Easy. Look for an 8 core cpu in the same performance region, add 6 bays, 2x10gb SFP. 

olivernz:

 

Easy. Look for an 8 core cpu in the same performance region, add 6 bays, 2x10gb SFP. 

 

Ah ok, my bad. I thought you were saying you needed to spend $3.5k to get Synology or QNAP performance.

You meant the opposite.

I mean look at this! $5k and still nowhere near!
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NASQNP674532T/QNAP-TVS-h674T-i5-32G-Business-Thunderbolt-6-Bay-D

olivernz:

 

I mean look at this! $5k and still nowhere near!
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NASQNP674532T/QNAP-TVS-h674T-i5-32G-Business-Thunderbolt-6-Bay-D

 

I really don't have a big issue with that.

There is a cost to QNAP and Synology etc to provide hardware, software and support. At least they disclose it up front and consumers can choose what they do.

If a company needs to charge a certain price for their products that's fine for me. They have an amount of money they need to make and there are heaps of options out there. What I have a real problem with is BS gatekeeping like what Synology have done with hard drives. There is no technical reason for it, it's purely about vendor lockin and making more revenue.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Synology will introduce a subscription tier for updates. To be clear I have no knowledge that this will happen but it fits their MO.

Rent seeking is everywhere and I presume you will be right. The drive thing is an absolute KO for Synology. May make sense if your goal is corporate only. Wonder if QNAP will follow suit. But that's what competition is all about and we've seen it again and again where incumbents lean back and miss the next big thing. Will be interesting to watch. 

Oh and there's now the Minisforum N5 AI Pro now too with the AMD 370 processor

https://store.minisforum.com/en-nz/products/minisforum-n5-pro

But $1299 (US). And 20% off with code NAS80. A bit steep especially once you add RAM.

(hides his 2 bay 10 year old clunker)

Just had a look, the AMD 370 is a nice chip but not that much faster than the 8845HS. All speed improvements seem to be mainly the extra 4 cores. The 370 does seem a lot less power hungry though.
 But one thing I noted is, that the 370 has 4 fewer PCI lanes (16 vs 20 for the 8845HS)! Which I find odd. It may explain the fewer devices on the Minisforum. Makes it more of a laptop chip. May explain the choice that Aoostar made.

Minisforum N5 Pro NAS Review - Did Minisforum just WIN at NAS? by NASCompares

Well we have to wait for the comparison video don't we ;-)

Here is the comparison

https://youtu.be/rjw6P85iGd8?si=JZFqblIq2I5mph2b

Great review and really exciting products... 
My Synology setup is now almost 6 years old and other than some backups of devices currently in use, is really just there now for storing Plex material.  I've recently moved the Plex Server role off to a NUC11 which is working great, and am considering one or perhaps two 14-18Tb external drives directly attached as a suitable replacement.  

Interested in what others might have done, and whether one of these would be a better option, or require too much effort to set up?

Xmas today :-))))

This thing is SMALL! It looks way bigger in pictures. Solidly built. So far nothing looks or feels cheap. I find the caddies better quality than my QNAP tbh. Chucked in the ram and boot SSD and that was easy as. Now comes the hard part....migrating a NAS! 
Oh and responsive and good after sales service!

Noice! Have fun.