Old and clueless: Need some NAS advice

[doobyscoo]

I’m looking to establish a backup strategy. At the moment, I’m ashamed to say, I don’t have one. I have an assortment of bare SATA drives, desktop drives and SSDs that I have used as data dumps for 20 years, 3TB here, 1TB there, 500 GB somewhere else.. I only really use one computer, a MacBook Pro. I use it almost exclusively connected to a hub, monitor and peripherals. My MacBook has a 1TB SSD. I also have an empty 4TB Thunderbolt SSD.

To get up and running as quickly as possible, I have decided to get a big external USB drive and condense everything onto that. I will then keep a copy offsite in addition to signing up for Backblaze. I am wondering whether I need a NAS. Each time I have looked into various NAS devices, I come away more confused than informed. My son gave me a two-bay Synology years ago (DS 212j but it never really got used as I had Powerline issues. The Synology still has two 3TB WD Red NAS drives in it that have only been used for about 300 hours, probably less.

I’m guessing that a 13-year-old NAS is not going to be much use. I’ll need something new. However, everyone seems to advise against Synology due the recent hardware lock-in. Is there a feasible alternative for someone like me who doesn’t want to tinker endlessly, something equally secure and user-friendly? If the alternatives involve too much maintenance, I know I’ll give up and revert to chaos. I know there’s a premium with Synology, but if the software is easy to understand, I’ll pay it. I see mention of QNAP, Ugreen, Asustor, Terramaster, but the specs mean nothing to me.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[pepp77]

If its just for backups then a NAS isnt really what you want. A NAS is more about storing files so multiple people can access them from their own machines. The USB drive for backups is a better and simpler solution IMO.

 

[doobyscoo]

If its just for backups then a NAS isnt really what you want. A NAS is more about storing files so multiple people can access them from their own machines. The USB drive for backups is a better and simpler solution IMO.

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. I’ll concentrate on USB storage. It makes sense given that the only things I might want to use a NAS for, other than backup, is maybe surveillance footage when I get round to getting some cameras. RAID redundancy is nice, but Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner should do the trick. Also, as my storage will be attached, I can take advantage of the cheaper Backblaze package.

 

[jigger]

The DS214 with a pair of 3tb drives sounds pretty much ideal. Set it up next to your router with a patch cable, then wirelessly access it from the Mac. Easy 6tb of storage and USB 3 to backup from.

 

[gc4170]

Personally I'd get a newer one, but if you stick with the DS214, ensure its not internet facing as its no longer updated with security patches.