So, if synology is enshitified, what should people be looking at for nas replacements? Qnap? A custom build of some sort?
this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025
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go custom build with xpenology and go full psycho by breaking something then ask for support ticket from synology
QNap running QuTS hero or dIY truenas scale
I see people saying “build your own”, and though I have the technical expertise to do it, the big draws for Synology for me was the form factor and all the stuff in the OS. I can probably recreate the latter easily enough, but where can I find a 2-4 bay system that small and good looking that I can work with?
Something like truenas (or a more user-friendly fork like hexos) on basically any hardware would get you there. If you want something in a 2-4 bay + server form factor, look at the options from minisforum. Level1techs have done some pretty good videos on their various offerings over the years.
That said... once you go full rack you never go back :)
Yeah but that misses the key point. I don’t want a large chunky server. I love how small the 2-bay Synologies are, even the 4 bays are compact. Know any generic hardware like that? Looking like I may move to QNAP next.
I'm interested in that as well. I want to get a 4 or 6 bay form factor for the home that's reasonably quiet and supports easily swapping out drives. I'm fine with using something like TrueNAS on the software side, but I want hardware that fits together nicely and not some sort of Frankenstein desktop tower.
Yes, minisforum makes many bespoke solutions that are nas sized. What requirements are you looking for that they don't meet?
I went through and their NAS section was completely empty. Something like the synology that’s got 2-4 hot swap 3.5” bays slightly bigger than the size of the bays.
Edit: morning typing is hard
It’s not TOO hard to build a 5- or 8- drive mini-ITX system, and I like my Jonsbo case well enough.
Main issues:
- mini-ITX server motherboards are expensive (even asrock-rack).
- mini-ITX server motherboards use OCuLink to connect hard drives. The cables aren’t sold to consumers, and there are two wiring standards for OCuLink-SATA cables that are unmarked (I got lucky on ebay).
- mini-ITX server motherboards use unbuffered ECC ram in a laptop form factor, which is very specific and again expensive.
So the technical barriers are real.
It's almost like they forgot what RAID stands for.
Man, that sucks. I’ve had a Synology NAS for almost 15 years and its feature set has been great. From built in servers to 2FA to VPN it’s been easy to use. Sure, you can DIY a NAS, but then it’s always cobbling together parts that all require individual maintaining vs one-stop shopping with Synology. Ah well, when this one dies I guess I’ll be looking at FOSS/DIY.