DS423

I've done the DIY, holy fuck does a Synology NAS just remove all the hard bullshit from your plate. Highly recommend just starting there. I've got the DS 423, it's been bulletproof.

The i5-13500 (plus plexpass) makes a fantastic transcoding combination, able to transcode, for most of us anyway, to the moon and back. I'd not expect any issues. In RAMpocalypse times, I'd not go to 32GB; if it's just a Plex and the -Arrs server, 8GB is enough, but get 16GB just to have some extra

Any modern NAS would do pretty well here; TM is table stakes in 2026. I have a Synology DS423+ and a few drives doing this now; works fine.

So something like the Synology DS423 or the Ugreen DXP4800 Plus? I like Ugreen for their cables, but I don’t know how their proper devices hold up against Synology. Willing to consider both, but I see so many models, it’s difficult to really know what I want.

Key Differences Networking Speed The QNAP TS-433 wins on raw speed out of the box. It features a 2.5GbE port, which is significantly faster than the standard 1GbE ports found on the Synology models. If you have a modern router or switch, the QNAP will move files much faster. Software Experience (QTS

Same experience here. Time Machine over network has been getting worse with every macOS release. With macOS 26 it's basically unusable for me. I switched to a combination of Carbon Copy Cloner for full disk backups and Synology NAS with their own backup solution (Hyper Backup). Way more reliable, an

I hosted a DIY NAS for several years, and it became more babysitting than I wanted. (Admittedly, it was because of my OS choice and strategy.) About 2 years ago, I purchased a Synology DS423+ 4-bay NAS, and haven't looked back. With local backups (Active Backup for Business), external backups (Hyper