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NAS Advice - Enquiries - 09-12-2025
Looking for a low power, quite plug and play solution NAS for home. Primarily for photo backup from Macbook & iPhone, some video & music but that isnt essential. PS I hate seaguls ;-). Big fan of your channel.
RE: NAS Advice - ed - 09-12-2025
Thanks for your note. Since your main priority is a simple, low-power, quiet system for photo backups under 4TB, you don’t need anything too heavy duty. A 2-bay NAS is the sweet spot here, as it will give you enough capacity for your photo library and a mirror (RAID 1) option so you have protection if a drive fails.
On the Synology side, the DS223j is the most affordable current model. It runs the full Synology DSM software, which makes photo backup from iPhone and Mac straightforward with Synology Photos. If you want something a little faster and longer-lasting, the DS224+ has a stronger CPU and more memory, but is a bit more expensive.
QNAP also has good 2-bay options like the TS-233, which is efficient and quiet, but Synology’s software is usually easier for first-time users. UGREEN makes compact models too, but since you want plug-and-play reliability, I’d lean toward Synology.
For drives, a pair of 2TB or 4TB NAS-rated disks such as WD Red Plus or Seagate IronWolf will be fine. Here’s a current option to check: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Seagate+IronWolf+4TB+NAS&linkCode=ll2&tag=dbite_yt-20
That setup will sit quietly in the corner, keep your photos safe, and require very little management.