Hey guys, I thought I would ask if anyone is using a NAS. I was thinking of getting one for backup and media storage. I could use any tips or tricks about using a NAS. I asked this question on the Synology forum and got no response. I have 11,000 music files, 18,000 photos and 3tb of movies and shows from dvd in MKV format. I have this data backed up but using a NAS with raid pretty much insures no data loss. I was planning on getting a Synology DS720+ with 2 8tb drives. If any of you would like to share your experience I am willing to listen.
This is a misconception. With only 2 drives you can't use Raid 5/6 which offers the "best" level of redundancy when compared to other raid levels. Even then if you have critical data you should always have a secondary backup (even if its just a single drive unit).
EDIT: In my case I have photos on my main desktop drive/a second dekstop drive as well as my NAS.
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My Synology has been awesome. I have a much older one.
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hahahah I saw your post pre edit. Spellcheck can be so hilarious!
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I have used some cheaper backup solutions and other NAS products. I bought a Synology RS819 (because I wanted a rack mount) about 4 months ago. I love it! I have 4 2TB drives using SHR (not direct RAID, I find SHR fine for my uses). I love that I can auto backup my phone camera, the drive app, etc. It was also super easy to setup things up so that it backs up all of my files to OneDrive nightly for an off site backup. I have been very happy with the Synology. It was quick to setup and it's worked flawlessly since I got it.
I was planning on backing up the NAS and keeping that backup in the garage in case the house burns down.
I have a Synology NAS. Photos and video's go from our phones and cameras to onedrive (as soon as they are taken) which is then synced down to our NAS as well so we have cloud backups and local storage of all our pics (Currently 24677 over the last 10 years or so). This method also means when we are travelling the pics are stored at home before we even get back. The NAS also stores our movies for Kodi (1300 or so, not synced to Onedrive). I also have it setup to not remove from the cloud if removed from the NAS and the other way around incase of an accidental deletion. Well worth it for us as we have lost pics before 
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I have a love-hate relationship with Synology. As long as I stay away from the SSH prompts, I love it. They have not been overly forgiving to my changes under the hood, though. (I've been working professionally with Unix/Linux for 30+ years, FWIW.)
My current unit is a DS918+ that I bought back in the late spring, with four 4TB drives. I maxed out the RAM, and am running Docker containers for HOOBS, Pi-Hole, and a Unifi Controller on the NAS. It is also connected to my Eaton UPS via USB, and sends shutdown signals to my Hubitat hub whenever the power fails.....
Thanks for your input. I use a Mac and I didn’t even know what OneDrive was till I looked it up. I don’t think you can have too much backup.
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Yup. I had a family member whose house burned down... lost literally everything. Off site is worth it. OneDrive is free if you have an Office 365 subscription (I have a Mac for work... I can't stand Apple's office suite!) so I had a free 6TB or storage to use!
I also have many movies to put on a NAS but I don’t know which media player I will pick to play them. I have Fire Tv’s and I believe Synology has it’s own app I can use. I will have to weigh the pros and cons.
Sounds like you have it all figured out. I don’t think I am that smart.
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I installed Kodi on my firesticks and xbox, works great 
I very occasionally use the Synology app if I want to watch on the phone or ipad but that's pretty rare.
I am leaning towards Kodi. I am presently using it on my Mac to play the video files
i have qnap 2 of them .. but yes you need at least 4-5 drives. use for backups, plex server at one location music server and also host of alexa cookie update for voice for the hubitat.
I only have two drives but it is also mirrored to the cloud, I think the cloud/local storage combination is a pretty solid option these days. I got burned by photobucket when they changed their pricing etc hence why I use the NAS and cloud storage now.
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not for hosting content for your plex server or automatically pulling shows off your tivo so you can watch via plex when you are at your other location.. too much data. other than that ya.
I am kinda cheap. If I buy a NAS, I don’t want to pay for cloud storage. Like I said before, I will backup the NAS and keep it off site.
I have had many NAS's. QNAP sucks... unless you like to lose data. Synology is just the opposite - a very well designed and reliable system.
I personally DONT like RAID5 and prefer a mirror'd RAID system for redundancy. I've had RAID5 volumes not rebuild properly (and IBM server actually). Mirror'd raid systems are much more simple...
I also recommend Duplicacy for a good backup solution... YMMV
I was planning on using the SHR that comes with the Synology.
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