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Looking to buy a NAS for my family to replace Google Photos. Main use: years of family photos and videos, searchable and organised with AI (face detection, albums, timeline, location tags). We want remote access, sharing, and smart features similar to Google Photos, with full privacy and no ongoing fees. Budget is around A$900 (can stretch a bit during discounts). I prefer Synology (DS224+, DS225+) for simplicity, but also considering QNAP TS-253D or others. Needs to be future-proof (4 users), minimum 4TB usable (preferably mirrored), and as plug-and-play as possible. Will access from Mac, iPhones, and remotely. Would love help deciding between Synology/QNAP and HDD options (WD Red vs Synology HAT3300), and whether Synology Photos alone is enough or if I should run PhotoPrism too. Thanks!
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For your use case — family photo and video storage, AI-based organisation, remote access, sharing and ease of use — Synology is still the better fit. DSM is very user-friendly, and Synology Photos already covers most of what people liked about Google Photos: face detection, albums, timeline, location tags, and it works well across Mac, iPhone and remotely. It’s private, no ongoing fees, and easy to keep updated. If you later feel you want even more advanced features, you can add PhotoPrism yourself, but I’d recommend starting with Synology Photos first — it’s much simpler to set up and maintain.
Between the DS224+ and DS225+, either is fine. The DS225+ is just the newer revision — no huge difference in performance — so I’d go with whichever you find on a better deal.
If you do want to consider QNAP, their more current equivalent to the TS-253D is actually the TS-264 from their x64 series. Hardware-wise it’s a bit more powerful than the Synology, with a newer CPU and more expansion options. The downside is the software — QNAP’s interface is more complicated, and the AI features for photos are not as polished as Synology Photos.
For drives, both WD Red Plus and Synology HAT3300 are NAS-rated and CMR. Synology’s own drives cost more but integrate better with DSM and get firmware updates via the NAS. WD Red Plus is a perfectly good choice though, and you’ll likely save a bit.
For storage I’d recommend 2×4TB drives in RAID 1, giving you 4TB of mirrored space, which meets your minimum and gives you peace of mind.
So in short:
• Synology DS224+ or DS225+ if you want the easiest setup and best software for your use case.
• Or QNAP TS-264 if you’re happy with more complex software in exchange for stronger hardware.
• WD Red Plus or Synology HAT3300 drives, 2×4TB in RAID 1.
