive on your PC/Mobile/Laptop systems that are synchronized with the NAS via the network/internet, but is shown in your native operating system file manager (i.e Mac Finder or Windows Explorer)
- All the NAS solutions listed can be accessed DIRECTLY via an ethernet/network cable being connected from your PC/Mac system, to the NAS RJ45 port for 100MB/s and higher connectivity
- All the best NAS solutions (regardless of brand) feature backup and sync tools that can be installed on your local client computer and allow regular backups of your files and system data
So, make sure that if you are looking at a NAS solution that is NOT recommended below, that it includes all of the above. As these are some of the clearest areas that brands all too often cut orders to produce cheaper by ultimately inferior NAS servers for home and business. So, let’s discuss the very best Photography NAS to buy now in 2022.
Best Value Photography NAS Drive – The Synology DS920+ NAS
0-80TB, 4-Bays, Intel J4125 4x 2.0-2.7Ghz CPU, 4/8GB 2666Mhz Memory, 2x 1Gbe Port, 2x NVMe SSD Cache Bays, 3-5yr Warranty
Current Price/Availability on Amazon – $550+
Hardware Review – HERE
YouTube Video Review – Watch
The DS920+ NAS is something that Synology should be proud of. It is a great entry into their already impressive range of Diskstation NAS devices. If you are looking for a brand new NAS to consolidate your home media, to support your relative as the ‘IT whizz’ of the family, or move your business away from Google Drives and DropBox’ onto something safer, more scalable and dependable – then the DS920+ has alot to offer you. It gives you a great base to start using the DSM platform, as well as a good means to upgrade your storage internally at a later date (expansions in memory, expansions in storage, expansion in NVMe). If you are an existing DS918+ or DS916+ owner, this might not seem like the jump you were waiting for.
There are always areas of improvement, the USB ports, the 1Gbe, that 1 memory slot – but these are things that Synology no doubt feel should be pushed into a higher price/hardware bracket – Allowing the DS920+ Price to be as close to its predecessors it can be. Whether you agree or disagree, I think that we can agree that this NAS is still giving you alot of bang for your buck in 2020. Thank you once again to ‘Takeo from Tokyo‘ for all his assistance on this hardware review
Best Mixed Use (Sharing, & Editing) Photography NAS Drive – The QNAP TS-h973ax NAS
0-100TB HDD, 16TB SATA SSD, 8/16TB U.2 NVMe SSD, 5/9-Bays of 3.5″, 2.5″ & U.2 SSD, AMD Ryzen V1500B 4x 2.2Ghz CPU, 8-32GB DDR4 Memory, 1x 10GbE, 2x 2.5Gbe Port, Supports ZFS or EXT4, 3/5yr Warranty,
Current Price/Availability on Amazon – $1150+
Hardware Review – LINK
YouTube Video Review – Watch
I have seen a lot of network-attached storage over the years and the TS-h973AX brings a lot of colour to what was fast becoming a somewhat grey landscape. In short, QNAP has gone and done it again by proving they are the hardware innovators of this industry and have managed to provide a genuinely unique solution here. When they first revealed their new Hero ZFS operating system last year, you could not help but get the impression that only top-end enterprise businesses with £10K starting budgets were ever going to benefit. The TS-h973AX desktop NAS is solid evidence that QNAP will share the wealth and that this is the start of a whole new series of affordable ZFS solutions from the brand. That isn’t to say that this system is perfect and pernickety points about a lack of HDMI or LCD may put off some users, and the compact 9 bay chassis that will attract some will no doubt deter others.
Ultimately though QNAP has succeeded in creating what they sought out here and what we find is one of the best examples of hardware and software meeting in the middle, while still arriving with a price tag in 3 figures. In the current absence of a straightforward QuTS license purchase option for existing QNAP NAS systems right now, this is a solution that serves as a good alternative to a number of 4 and 6 Bay solutions in their portfolio. Though, make sure you upgrade that memory on day one!
The Ultimate Photography NAS Drive – The QNAP TVS-872X / TVS-872XT NAS
0-160TB, 8-Bays, 2x M.2 NVMe SSD Bays, 2/4/6 Core Intel Pentium/i3/i5 CPU, 8-64GB DDR4 Memory, 1x 10Gbe Port, 2x 1GbE, 2x PCIe Slot, 1x HDMI 2.0 4K 60FPS, USB 3.2 Gen 2, ZFS Option 2yr Warranty
Current Price/Availability on Amazon – $1799
Hardware Review – LINK
YouTube Video Review – Watch
If this was the first time I was seeing the hardware featured on the QNAP TVS-872X, with its Intel Core CPU, 64GB of potential memory, 10Gbe on-board, NVMe equipped slots and USB 10G throughout – I would have been reasonably impressed. Likewise, the scalability in PCIe, storage expansions and network connectivity down the line is also a very valid and positive aspect of this system. But for me, it will always live slighting in the shadow of its Thunderbolt 3 equipped older big brother in the TV-872XT. The software on either ZFS or EXT4 file system is still doing what it does well, finding the line between 1st party apps, 3rd party support, customization and (mostly) getting it right – if occasionally trying to be too big for its boots.
The QNAP TVS-872X is undeniably still a great example of the wide-ranging features available to prosumers who want a storage system heavily geared towards high-performance transmission via high-performance media with higher tier hardware at their disposal. It would be misleading to think of this NAS as any kind of significant upgrades over the XT, and the price tag that the TVS-872X currently arrives at (£1700+ / $2400) is perhaps a tad closer to that of the thunderbolt version than can be justified, but with an increasing over-reliance by brands on Xeon based systems, the TVS-872X is one of the most graphically well-equipped systems in the market today. If you are looking for a NAS for video editing, Plex media server, AI-assisted surveillance or virtualisation in a more compact form, the TVS-872X and its hardware has a heck of a lot to offer you.
And there you have it. Those are the three best Photography NAS drives available right now at the end of 2021 and going into 2022. thought it is always worth remembering that these systems typically have a refresh (i.e manufacturers release a new version/follow-up) every 2-3 years on average. Therefore although these systems are all still great Photography NAS drives, they might have been upgraded in a newer released version, or recently released alternative Photography’s may have arrived on the scene that provides better pricing, value or features. If you are in doubt about whether to buy a Photography solution from my recommendations, want to check if a newer system has been released recently OR are simply looking for some free expert advice, then use the free advice section below over. Just enter in a few details of your setup, storage requirements and (in the case of buying a new solution) your budget – then me and Eddie the Web guy can help you with your question. This is a completely free service, is NOT provided with profit in mind and is manned by two humans (no bots, no automated replies, etc). Assistance might take an extra day or two (the service gets a lot of visitors) but we do try to answer every message. If you want to support this service, you can find out how to donate HERE. Otherwise, you can still jsut message us for free advice anyway!
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This video could have been 3 minutes long.
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Been using this NAS for over 3 years now, bought it after watching this very review. Still runs like a dream, and I couldn’t be happier with what it does for my family.
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This is fantastic video thanks and my comment is not on the video, but on my experience having owned a TS-h973AX. My unit failed within 2 years. The reseller messed up and ‘lost’ my repaired drive and couldn’t source me a new unit. QNAP frankly did not care about my warranty. They were completely fine with the way the reseller dealt with the issue. So anyone buying a QNAP unit, beware. Your warranty with QNAP is useless and cannot be enforced.
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Thank you so much for mentioning Qtier with ZFS is not an option. I was planning on it with the next QNAP purchase
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Thanks for the informative video. Do you have any recommendations dor a NAS with QNAPS quick access that allows to connect via USB-C and transfer files directly to the NAS from a non computer device e.g. a camera?
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Could you review the latest Mobile Apps for photos (QuMagie, QPhoto, Synology Photos, AiFoto3, TNAS Mobile 3) in 2023? The recent removal of photo sync in QuMagie 2.0 stop me from buying a QNAP.
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Could you review the latest Mobile Apps for photos (QuMagie, QPhoto, Synology Photos, AiFoto3, TNAS Mobile 3) in 2023? The recent removal of photo sync in QuMagie 2.0 stop me from buying a QNAP.
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Hall of Fame HERO!
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can you upgrade the ram yourself ?
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Photographers post processing raw photos use photography software, like Lightroom or CaptureOne or similar. Can’t imagine anyone waiting on NAS hardware suppliers to supply this sort of software or ever use it for post processing…
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Serious photographers don’t care for AI recognition.
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What is the best solution to 5 or 6 people acessing the pictures in the Lan? Editing in lightroom .
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I’m a bit surprised you didn’t recommend a similarly priced QNap to compare with the DS920+. Reason why I say that is QNap offer QuMaggie which seems to be a bit better than Synology Photos. QNap also offer APU expansions in the form of m2 or USB kits which seem to be affordable and dramatically increase the AI recognition. Lastly QuMaggie supports object recognition, whereas currently Synology only facial recognition. Something like a TS-653D seems a bit better than the DS920+ for that category of work.
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Would you only use drives listed on Synology’s drive compatibility site for the DS920+? For 18 tb, its only their proprietary drive. They say they wont support the whole unit without approved drives installed.
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what size SSD would you use .. 1 tb would be a waste would it
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Thanks for the overview. How easy is it to migrate all of my Google Photos INTO the Synology environment? Do you have a tutorial or instructions on this step?
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Brilliance thanks
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QNAP hardware have a bad quality. tech support cant help even if it under warranty. They do not have phone to call only sales!! We have 5 same model NAS and 2 of them stops work after 2 year of use. It was defective chipset inside. Now it fixed and will be sold for somewhere. We replaced all ours to Synology.
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Excellent Video. I upgraded from a DS220J based on your reviews of the DS920+ … I LOVE this 920. the 220j just fell on it’s face when asked to do anything beyond the basics.
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I thought Asustor would be great 🙂 why Synology instead of Asustor?
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So it’s there no way to not use zfs? I would prefer btrsfs
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I wanted a method to have automated routine backups of four drives on my comptuer. I have no room on my computer to have a raid array so it has to be external. Is a NAS the right solution for this?
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Excellent video
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excellent information. thanks for all your great videos, i’ve learned so much watching.
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I know it isnt supported to use the Thunderbolt PCIe expansion unit with this machine, but do you think it will accept it still?
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Upgrading to this model from DS412+. Watching this video while waiting for the delivery!
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Do you know if the QNAP dual TB3 PCI card can be added to the TVS872XT?
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Great review! This really what I’m looking for, I just wish it checked these three boxes:
– nicer aluminum enclosure and not cheap plastic
– better sound isolation
– a second 10GbE with link aggregation
Clearly that would have added upwards of 20% to the cost, but I honestly think the market would support that.
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If you are dealing with RAWs then the vast majority of tags will be using C1 or LR to manage those RAWs. AI image recognition is not required for this reason
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thumbs up for the info and the two watches on the same wrist.
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Hi, I want to confirm with someone if Synology Photos has the Subject/Object Recognition tool that used to exist in Moments? This is a big feature for me that exists currently in Google Photos. It looks like it is not there in DSM7
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you cant make linkaggregation on the 1Gbe ports?
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The one word i can not say is “girl” as single word. it’s “Grrl” So I usually say woman. Love the Video! from March 2022!
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Thank you bought the 920+ a year ago on your recc!
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Thanks a lot for the great videos – they are such a help! As a photographer choosing a NAS is not the easiest proposition, but I have also wittled down my choice to either a TS-h973ax or TS473/673 with 10G card and just saving up to purchase later in the year. I currently use CaptureOne software for editing and library management (using Capture One catalogues) on the PC platform and have read it has issues with speed and indexing of photos when working with catalogues. If anyone else here has experience of using CaptureOne with a NAS any feedback would be helpful as the investment of £1500+ for a NAS is a lot if it’s an experiment/not proven to be working / speed efficient. Cheers!
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qnap ts 253D bought in 2021
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It is SOOOOO easy to apply a high pass filter on the stereo audio track it would also make the audio listening pleasure SO much better. @NASCompares hates seagulls ALMOST as much as i hate microphone table vibrations on audio tracks.
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If you already use Synology, would you move to QNap?
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Had I known Asustor did not support AI facial recognition in their photos app, I would not have purchased one. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was to learn this limitation compared to Synology and QNap that do support it.
Come on Asustor, get in the game!
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I’m curious, why the TS-h973AX and not – say – the TS-673A? Same processor, no 10GbE port but expandable through PCIe slots, and a more standard bays configuration (I don’t necessarily like that). It supports ZFS (QuTS Hero) as well. But it’s significantly cheaper.
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This is fantastic and something I’d never thought of. I’ve been saving up for a new NAS (currently limited in size) and these look to do the trick for my photos.
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Would not bother with the built in apps as Lightroom has a much better digital assets manager. I need speed so a 10gb interface is important for large raw files. Qnap seems like my solution. Totally appreciate your application. Thanks
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Super useful, many thanks!
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Super useful, many thanks!
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Super useful, many thanks!
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I like my 872XT but the heatsinks that come with it are inadequate. I am in discussion to which ones to buy to make it cool better.
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Just wanted to say, thank you for your videos! They’ve been so helpful in making my final purchase decision.
Just posted up a short speed test in RAID 6 using my Synology NAS 1821+ I installed over the weekend and I’m super excited to use it for weddings!
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yrnrtr
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz3IoCFBlr8gqVCfq6C_S1K0Kg5t4oxYR
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Good morning everyone, after a few months with this product TS-h973AX it has proven to be the most unreliable piece of hardware from QNAP. Totally unstable, becomes unaccessible while using the web interface or SMB or any other way. Worst part since it doesn’t have a front LCD panel you have no idea what’s going one. Will be returned for RMA but where to store 5x 14TB, 2x2TB NVMe Cache and 3x 2TB SSD’s of data in the meantime.
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I realize this is a NETWORK attached storage device but am I able to connect my Mac to one of the USB ports for data transfer as well?
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does this nas support 2.5″ hard drives?
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Can you plug the NAS into a PC through USB? and use the whole drive speed? What is a CPU that can handle Plex fine?
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Thanks for this informative video, all your videos are awesome. I’m thinking to get this one.
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I love your channel. It is my one of my go-to when it comes to NAS. That having been said, I don’t think a product review should take more than 10 minutes. I find myself fast-forwarding because at some point, it gets repetitive. Discuss the product, the pros and the cons. Done. Not past videos and older material. Not here for that Just constructive criticism. Hope you see it as such.
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Good video, but how about a new updated review on the new Qnap TVS-872XT i5 16G (2021)?
That would very interesting!
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Have you done any follow ups?
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I am going through all the videos learning about NAS, particularly from Synology before I dip my toes to get one (preferably the DS920+) to replace an ageing Drobo 4 bay. I am getting more confident by the day and by the videos. watched. Thank you for the great videos.
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What an amazing video, thank you sir.
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Man it sounds like poo – sorry the QNap rules in the way of memory. I don’t find plastic as cool. I do love your reviews though.
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Recently bought this as my first NAS.. Attached a Seagate Exos 16TB, configured as SHR.. Later will expand with other bays. The only negative I can call out is that it came with a 16 amp plug which is very difficult to attach to a socket used for low power devices.. only refrigerators, water heaters etc need that. So I replaced the cable with a 10 amp one and its working fine
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Thanks for this video. Looking to get my first NAS and I think this is the one. Which drives would you recommend to go in this? Looking around the 6TB mark. Thanks
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i dont know if you answer these question but anyway . can i put 2.5 inch sata drives non ssd
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Hello
After having watched your videos about this NAS and videos about RAM-upgrades, i have a question about the TVS-872X-i3-8G.
With the i3 CPU, the supported RAM-speed is 2400MHz according to Intel’s own product spec. How does it work if i put an 2666MHz module or two, into the NAS? PC’s will for the most downgrade the speed, but does a NAS do that? Anyone tested?
Its more to choose from in the 2666MHz category, rather than 2400, thats why i wonder.
Also, any recommendations on M.2’s to use in this? Lots on combability-list, but any experiences appreciated 🙂
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Just bought this NAS while watching the video. Thanks for the comprehensive review.
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HI, I just bought DS920+ learning from your channel. Thankyou very much for Providing Inside out understanding. I just have one question can i setup my NAS with one Drive and then Later i can populate other slots.
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hello one questions if synology Nas destroyer all data lost?
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Fantastic reviewTY
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Trying to decide what to buy for Plex streaming I want to stream atleast 2x4k movies at the sametime. local. its between qnas or synology. but I hear many bad things about qnap with discounts software issues. Either QNAP TS-653D-8G or DS1621+
I could always buy m1 mac mini to stream more movies and for transcoding. can someone help me decide?
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I heard so many issues with qnap I considering the qnap but I’M hearing so many bad things disconnected alot hardware and software issuess I dont know which direction synology with there locked hardrives? so I’m not what diection to go with
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Thanks for a comprehensive overview.
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I can’t believe I watched 50 minutes of this. Very very informative. I’m a new nas user and this 920+ is my first nas so thank you for the overview!! I didn’t know it could do much more than I already thought it could!
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bought this exact NAS on prime day sale today. $473 USD, 16GB crucial 2666 memory upgrade $82 (20GB ram total), 2x noctua nf-a9 fans to get rid of the stock synology loud fans $34, 2x250GB western digital blue nvme for caching. Reusing 4x8TB ironwolf drives. it’s main purpose for me is going to be 4k uncompressed plex server
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Last weekend my Synology DS2415+ mainboard gave up (out of warranty) and considering the high price for repair, I was looking for QNAP and came accros your video. Great explanation. I saw a TVS-872XT-i5-16G online for about €2200. I mainly use it as storage, backup, download and media station, also for streaming 4K UHD with Plex Pass and I understood this device can handle the transcoding pretty well. Is the TVS-872XT-i5-16G still a smart buy, or are there already any newer versions out there for around that price?
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I know it’s an old post, but all that pretty packaging you’re so impressed by you’re paying for. Protective packaging is a must, but why does is have to be so impressive? A measly dollar/quid increases drastically by the time it gets to the consumer. Simply put, in business, if you spend money you have to make money .
Other than that a fair video.
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