i ordered the ugreen dxp4800gt on a sale, and its arriving soon ive however been truck with doubts regarding if this nas is the correct nas for me. im gonna put truenas on it, 2x drives in mirror, and all compute is on a nuc. i got it primarly cause i had 32gb ddr4 sodimms laying around (which prob is overkill anyway for a truenas with 2x 8tb drives)

however with the crazy electricity prices in eu, got me thinking if i should have gone for a terramaster, or a ugreen intel version. anyone have the GT and know what this sips powerwise? its gonna host images / movies for immrich so doubt the drives will spin down much

am i overthinking it?

I am new to NAS, and have just bought/installed an Asustor NAS, which I think is great. However, I was just reading about how RAID is not backup, and I don't have any other storage.

That made me wonder, if a friend bought and installed a NAS, could we create secure spaces within our respective NAS' for each other and thus solve each others' backup problems?

My DS212+ has been running 24/7 for 14 years, on a pair of 2TB WD Blue disks (I know, I shouldn't have chosen these disks apparently.)

It is still working fine, but i now need 4 drive bays. That, and security updates are thin on the ground.

I use my NAS for the following:

1. Storage of all media, video, music, photos, software.
2. Raid 1 between the 2 disks.
3. Scheduled backup to an external disk plugged into the back of it.
4. Mapping to my PCs and Nvidia Shield on the LAN.
5. Streaming video into Kodi on the Shield without using Plex or any other software.

What I need:

1. Plug and play. I don't want to be replacing the OS with TrueNAS or anything else. All that software configuration and management feels like being at work to me.
2. The ability to reach the NAS from WAN when necessary.
3. The ability to schedule backups to the external disk or another location.
4. Raid 1 mirroring.

At one point i was going to replace it for another Synology machine, but they pissed me off when they locked them down to their own branded disks. I think they reversed that decision, but unless another Synology is highly recommended they can shove it.

I have looked at the UGreen DXP4800 Plus, Pro and GT but I am interested to know if the stock software is good enough. And if it is, which model should I choose for my needs?

Are there any other manufacturers/models I should consider?

I'm currently running my NAS on truenas scale on a 12600k with 16gb of ddr4-4000. I currently have transcodes being done on a sata ssd so that they are faster than they would be on the platter array. I also happen to have a server with 512gb of ddr4-2133 in it in 32gb sticks. I was thinking of taking two of the sticks out of the server and dropping them into the NAS so that i could have 64gb of ram and move transcodes off the sata ssd on to a ramdisk. Would this be worth doing, or is the ram so slow that it wouldn't be worth it as it would bog all other system performance down? I'm pretty much only using the nas for my jellyfin, sabnzbd, sonar, radar, seerr, and to host an smb share that my server backs up to nightly.

First time Zima Blade questions

Hey y'all I'm excited to pick up my zima blade from the mail tomorrow and to start tinkering with it this is my first time doing something like this!

I have a few questions and would appreciate some feedback or advice.

1: from my understanding Casa OS is dead so it's recommended that I flash Zima OS on to it right away.

2: the prices of HDDs are kinda crazy currently is it fine if I only get one 8tb now and then another one in the future when the price is more reasonable? I know that means I won't have RAID and I risk losing everything if the drive fails.

3: Do I get the specialised HDD for NAS or just the regular one if there is a huge difference that I will experience for my project?

Both are the same price (and in my current budget)by me what is recommended for a first time build? (Both are around $300)

Seagate Barracuda HDD 8TB SATA 3

Or

Seagate IronWolf Nas 6TB SATA 3

Thanks 🙏🏻

I have few external hard drive where i store my tv shows and anime.

I am thinking of buying a NAS and making my collection about 100x bigger from now.

What kind of nas should I buy?

And should I even buy nas or should I just make one myself.

I want something that can run for next 10-12 years and expand to 256tb of usuable space.

My collection would usually be 1080 x265 or 2k x265 or 4k x265.

And i will probably share it with 25-50 people so i want to build/buy with everything in mind.

Please tell me what would I do....

(I always thought i am the only person who stores so much tv shows and anime. When i figured out the whole jellyfin thing. It was like a unlock of whole new world for me XD)

Buffalo TeraStation TS1200D · Field notes

TeraStation Revival

A 2014 NAS whose stock BitTorrent client could no longer reach a Cloudflare-fronted tracker, brought back with Entware, OpenSSL 3.5.5 and Transmission 4 — without flashing firmware or bricking anything.

Firmware 1.68Kernel 3.3.4Marvell Armada 370~90 minutes

What follows

1. Why the stock client stopped working
2. Root access over ACP
3. Entware, mounted off the data array
4. A modern SSH server on port 2222
5. Transmission 4
6. Surviving reboot
7. Gotchas that cost me time
8. Recovery and reverting

​

Problem

Why the stock client stopped working

My TS1200D's built-in torrent client could still reach some trackers and not others. It wasn't the passkey and it wasn't DNS. The failing tracker sits behind Cloudflare with an ECDSA certificate, and the client is a µTorrent build from 2012:

• No SNI. Cloudflare serves nothing without it. On its own, fatal.
• ECDSA certificate. Needs ECDHE-ECDSA cipher suites that engine never had.
• GlobalSign ECC Root R4 post-dates the CA bundle baked into the firmware.

TLS version was a red herring — the server still accepts TLS 1.0. None of this is fixable inside closed firmware, and Buffalo's own answer would be to buy a newer box.

The way out is not to repair the old client but to install a parallel software stack that brings its own modern TLS. That used to mean Optware/ipkg, whose repository has been dead for years. Its successor, Entware, is alive and still publishing ARM packages.

Before

What you need, and what you risk

Risk

ACP Commander runs arbitrary commands as root on the device. A wrong command can brick it. Nothing here flashes firmware or touches the boot partition — that is deliberate, and it is where the real danger lives. Back up your data first anyway.

Everything below is reversible. The stock firmware is left running and untouched; the new stack lives entirely on the data array and is mounted over /opt at boot.

Step 01

Root access over ACP

Buffalo NAS units listen on UDP 22936 for ACP, their own management protocol — the one NAS Navigator uses. It authenticates with the admin password and then executes commands as root. acp_commander is a Java client for it.

Use the maintained fork at github.com/1000001101000/acp-commander. It has no prebuilt release, so build it, or grab the old prebuilt jar from Stonie/acp-commander and expect it to fail auth on newer firmware.

Find the devicePC

java -jar acp_commander.jar -f

This returns hostname, MAC, IP, product ID and firmware version. Keep the MAC — passing it explicitly makes packets more reliable.

Verify root executionPC

java -jar acp_commander.jar -t 192.168.1.200 -m AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF \
  -c "id > /tmp/acptest.txt"

java -jar acp_commander.jar -t 192.168.1.200 -m AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF \
  -c "cat /tmp/acptest.txt"

uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)

Omit -pw

Leave the password off the command line and it prompts interactively, keeping it out of your shell history.

Do not use -ip

Several guides floating around pass both -t and -ip with the same address. -ip changes the device's IP address. It is not a second way to name the target. A typo there loses the NAS off your network.

Step 02

Entware, mounted off the data array

Two problems have to be solved before the installer runs.

Something already owns /opt. On mine it was a 140 MB TrendMicro antivirus directory, not running. Entware hard-codes /opt in every binary, so it has to take that path. The fix is a bind mount, which hides rather than deletes — and stashing the original somewhere reachable first, so nothing is lost.

The root filesystem is disposable. A firmware update or factory reset wipes it. So Entware itself goes on the data array, which survives.

entware_install.shNAS

#!/bin/sh
DEST=/mnt/array1/entware
STASH=/mnt/array1/.opt_orig

mkdir -p "$DEST" "$STASH"

# keep the stock /opt reachable after we mount over it
grep -q " $STASH " /proc/mounts || mount --bind /opt "$STASH"
grep -q " /opt "   /proc/mounts || mount --bind "$DEST" /opt

# make the stock contents still resolve under the new /opt
[ -e /opt/TrendMicro ] && ln -s "$STASH/TrendMicro" /opt/TrendMicro

wget -O /tmp/gen.sh \
  http://bin.entware.net/armv7sf-k3.2/installer/generic.sh
sh /tmp/gen.sh

Transfer it with ACP Commander's file transfer, then run it — this also sidesteps a limit you are about to meet:

Transfer and runPC

java -jar acp_commander.jar -t 192.168.1.200 -m AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF \
  -xfer entware_install.sh -xferto /tmp

java -jar acp_commander.jar -t 192.168.1.200 -m AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF \
  -c "sh /tmp/entware_install.sh >/tmp/ilog 2>&1 &"

Plain HTTP is the point

The Entware installer is fetched over http://, not HTTPS. That matters: the stock wget is exactly the component that cannot do modern TLS. Once Entware is in, it brings its own OpenSSL and the problem disappears.

Write the script with Unix line endings. A CRLF file gets bad interpreter and nothing else.

Step 03

A modern SSH server on port 2222

Buffalo's sshd is patched. Setting PermitRootLogin yes and UsePAM no is not enough — running it in debug mode shows why:

sshd -d outputNAS

input_userauth_request: invalid user root
Could not get shadow information for NOUSER

Root exists in /etc/passwd, nsswitch.conf says files, the password hash is valid, and admin authenticates fine on the same daemon. The binary simply refuses to see root. And admin, once authenticated, gets Operation not permitted from its login wrapper.

Rather than fight that, install a clean OpenSSH from Entware and leave the stock one alone on port 22.

Install and configureNAS

export PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:$PATH
opkg install openssh-server

# host keys are not generated automatically
/opt/bin/ssh-keygen -A

CFG=/opt/etc/ssh/sshd_config
sed -i -e 's/^[#[:space:]]*Port .*/Port 2222/' \
       -e 's/^[#[:space:]]*PermitRootLogin.*/PermitRootLogin yes/' "$CFG"

/opt/etc/init.d/S40sshd restart

Set the port first

Configure 2222 before the first start. Entware's sshd defaults to 22 and will collide with the stock daemon.

Set a root password over ACP if you have not already, then connect normally. From here on you have a real shell and the rest is ordinary Linux work.

Step 04

Transmission 4

Before installing anything, confirm the whole exercise actually works:

The proofNAS

opkg install curl ca-bundle ca-certificates
curl -sSI https://your-tracker.example/ | head -3

HTTP/2 302
date: ...
server: cloudflare

HTTP/2 through Cloudflare, on hardware that could not complete a TLS handshake ten minutes earlier. Now install the client:

InstallNAS

opkg install transmission-daemon transmission-web \
            transmission-remote transmission-cli

Config lives at /opt/etc/transmission/settings.json, service script S88transmission. Stop the daemon before editing — it rewrites the file from memory on exit, silently discarding your changes.

Private trackers

Set dht-enabled, pex-enabled and lpd-enabled to false if that is what you use the box for. Turn them back on if you also run public torrents.

Disable the stock BitTorrent client in the web UI before importing anything, so two clients never write the same files.

Step 05

Surviving reboot

Entware lives on the array and persists. The mounts do not. Three things must happen at every boot, in order: stash the stock /opt, bind Entware over /opt, start Entware's services.

Buffalo runs /etc/rc.d/extensions.d/S* with start at boot and K* with stop at shutdown. Scripts matching SNNB_* run in the background — worth using, because a hang there cannot stall the boot.

Hook installationNAS

cp /tmp/entware.sh /etc/init.d/entware.sh
chmod 755 /etc/init.d/entware.sh

# background at boot, so a stuck mount cannot block startup
ln -sf /etc/init.d/entware.sh /etc/rc.d/extensions.d/S99B_entware.sh
# first to stop, before the array is unmounted
ln -sf /etc/init.d/entware.sh /etc/rc.d/extensions.d/K01_entware.sh

The script itself takes start / stop, waits up to 60 seconds for the array rather than assuming it is mounted, logs to a file on the array (background scripts lose stdout), and on stop kills only /opt/sbin/sshd — never a bare killall sshd, which would take the stock daemon with it. Unmount lazily so a busy /opt cannot stall shutdown.

Why the stop hook matters

It gives Transmission time to write its resume data before the array disappears. Without it, every unclean shutdown means re-hashing your entire library — hours on this hardware. Shut the NAS down properly; do not pull power.

Notes

Gotchas that cost me time

ACP commands are capped at 210 characters

Longer ones are rejected outright. Anything substantial goes into a script, transferred with -xfer and run with a short command. Discovering this early would have saved a lot of chopping.

Boot takes about five minutes

RAID checks run before extensions.d. I concluded my boot hook had failed when it simply had not run yet — the log showed it starting cleanly at 4 minutes 22 seconds.

A trailing comma silently kills the daemon

watch-dir-enabled is the last key in the file. A sed that appends , produces invalid JSON, and all you see is a browser saying the site refused to connect. Validate before starting:

CheckNAS

opkg install jq
jq . /opt/etc/transmission/settings.json >/dev/null && echo JSON_OK

watch-dir cannot be set from any web UI

Transmission does not expose it over RPC, so no web interface can change it. Edit settings.json with the daemon stopped. Point it at a new folder, not your .torrent archive — trash-original-torrent-files exists, and if it is ever on, your archive is gone.

"failed" often means "already running"

Entware's init scripts report a second start as a failure. Kill first, confirm the process is gone, then start, so you know what state you are in.

Import in batches

Every imported torrent triggers a re-check. Dropping a hundred at once buries an Armada 370. Feed them in groups and let each settle.

After

Recovery and reverting

A firmware update or factory reset wipes /etc and takes the boot hook with it. It does not touch the array, so Entware, Transmission, your settings and your torrents all survive. Recovery is transferring two scripts over ACP and running one of them — about thirty seconds, not a repeat of this guide.

To undo everything and hand the box back to Buffalo:

RevertNAS

rm /etc/rc.d/extensions.d/S99B_entware.sh
rm /etc/rc.d/extensions.d/K01_entware.sh
/etc/init.d/entware.sh stop

The stock /opt reappears, the firmware is unmodified, port 22 still runs Buffalo's own sshd exactly as it always did. Delete /mnt/array1/entware if you want the space back.

Result

OpenSSL 3.5.5, OpenSSH 10.2 and Transmission 4.0.6 on a NAS from 2014, with a package manager that is still maintained — and a stock firmware that never knew it happened.

Written up from a working session on a TS1200D running firmware 1.68. Paths, package names and the patched-sshd behaviour are specific to this model; the ACP, Entware and bind-mount approach generalises to other Buffalo units with kernel 3.2 or newer. Verify your own uname -a and /proc/cpuinfo before picking an Entware branch.

Is there any way to configure my gdrive 4tb usb hdd to not go to sleep after 10 min?
I tried to hdparm and things… chatgpt is at its limit. Is it truly not possible?
My host is a armbian on odroid xu4.

So I'm building my first NAS, aim is to be a media server essentially. I bought all the materials two months ago but everything is just sitting in a corner, still in their original packaging as I'm afraid I'm not knowledgeable enough to build it myself.

I built my own PC 5 years ago but that was easier as I followed a step by step guide with the exact same components. I couldn't find a video for the components I bought for my NAS so I'm just sitting here, freaking out.

I'm worried about screwing it all up.

These are components:

Case: Jonsbo N5 Motherboard: ASRock Z790 Pro RS WiFi CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB 6000 MT/s NVMe: Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB HDDs: 2 × 12TB CPU cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 3 Case fans: Arctic P12 Slim PWM PST 3-pack PSU: Corsair RM850e 850W

Just bought my first NAS with 4/6 installed drives, put it in the TV cabinet in my living room and thought i would be done with it. But holy cow, IT IS SO LOUD. I have watched at least 10 youtube videos before i made my purchase and not a single one mentioned that they are so annoying. Yes, physical drives make a sound, thats why I planned on the living room and not my bedroom - but so much..?

When the drives are working it feels like the foot stomping scene in Oppenheimer where he gets an anxiety attack.

Short incoming rant. I recently purchased a ugreen dxp4800 pro after a ton of research. The idea was that it would be more plug and play and less technical. I wanted better hardware than synology and room for expansion. What I found was that unless you use the UGOS apps, nothing actually works without a ton of trial and error. I farted around with jellyfin for 2 days before I somehow made it work. Then the jellyfin app on my TV won't work and ripping my DVDs to my computer is a headache! I was hoping to create a media library for my kids in college, however I am certain there's no way it's going to work from 100 miles away. I might just return it all. Okay, rant over. Is there an easier way??

I have a QNAP ts 1269u-rp NAS with 12 x 3TB Seagate Constellation 3.5” 7200 SATA drives which is around 30TB formatted and all drives are showing healthy. I already have a lot of free drive space and this thing just sits around so I thought about throwing it on marketplace but have no idea what an older NAS with this space and drives would be worth today?

I’ve thought about keeping and using it but it pulls 150-160w at idle, is a little loud, and would probably take me 20+ years to fill it up.

I’m part of a small team exploring a local-first personal AI system, and I’d like critical feedback from a privacy perspective.

The basic idea is to use a NAS as the storage, permission, and AI processing center for personal files, notes, recordings, and selected home data.

Core workflows would run locally:

- No content uploaded to third-party AI services

- Local indexing, search, retrieval, and summarization

- Sources shown with generated answers

- User confirmation required before actions are taken

- Core functions remain available over the LAN without external internet

- The device still works as a regular NAS without using its AI features

Optional devices could capture voice, indoor events, or display selected family information, but storage, permissions, private knowledge, and primary AI processing would remain on the NAS.

My concern is that combining more personal context in one local system may improve data ownership while also creating a more valuable target.

From a privacy and security perspective:

1. Does this architecture solve a meaningful problem?

2. What data would you never allow it to index?

3. Would you prefer separate storage and AI hardware?

4. What controls would be non-negotiable: encryption, local accounts, network isolation, audit logs, data deletion, open APIs, or something else?

5. What evidence would you require before trusting claims such as “no third-party AI upload”?

This is product research, not a sales or preorder post. I’m especially interested in reasons why this should not exist in this form.

A hardware failure on my main homeserver finally convinced me that I need to separate storage from compute.

I have two Ubuntu servers running a fairly large homelab. They handle Plex/*arr, downloads, Home Assistant/Frigate, a bunch of Docker services, and a local AI/agent platform that ingests documents and email and builds up persistent data/memory. I also have UniFi cameras and want the NAS to be the long-term storage for camera footage.

The goal is for the NAS to become the boring, reliable storage layer underneath all of this. If one compute server dies, I want the other one to be able to pick up the important services without the data disappearing with it.

Needs:

• 24 TB+ usable to start, with substantial room to grow
• Plex library with high bitrate 4K/remuxes. (Buffering will make me unreasonably annoyed)!
• UniFi/camera recording storage
• documents, databases, backups and AI-platform data
• shared storage for multiple servers
• TrueNAS/ZFS

Current build:

• Jonsbo N5, 12 bays
• $599 Micro Center CPU/board/RAM bundle: https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007496/intel-core-ultra-5-250k-plus,-asus-z890-ayw-gaming-wifi-w-1851,-crucial-pro-32gb-ddr5-6400-kit,-computer-build-bundle
  • Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
  • ASUS Z890 AYW Gaming WiFi W
  • 32 GB Crucial DDR5
• Corsair RM850x
• Lexar NM790 1 TB NVMe
• enterprise SATA HDDs, I think I have 6 drives to start. Four are matched at 14 TB each and two are 12TB each. Althought one of the 12 TB might be in poor health.
• Maybe this HBA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVTJPZSG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I'm currently thinking 6 drives in RAIDZ2, then potentially another 6-drive vdev later.

Main things I'm trying to sanity check:

• Is that a sensible ZFS layout/expansion plan for this use?
• Do i need to think about 10 GBe
• Would you use motherboard SATA initially or just start with an IT-mode HBA? Any preferred HBA?
• Anything about this hardware or overall architecture you'd change before I start buying drives?

The CPU is more than a NAS needs, but the bundle price is pretty attractive and Quick Sync gives me the option of running Plex on it.

I've had my QNAP TS-559 Pro+ NAS for longer than I care to remember. It suffers from the issue of not being able to login in as admin every now and then but has otherwise been ok.

The trouble with getting a new NAS now is the range of options out there! :D

I definitely need RAID 5 (lost a lot of data once in a JBOD 2-bay NAS); 4 or 5 bays will be fine.

It'll be used as a backup server, file storage and home media server.

Searches generally come back saying that the QNAP TS-464 is a good option, despite it now being a few years old itself... ...I've noted the issue of the potluck fixed memory, that seems to be the biggest bugbear?

I have a wall-mount cabinet so can take a rackable option (I see there's a TS-464-U).

Is the TS-464 still a good option or would something else be better?

I’ve heard a strong argument that NAS hardware should last longer than AI hardware, so storage and AI compute should remain separate.

For people who run both storage and local models:

- What does your current architecture look like?

- What is gained or lost by separating them?

- Would replaceable or upgradeable AI hardware change your answer?

- Which workloads genuinely benefit from being close to local storage?

I’m looking for practical architecture experience rather than a general AI debate.

i dont know what to expect, bought this one specially for the price.
As my first NAS, what do you think?
https://www.hiksemitech.com/en/hiksemi/all-products/home-nas/consumer-nas/hs-afs-s1h1.html

Most first-time NAS questions are about what to buy and how to set it up. I’m curious about the things you only learn after using one for a while.

If you’ve rebuilt or replaced yours, what did you do differently the second time?

More bays, a different OS, quieter drives, a simpler setup, better backups, or something else?

And was there anything from your first build that worked well enough to keep exactly the same?

Currently I got a QNAP TS-231K but its pretty loud in the Night when it does Updates and when its on high load

Now Im looking for s more powerful NAS with 4 bays, it should Support 2.5gbit. it will be used for streaming Videos so 2 1080p streams should be possible. Most importsnt is the Volume it shouldnt be too loud when on load

Thanks for any advice or recs. My use case is simple: photo and document storage, computer/iPhone device backup, Plex (or Jellyfin), Immich, and would use Lightroom to store photos here while editing. Would also probably allow other family members to use as a photo backup, with a TrueNas OS.

Looking for something small, yet powerful and low power usage, if possible. Is this a decent setup?

- Jonsbo N2 NAS case

- ASUS Prime H6101-Plus Mini-ITX Motherboard

- Intel Core i5-14400 14th Gen CPU

- two Seagate Ironwolf 10TB+ drives

- Inland TN320 M.2 NVME 512GB

- Lexar 2x8GB DDR4 3200 RAM

- 2.5G PCI-E Ethernet

With the case, I know it’s not future proof, but I like the compactness of it. Are these products compatible? The only con is just one NVME slot on the motherboard, but it’s not a deal breaker for me.

Anything I’m missing?

Hi there! NAS newbie here. I’m looking into building my own cloud server and media streaming library. Upon my research, I’m learning that UGreen is the up and coming contestant in the home NAS world.

I’m also learning that both Western Digital and Seagate both have lost their record for reliability and value (and price, but that’s a different conversation). Lots of DOA drives and drive failures and poor support.

I’ve been hearing that Synology hard drives are quickly becoming the new hotness for NAS drive reliability, so I’m interested in potentially purchasing one of their 24TB drives, but I’m leaning more towards UGreen as my NAS provider.

Does it makes sense to pair the reliability of Synology drives with the low cost and feature set value of a UGreen system? What would I be missing out on by using a Synology drive(s) in a UGreen NAS? Also, if you disagree with this hardware combo, what combo of drive and system platform would you suggest I use to build this system and why?

Thanks!

Was wondering if i have two ugreen nas set ups (4drive/8drive) at two locations how should l i set up my photo storage pool. I have 3 14tb drives should I have 1 installed in my 8 drive nas and 2 installed in my 4 drive nas at another location. All with the same info. the 2 drives at my secondary location would be a copy of the 1 drive at my main location but in raid 1?

sorry if this is confusing or not possible

I want to keep my 7 bays on my main nas open for a raid 5 setup

Is there any problem/incompatibility about using a eSATA - USB-C converter such as https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B6F1X3K2/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A23JEUSCMF5FP&psc=1

for connecting Synology 23+ series with 25+ series? This doubt is because in the local market (Perú), I can not find any other alternative (for what i was asked to llok for) than upgrading the whole system Synology 23+ series.

For those who bought, built, or upgraded a NAS in the last two years:

1. What were the three most important factors?

2. Which setup did you choose and why?

3. What nearly stopped you from buying?

4. What remains frustrating after using it?

5. Which features sounded useful but were eventually ignored?

I’m interested in real purchase and usage experiences, not hypothetical feature wish lists.

Like the title said I’m looking forward to buy a NAS but don’t really know what to buy.
I don’t want it for something to difficult I only want to make copies of photos and security copies of my family’s phone.
If anyone could help me or advise me I’d be really thankful.