2 Bay NAS Recomendation

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Senecio

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#323581 17-Dec-2025 14:55

The time has come to get serious about improving local storage at home. Keen to get some recommendations on current NAS offerings to supplement my own Googling.

Some information

We are a Mac household with two MacBook airs that are currently backed up to a time capsule that Apple will stop supporting due to the AFP file system. Critical documents are also synced to iCloud but I need a NAS to take over local Time Machine back-ups of both laptops.
I currently run my Plex server from a 2017 NVidia Shield with a couple of 4TB external drives connected to it. Touch wood its working OK but I really wanted to replace it with NAS suitable as a media server. All local streaming is direct but my parents also leach of my Plex server remotely so hardware transcoding is required.
I also dabble in a little video editing, nothing too strenuous just GoPro footage of my outdoor adventures. All of the raw footage is stored in the GoPro cloud, I would like to do away with the GoPro subscription and store these files locally.
My home network is 2.5G capable
I would consider myself an ethusiast but I'm not looking to build my own NAS. Off the shelf systems only.
Budget?? I guess I'm looking at something in the $500-$700 for an off the shelf bare NAS coupled with a couple of 8-10GB drives

Apart from Synology and QNAP I'm not really up to speed on the current NAS offerings.

Any recomendations, anything else that I need to consider?

PS... I expect to people to recomend that I consider a 4-bay option. Respectfully, no thanks.

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#3445100 17-Dec-2025 21:32

I'm going to be that guy and say go 4 bay, it makes it so much easier to expand the size of your volume if you need to do that in the future. Just throw in another drive and let it do its thing, with 2 bays you need to increase both drives.

I use Synology, but haven't been a huge fan since they stopped putting CPU's that can transcode in them.

richms

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#3445102 17-Dec-2025 21:42

2 bays you upgrade space by getting a second one, they are fine when you have a set amount you need to store and being cheaper you can get multiple of them to get 2 of your 3-2-1 backup sorted out.

Richard rich.ms

networkn

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#3445113 17-Dec-2025 23:09

Just buy a Synology if you want plug and play. There is almost nothing easier, more widely supported. It has an excellent security record and is actively developed. They have had a couple of dumb moments this year, but that doesn't take away from just how plug and play it is, which is what 95% of people need/want.

You'll fit in budget excluding drives, but the drives alone will cost the upper end of your budget and then some.

Handle9

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#3445118 18-Dec-2025 05:10

networkn:

Just buy a Synology if you want plug and play. There is almost nothing easier, more widely supported. It has an excellent security record and is actively developed. They have had a couple of dumb moments this year, but that doesn't take away from just how plug and play it is, which is what 95% of people need/want.

You'll fit in budget excluding drives, but the drives alone will cost the upper end of your budget and then some.

Synology doesn't support hardware transcoding anymore on some more budget friendly models. It's no longer as easy as just saying buy a synology for every use case.

Yoban

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#3445136 18-Dec-2025 08:41

these are a good option 2 bay NAS Storage for Home | 14-day worry-free trial – UGREEN NAS US

RunningMan

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#3445139 18-Dec-2025 08:51

+1 for Synology. It just works, and is easy for MacOS Time Machine backups. Haven't needed to use one for transcoding, so you'd need to establish what spec is needed for that.

Again, model dependant but the higher end models have container support for docker etc. if there's other tasks you want it to handle. Higher spec models are usually able to upgrade RAM, unlike the entry level too.

They've backtracked on a recent requirement to use certified drives too thankfully https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-walks-back-controversial-compatibility-policy-for-2025-nas-units-third-party-hdd-and-ssd-support-returns-with-diskstation-manager-7-3-update

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richms

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#3445157 18-Dec-2025 10:09

Synology have looooong times they support stuff for. I have no faith that ugreen or similar will still be in the nas business in 5 years time.

If you are using the NAS as a NAS then GPU transcoding etc is a non issue, that's only if you want to start using it as a media server, which IMO is not what a small NAS is for.

They have shown their true colours with the whole branded drive requirement fiasco, and who knows when they will try that crap again tho.

Richard rich.ms

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#3445260 18-Dec-2025 11:28

I have a DS423+ that I need to sell, I've put 18GB of RAM in it, runs Plex with trans coding. It's currently packed as I'm between houses but would look to sell in the new year if its something you'd be interested in.

New price in Feb was $1833 with 2x 8TB Drives it may be close to your budget without the drives. I'd guess $800ish?

dafman

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#3445264 18-Dec-2025 11:46

+ 1 for Synology. I have a DS220+. Been running for 5 years and has never missed a beat. And very user friendly if, like me, tech is not your day job.

networkn

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#3445379 18-Dec-2025 14:15

Handle9:

Synology doesn't support hardware transcoding anymore on some more budget friendly models. It's no longer as easy as just saying buy a synology for every use case.

Regardless of brand or product, there is always some determination required for customers to ensure item is fit for purpose.

As long as I have known synology some of their units haven't been suitable for transcoding. You could work around it with software, but it's always been a thing to size your unit properly.

Synology is still an easy product to recommend. No-one is or was suggesting every Synology will fit every use case.

sqishy

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#3445381 18-Dec-2025 14:29

Had a 4 bay Synology 923+for a couple years works fine, does what it needs. The security cameras are connected but you only get 2 licenses free, but if you google them you can buy one for NZ$80 one off payment. NB: the M.2 only works with the drives they recommend. But I did add 2 x 16GB DDR4 ram and that works fine.

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lxsw20

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#3445390 18-Dec-2025 15:14

There is a script so you can run alternative SSD's

https://github.com/007revad/Synology_HDD_db

As for transcoding, its not a sizing issue as much as they have moved most of their processing from Intel to AMD with no built in GPU is my understanding.

Tinkerisk

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#3445392 18-Dec-2025 15:24

I always recommend the cheapest 2-bay system available to my clients with exactly this requirement profile. Why? Because it won't cost them so much if they buy a decent 4-bay system shortly afterwards.

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Handle9

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#3445450 18-Dec-2025 16:30

lxsw20:

There is a script so you can run alternative SSD's

https://github.com/007revad/Synology_HDD_db

As for transcoding, its not a sizing issue as much as they have moved most of their processing from Intel to AMD with no built in GPU is my understanding.

The lack of transcoding I mentioned isn’t hardware. They have removed the drivers from DSM.

The whole point of Synology is meant to be “it just works” but increasingly it doesn’t.

lxsw20

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#3445451 18-Dec-2025 16:31

Thanks, i did not know that, i thought it was just the processor shift.

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