SynologyDiskStation DS923+ 4-Bay NAS Enclosure Server | AMD Ryzen R1600 Dual-Core up to 3.1 GHz | 32GB DDR4 RAM | NO HDD Installed | 1024 GB M.2 NVMe SSD

This is my first NAS purchase, and I wish I'd done it sooner. I went with this Synology unit because they seem to have the most user-friendly management interface and a solid reputation. Roughly two months in, I'm quite happy with the purchase. I'm using it mainly as a Plex media server and family data backup for multiple PCs, phones, and Apple devices. I got sick of the monthly extortion cloud data fees from Apple (and their constant nagging about increasing my cloud plan), so I set this up so I could have more control over my data. Creating my own NAS also provided the added bonuses of saving money every month while being able to tell Apple, Google, and Microsoft to pound sand.Pro tip: you don't need to use "official" Synology hard drives in this thing; theirs cost literally twice as much as comparable drives from competitors. I have mine stuffed with 20TB WD Red Pro drives, and I haven't had any trouble with them at all. When I run out of space on this unit, I'll likely chain the expansion unit to this one and keep right on hoarding data.Recommended.

It has caused more problems than it has fixed.I have lost count of the number of hours I have spent trying to trouble shoot it.I am at a point where I would rather throw it out the window than continue to hit my head against the wall.

I'll echo what some people say about Synology products - I was expecting a slightly higher build quality for the price point, but I'm still very happy with my purchase. The main incentive for me was the software suite that comes along with the hardware. Setup and remote access is a breeze. Installation of the HDDs, and setting up the Raid configuration and the additional M.2 drive for the read-write cache was also a breeze.Overall I'm very happy with how easy it was to get this whole thing set up and running, and I've had very few issues so far. The only "nice-to-have" would have been a sturdier frame for the enclosure and the drive bays, or a slightly lower price point since it's all made out of plastic. But for a complete out-of-the-box experience that is easy to set up and get going with very little hassle, you really do get a great experience for what you pay for.I should note that I did pay an extra ~ $120 to upgrade to the higher speed network adapter, as the stock network card has a pretty low 100MB/ps cap.

As advertised.

This product works well, but it loses a star because the SSD that is included is not on the approved list from Synology. So, you can't use it. Or at least you have no support if you do. So, whatever piece of the cost is related to the SSD is wasted.

Synology’s Own Apps Don’t Work With DSM 7’s “modern” security selected. One of the reasons I went with Synology was their supposedly superior software. Surveillance station's functionality was severely hampered with the recent update to DSM 7.2.2 (removed h.265 codec support). DS Video has not been updated in two years and will not work if the NAS security is set to modern. DS video has other interface and CODEC issues, but it is pathetic that Synology hasn’t even updated the ciphers used in its software so that “modern” security cannot be used on Synology’s NAS. Now Synology is deleting applications and core functionality (h.265 codec support) for "performance." Never buying another Synology. The whole point of paying a premium for Synology is their software, not their years old sub-par hardware. Synology removing h.265 support over a ~$1 per device license fee is unacceptable.Turning to Synology photos, despite 30,000+ images, the AI only recognized the subjects in less than 500 photos, and then much of the recognition was wrong. It did much better with faces, but leaves much room for improvement.