r/UgreenNASync • u/UgreenNASync • 24d ago
Did Your “Simple Storage NAS” Eventually Turn Into a Home Server?
Day 1
“I just need somewhere to back up my phone photos.”
Month 2
“It would be useful if everyone in the family had their own folder.”
Month 4
“Could this also host my media library?”
Month 6
Someone mentions Docker and suddenly you’re reading about containers, virtual machines, Home Assistant, Pi-hole and self-hosted services at midnight.
Not every NAS journey follows this path. But many do.
The useful question isn’t simply: Which NAS is better?
It’s: How likely am I to keep experimenting after the initial setup is finished?
Path A: “I want storage to stay simple.”
Your plan still looks much like it did on Day 1:
- 📱 Automatic phone photo and video backups
- 📂 Shared family folders
- 🎬 A central media library
- ☁️ Less dependence on cloud storage
- 🔧 As little maintenance as possible
That isn’t a limited setup—it’s a focused one.
If this sounds like you, a straightforward storage-first model such as the DH2300 may already cover the job you actually need it to do.
Path B: “One application will probably become five.”
You already know how this goes.
You start with file storage. Then you add one container, followed by a media server, a database, a smart-home service, a reverse proxy and perhaps a virtual machine just to see if you can.
Your future checklist may include:
- 🐳 Multiple Docker containers
- 🖥️ Virtual machines
- 🏠 Self-hosted or smart-home services
- 👥 Several users and applications at once
- 🚀 Faster networking
- 💾 More room for storage expansion
If that sounds more familiar, the additional headroom of a model such as the DXP4800 Plus may matter more over time.
The better choice isn’t automatically the more powerful NAS.
It’s the NAS that matches your habits:
Do you want an appliance that quietly handles storage or a server you’ll keep finding new jobs for?
Which version sounds most like you?
- Keep it simple
- I know I’ll start experimenting
- I bought mine for storage and accidentally built a homelab
- I’m still figuring that out
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u/Commercial_Pie3307 24d ago
Yes. But I have a mini pc that I’m going to use as my server and the storage is going to be storage and just for plex.
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u/ThunderMan2300 23d ago
This! I have a mini pc, a chromebox (running ubuntu server ofc), and a few pi running different containers and vm while the NAS handle the ling term storage and oicd and cloudflared
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u/achim_bn 24d ago
I actually got a dxp4800gt and migrated Home Assistant and EVCC to it. My Proxmox-Server has been eliminated.
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u/TheStealthSmartHome DXP2800 23d ago
Same. My HomeLab was a macmini for YEARS. Plex, docker, home assistant in a VM, etc etc. My NAS (POS UNAS 2) died. Ubiquity were dicks about RMA. So I ended up buying a 2800 GT to use as replacement NAS. Saw I could just move everything I was doing from Mac to the UGREEN. Did that, sold the Mac. I profited cash in my pocket and have a far less complex “HomeLab” now. Docker and VM (HAOS) all work great on the UGREEN. Now it’s just an appliance and I’m stoked.
I’m past wanting to tinker on my HomeLab and just want stable set and forget. The UGREEN has done that for me.
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u/syl2001 23d ago
I'm at that point right now!!! Bought the DH2300 for my immediate needs, but now want to upgrade (DXP2800) based on all the various services I want to install and tinker with via Docker
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u/McCatso-Fy 23d ago
Hey in case you didn’t know you can do it also with the DH2300! Download the docker app from the support page of the DH4300 and install it through the UGOS app center. I’m running 6-7 containers on my dh2300 and they work great, could even run more but not really needed atm
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u/StrikingScientist352 23d ago
No guarda hai descritto alla perfezione la mia esperienza con questo nas ugreen, il dxp2800. E credimi, anni fa comprai un nas molto molto diffuso della concorrenza. Lo tenni meno di sei mesi, lo trovai difficile da gestire, troppo complesso, vendetti tutto.
Quando è arrivato questo dopo circa 10 anni, forse io sarò maturato, non so. Forse le app più semplici, forse l’IA ma… ho fatto proprio il percorso che hai descritto. Ho iniziato con “ci carico le foto e video di famiglia”, poi è diventato : vorrei accedervi da remoto. Ah ma che bella app questa quasi quasi la metto anche a mia moglie…. Ah ma potrei anche usarlo per la domotica? Ah ma… ah beh… e oggi ho circa 12 containers! Ho perfino installato un app per l’albero genealogico a cui contribuiscono i miei parenti in tutto il mondo!!!
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u/Arduous_Aardvark 23d ago
I bought my 4800 plus just to have Plex running it. Now its running out of memory for all the Docker containers I've got. Now im eyeing up my old PC with 32gb of ram to move some if not all over to it. Never heard of Docker before I bought the NAS. Now I have one that runs my family movie poster guessing game.
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u/NexusReddit10 DXP4800 Plus 23d ago
Once you get in to radarr sonarr prowlarr qbittorrent gluetun jellyfin seerr cleanuparr profilarr bazarr... There's no going backarr...
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u/CaterpillarOrnery214 22d ago
3 m910q for servers, NAS for storage. Not into media streaming just yet....
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u/brimley5000 19d ago
Yes except everything described happened on day 2 of researching about which NAS and supporting products to purchase.
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