First NAS, what to buy..?

[Enquiries]

First time NAS purchaser and with so much on offer I'm a bit overwhelmed. I want something straight out of the box with an easy running system and it's going to be shared between myself and my wife and we are both non IT gurus. It has to work with both PC and IOS as we use both, can be accessed from anywhere in the world, will be used primarily for photos, documents and media. Would be nice to have the option to link it up to a smart tv to view things on the big screen. Must be able to run a VPN through it and primarily be used to store everything on the SSD's, rather than be just cloud based.
I have whittled it down to the Terramaster F4 SSD or a Synology DS 224+ but am also open to suggestions. Thanks in advance.

[ed]

Thanks for your message and for outlining your needs so clearly — it makes recommending the right NAS much easier. For a first-time setup with ease of use, solid cross-platform compatibility, and long-term reliability, both options you’ve shortlisted are valid, but there are some differences that might help you decide.

If ease of use, reliability, and long-term software support matter most, I would lean toward the Synology DS224+. Synology’s DSM software is widely considered the most beginner-friendly NAS platform, with great support for:
• Backing up both Windows and macOS devices
• Simple remote access via QuickConnect or Tailscale VPN
• Synology Photos for managing and viewing photos from mobile and desktop
• VideoStation or Plex for streaming to a Smart TV (via DLNA, Chromecast, or native apps)
• Built-in VPN server and easy file sharing over the internet
• Smooth integration with iOS apps and Windows Explorer/Mac Finder

You won’t be using SSDs to their full potential with this NAS, but it will still feel very fast for photo/media storage and file sharing. And Synology now supports SSD-only volumes, so your setup will still benefit from quieter operation and lower power use.

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If you prefer to go all-in on SSD performance, the TerraMaster F4-424 Pro (or F4-424 if you’re on a tighter budget) is more powerful hardware-wise, especially for 4 x SSD configurations. You’ll get:
• Full NVMe or SATA SSD support, depending on the model
• Faster file transfers, ideal if you’re working with large photo/video libraries
• Support for Plex and Docker if you want more advanced apps later
• TOS 5.x software — not quite as polished as Synology DSM, but usable for most tasks once set up

That said, TerraMaster’s platform is more hands-on, so it’s a better fit if you’re okay with spending a little more time learning the interface and setting up things manually.