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Data Storage Advice - Enquiries - 07-09-2025
I am a part-time professional photographer with 2 decades of photos and video stored on a Drobo. Time to upgrade but I'm overwhelmed by the options. This will primarily be for local backup in a RAID configuration combined with cloud storage as a second backup.
Your website offers advice and assistance. I appreciate the offer. I could use some about the best system to buy. I've been considering the DiskStation 423+ but your article about the 1GbE ports instead of 2.5 or 10 and the older Celeron processor spooked me.
What do you think would be best?
RE: Data Storage Advice - ed - 07-11-2025
Thanks for reaching out — and totally understand where you're coming from. Drobo users, especially photographers like yourself, have been left in a tough spot, and choosing a solid long-term replacement can feel overwhelming.
You’re on the right track considering a RAID setup with a cloud backup layer — that’s exactly what I’d recommend for a two-decade archive of important work.
The DS423+ is solid in many ways — great software ecosystem (especially for photos), support for Btrfs, good app selection — but you're absolutely right to be cautious. The 1GbE ports and the older Celeron chip can become bottlenecks, especially if you ever start editing over the network or moving large video files. It’s great for general backup and media serving, but might fall short if you're trying to future-proof or increase performance.
Given your budget ($1,800), home use, and 16TB target (I'm assuming 2x8TB or 4x4TB drives in RAID), here are two better-suited options:
Option 1: Synology DS923+
Pros: More modern AMD CPU, support for NVMe cache and expansion, faster performance, and you can add a 10GbE card later if you need speed boosts.
Cons: No integrated GPU, so not ideal for Plex hardware transcoding — but not an issue if you're not streaming media that needs it.
Option 2: Asustor Lockerstor 4 Gen2 (AS6704T)
Pros: 2.5GbE out of the box, newer Intel CPU with integrated graphics, better for media workflows, and more open on drive compatibility.
Cons: UI isn’t quite as polished as Synology’s DSM, but still very capable.
Drive-wise, 2x16TB drives in RAID 1 or 4x8TB in RAID 5 would be good options for your 16TB usable goal with redundancy. Go with WD Red Plus or Seagate IronWolf — stay away from the SMR drives.
For cloud backup, Synology integrates well with services like Backblaze B2, Dropbox, or even Google Drive, and Hyper Backup makes it easy to automate the off-site part.
Final thought: If photo management is key, Synology Photos is decent, but if you ever outgrow it, you can run apps like PhotoPrism or Immich in Docker — especially on the Asustor.