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+--- Thread: Which NAS and harddrives? (/showthread.php?tid=12488)
Which NAS and harddrives? - Enquiries - 11-14-2025
Hello, I am looking at setting up a NAS for home use. My primary use for large amounts of storage is a photography hobby, as well as random important files/backups of my desktop. I currently have ~3-4tb of data on external harddrives that I would like to copy over to a NAS and also have room for future growth.
My questions are regarding which NAS to purchase, and which harddrives (brand and size) would you recommend? Online research is leading me towards either the UNAS 4 or DS423. I have concerns about Synology and acceptance of nonproprietary HDDs. Budget is flexible if you think a 6 or 8 bay NAS would be a better option, or is this overkill for the amount of space I might need? Thank you for your help!
RE: Which NAS and harddrives? - ed - 11-14-2025
Thank you for the message. For your needs, a Synology or QNAP will give you a much better experience than the UNAS systems. UNAS works well for simple storage, but its photo indexing, apps, and overall management are not on the same level, especially if photography is your main workload.
A Synology DS425+ is a strong fit for you. It accepts all third party drives, has excellent photo management, and gives you a very easy workflow for backups and desktop access. Synology removed all drive restrictions from the plus series, and there is no sign of them coming back on older models. QNAP TS464 is also a solid choice if you want more hardware flexibility or plan to run containers.
Four bays are enough for your current and future data, as you will be around 3 to 4TB today and aiming for 12 to 20TB later. If you want more long term expansion, a five or six bay unit simply gives you headroom by leaving empty bays, but the hardware inside is the same class. The main difference is how much you want to grow without replacing drives.