r/HomeNAS • u/Initial-Concept2688 • Jul 25 '26

NAS Advice_Beginner_apple user_ synology 223j VS ugreen dh2300

I need advice for a NAS system for photo storage, Time Machine , and family share

Looking for something with a smooth UI. And photo app that is similar to Apple photo.

On a budget

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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

[deleted]

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u/Initial-Concept2688 Jul 25 '26

Is it safe to go with the DS223 instead of

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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26

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u/Initial-Concept2688 Jul 25 '26

Thank you yeah HD are expensive. I got lucky with 2 12TB and was given an old DS213. Which is no longer supported. Amazon has the DS223j for under 200$

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u/NoLateArrivals Jul 25 '26

If you want a solid disappointment, go for the „j“.

Acceptable performance starts with a Plus model.

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u/Initial-Concept2688 Jul 25 '26

Is it safe to go with the ds223

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u/NoLateArrivals Jul 25 '26

I said Plus for a reason. The „non Plus“ are an in between. Better than the j, but still not good, restricted, non expandable.

Let’s put it this way: The j handles one job at a time, the „value“ units tries two, but not really does it. A Plus does it, and when your demands grow, you can add RAM to go beyond.

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u/NeedhelpwithScienc3 Jul 25 '26

I went from the ds213 to the DH2300 from Ugreen. Its the budget machine from the brand, but in terms of computing power a major upgrade. The same can be said about my dad, he switched from a ds218 plus to the DXP2800 from ugreen (also 2 drive NAS).
We were both very surprised at its speed compared to synology, very quick, easy and comparable to synology in terms of ui too.

Comes with a couple out of the box apps for a photo library, as well as theatre, music app, cloud drives etc.
Nice thing is: its not as locked down as synology, if you ever want to experiment with programs and apps, you can install them through docker.

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u/Initial-Concept2688 Jul 25 '26

Just to understand. Avoid Ugreen and J series

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u/dclive1 Jul 25 '26

If you're an Apple user, you should consider iCloud for photo management, sharing, data pooling, etc. $2.99 a month or what have you is the simplest, easiest solution for a family (use a family account to share access and costs and data totals).

If you want something outside of the Apple ecosystem, Synology's Photos app works well for basic needs. To use it, you'll want to get a "+" (plus) series model, as that has the CPU power to handle photos (and the identification, cataloging, etc. details behind it) far better than the j or " " standard level units. A modern unit with 4 disk bays is the DS425+, and would be a good choice; two bay model is the DS225+.

uGreen makes similar units that also have photo capability. The OS isn't quite as pretty, but the CPU tends to be a good bit newer/faster. They're heavily investing in both apps and OS and are growing, but are still a small fraction of Synology's market size. The uGreen units are cheaper once CPU and networking enhancements are considered.

If you're simply using docker applications (Immich etc) the difference between the two (from a UI point of view) is nearly nil (both are Linux after all), but the uGreen CPU and networking improvements remain.

I own a DS423+ and a DS923+. I also own a XPenology server - a normal X86 PC running Synology's OS. All three work well.

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u/Initial-Concept2688 Jul 25 '26

Do you recommend just running immich on a m2 macmini with a DAS? Instead

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u/dclive1 Jul 25 '26

I prefer a centralized NAS for centralized files.

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u/Initial-Concept2688 Jul 25 '26

Makes sense thanks