NAS for Personal use?

[Enquiries]

Hi,
i'm new in the subject and I need some help.
I have different devices (mainly Apple) and few androids mobile phones (and still need to understand if my girlfriend wants to do a backup of her professional laptop).
I am looking for a solution that could create my personal cloud (as I believe that iCloud or any other service is just too expensive comparing to a local hardware store).
I hae seen the Beestation of Synology and the WB My Cloud solution, but I get confused when I see NAS solution with no HD... That means that it is just the "cover" and you have to add the HD? What do you suggest?
Thanks in advance.

[ed]

Thanks for your message — and no worries at all, this is a really common starting point and you're asking all the right questions.

You're absolutely right that most modern NAS systems come without hard drives — when you see them listed as "diskless," that just means you're buying the actual NAS unit (the brain, so to speak), and you choose the drives separately based on how much storage you want. It's not just an empty box — it includes the hardware, software, and all the features — you just add the storage that suits your needs.

In your case — backing up Apple and Android phones, possibly a laptop, and replacing iCloud with your own private cloud — you're actually in a great position to get something much more flexible and private than a basic plug-and-play box like BeeStation or WD My Cloud.

Here's what I’d suggest:
1. Synology DS223
Very beginner-friendly and works great with iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

Offers automatic photo backups, file syncing, and sharing — much like iCloud.

Excellent mobile apps (Synology Photos, Synology Drive).

Simple to set up, with great long-term software support.

2. QNAP TS-233
Slightly more powerful hardware if you want to experiment with media streaming or other apps.

Also supports mobile backups, remote access, and has a flexible app ecosystem.

A little more hands-on than Synology, but still accessible for beginners.

You can pair either of these with 2 x 4TB NAS-rated drives (like WD Red Plus or Seagate IronWolf) to start. That’ll give you 4TB of usable space if you use RAID 1 (which mirrors your data for safety), and you can always upgrade later.