Old and clueless: Need some NAS advice

doobyscoo · 31 Jul 2025 at 15:28

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 · 31 Jul 2025 at 15:45

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 · 31 Jul 2025 at 16:38

pepp77 said:
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 · 3 Aug 2025 at 15:53

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 · 3 Aug 2025 at 16:01

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.

mahius · Sunday at 21:08

I know it was mentioned above not to bother with a NAS and go for USB drives for backup instead. Not necessarily the case depending on what needs to be backed up, i.e. how often and how much data.

If you don't have too much data, i.e. nothing above 5TB total, then external USB drives are fine, though ideally I would get a couple in case one fails. In over a decade I've had a couple out of several fail on me and another seemingly on it's way out.

Otherwise, take it from me, I have several USB drives (and also old SATA HDs), over 20TB in various forms and honestly... it's such a clunky mess that a singular NAS would make sense for me to consolidate it all into one place.

A NAS is perfectly fine for even just one person's backup data and such. The 2 hard drives should ideally be mirrored for hardware failure/redundancy.

If using the DS14, if you have a network switch, you can isolate it from the Internet (i.e. prevent connections) or better yet, just directly connect to the PC you need to use it from.

If the storage capacity of having only 3TB is an issue, you can look for a pair of larger drives to use in that synology NAS. I would try to use what you have and only if you outgrow it, then upgrade ot something else down the line.