Fantastic UI videos, especially that you get right to the point. Glad to see UI focusing UNAS Pro as a NAS solution versus an applications platform (I admit I would miss Plex). If you have any feedback "path" to UI, would love to see UNAS cloud backup/sync improvements as part of a best practices NAS solutions. Specifically, adding other leading cloud providers like Amazon S3, Azure, and better options for dealing with sync/back conflicts like you find in QNAP, Synology or any mature NAS.
I like what they have done here. It's not ready to replace my Synology Rack that I use for Syncing with Drive and offsite clients, but it looks like a great start. Will be following their progress as I love all my other Ubiquiti devices that run my home network.
Sounds like a very attractive option! I fully agree that support for NAS basics should have utmost priority and personally I don't rely on any non-essential functionality (other than media transcoding). I'd want RAID 6, though, and struggle to see why it isn't offered yet. It would be great to see a future model that will also support media transcoding. I believe that is a useful addition to have for a storage device, i.e., it shouldn't be regarded as one of the many "luxury" features like running Docker containers that many NAS solutions offer on top of basic file storage.
Great review, thanks 🙏. RAID 6 would be nice, apparently, that's coming in a future release. Everyone will always compare and comment on the lack of Docker/Kubernetes/VN Functionality. A lot of HOME NAS's are providing app functionality, and probably Plex/Emby etc, which this one is gong to struggle with. That means storing your data here and having a head end Plex encoding server to do the grunt work@
Hi there, thanks for the video. I am looking to see the following: 1. iPhone and Android Applications to backup the pictures from the phone into the UNAS. 2. something similar to google documents to create office documents directly on the UNAS. 3. backup up one entire windows computer to the UNAS, similar to synology backup for business. .
Thank you for the review, sadly NFS is a must have for me. Hoping they add this later down the road, maybe together with a 3-slot 1u device which would be sufficient for my personal needs as an onsite family vault.
Need a 12-bay version, ability to upgrade RAM and set a large read cache, ability to create a write-cache mirror (or better) using nvme/flash in the bays, and options like RAID-6 instead of RAID-5, and iSCSI support! And for the love of God, Ubiquiti, release the 100Gbit connectivity switches and ports!
I understand creating a purely NAS product rather than a NAS that is also application server like Synology/QNAP. I do believe that UI Verify brings nice access controls to the data. However, CIFS/SMB + AFS does not a NAS make. Where's NFS and iSCSI??? If they are offering a 10Gbps NIC, then why is not also an iSCSI target? If Ubiquiti wants to play in the Enterprise or even in the serious Homelab realm, then iSCSI and NFS are going to be key requirements. Oh and where are the RAW LUN options? Is the file system EXT4, RAIDn?, Zfs, RAIDz?
I assume we could block external access to the nas through the unifi router, rather than through a nas specific firewall rule set like with symbology systems?
What about apps such as Docker, VMs, media application (eg Plex) and all the other things we have entrusted to NASes? Are there any vendor restrictions on SSD / HDD? How fast is the backplane & is it SATA only? Is there anything akin to BTRFS and data scrubs to account for bit rot? Is there any drive caching to RAM? How long does it take to rebuild an array post-failure? How does it protect itself from power failures if it cannot connect to a UPS? At the moment it looks like an (enlarged) Apple TimeMachine from a decade ago. The price point probably recognises how limited it is as a device but as the drives make up a significant part of a NAS investment the overall cost to the consumer vs its capability may limit its appeal.
A quad-core ARM would choke on anything multimedia related. With this hardware specs it is extremely unlikely additional features are planned (other than file management). My first diskstation in 2014 had the same specs although less RAM. It was a pure file server. Which is essentially what NAS is about.
Nothing yet, though I'm sure they'll add more as time goes on. It is certainly a basic NAS at this point, but I think that's exactly what they set out to release.
none of these, Ubiquiti may probably release a proper, more powerful variant later, at higher cost, as I see it, this is a rack backup-only device for your primary NAS/server
@@WunderTechTutorials So I could use a udm se with a hard drive for cameras and switch their Network video recorder later and use the NAS just for network files? Thanks I am sorting out all the details before I buy and build.
Yes, you can use the UDM SE temporarily as your NVR, and then switch to a dedicated NVR in the future if you want. The NAS would then be relegated to network files, backups, etc.
You skimmed past one thing pretty quick, I saw it allowed linking to Active Directory on the drop down. Did you test that out and, if so, how easy / well did that go?
Thanks for the Video, very good explenation! The performance of 600-700 MB/s is quite good but at which HDD Konfiguration Raid 0, 1, 5, 6 or 10 ?? And how many HDD-drives do you use? Is RAM or SSD Cache possible?
I really like the file-based backup approach. I don't want to mess with backup software in case I just want to access an older version of a file or a directory. I don't like the "all or nothing" philosophy underlying proprietary backup formats.
Just saw this from a number of my subscriptions... looking pretty good especially as I am literally right now specing out the Ubiquiti ecosystem (just bought a UDM Pro last week). Great and informative video! A few questions on initial inspection: 1. I assume that with only 1 x 1Gb and 1 x 10Gb SPF that there is no link aggregation. Is there an option for failover at all? 2. Will RAM be expandable?
Thanks! Right now, no link Aggregation and I don't believe the RAM is expandable. My thoughts (with no info whatsoever) is this will be a starter device and some sort of "Pro Max" device will come with more of the features people are looking for from a hardware perspective, and by then, the software will catch up.
Curious as I can't find any information on this, but can you expand the RAID-5 volume if you start with 3 or 4 drives and want to add drives later but extend the existing volume? Also, any information on what the largest drive and volume size is?
Yes, the pool/volume is expanded by simply adding the drives. There's no further configuration. Not sure what the largest size is but Robbie @ NASCompares tested with 22 or 24TB drives without an issue.
I think what this Unify NAS loses out to Synology is the fact that it doesn’t support hybrid raids. Conventional raids forces the user to buy the exact same model and same capacity without the allowance of upgrades for higher capacities
When I use the drive encryption feature in UNAS, after setting the password, I need to restart the device for the encryption setting to take effect. when I enter the password to decrypt, I also need to restart UNAS to re-encrypt. Is there any other way to avoid needing to restart the device for the encryption to take effect?
Will I be able to remotely access my NAS files without using VPN? I would like it to function similarly to DropBox, using a Windows client so that the NAS files appear in Windows explorer.
It's a NAS not a media server. If you need/want a media server then this is not the product for you. Don't expect a wheel to operate as a pulley even though it could if configured to do so. For me this does exactly what I need: friendly snapshot backups, shared drives, backups and general network storage.
I like what they've presented to us, for now. I think I'll have to pass on this one as it's too basic. I really like how solid the software is as a start point. Drive encryption needs servious work. - Sooooo... future units, need 10g/rj45, nvme, more ram 32gig min, beefier cpu, and docker/virtual machine. When that happens I'm in for multiple units without hesitation.
@@WunderTechTutorials videos recorded in 360 degree format. Think virtual tour videos. We do a lot of site walkthroughs and share them with coworkers. It would be nice if the video player in Unifi can play the video and allow for panning around in the video while streaming.
Nothing can compare to DSM Software on Synology, Synology just needs to step it up with there hardware. This looks like it might get some where when apps are added also the type of file system used. Just my 2 cents Price wise not bad...
Excellent presentation. Thank you. You are really knocking this crap out of the park. Cant believe you don't have a million subs. Keep up the work and make it happen (maybe lose that dark ass background ).
@@mattschoular8844 It looks like he is working from a cave with candles for lighting. If he gets to the point where is is actually showing us equipment and tinkering with stuff (which is coming I hope), its going to be a problem if we cant see what he is doing.
Can you use this for docker / plex / pi holes. Followed you for a bit with the whole synology setup. So curious if this will be able to handle all of that to replace my old synology.
Can't compare this with Synology. Performance blows them out of the water. In the same price point, or even higher, Synology limits you to 1 gig ports. Which is pathetic. Is this unit lacking some features? Yes. However, for a first gen appliance, I think it's pretty damned good.
A NAS is nothing other than network-attached storage. All of the other stuff is generally server-based applications, so I'd say those are better categorized as a home server with NAS functionality and this is a true NAS.
Quad core ARM and 8gb RAM? Thats awful, even for a idle dream machine (while this is a file-shuffling NAS with backup & snapshots)! Were talking about rack mounted Synologies from 2010 = Unifi in 2024 *facepalm*. Yes, I know we're just talking stable file services but it is still a kill for any services beyond SMB, not least what might come in the near future. Only reason to go here is if you're heavily invested in the Unifi eco system (as the extremely pricey Unifi Protect), or JUST need accessible files and for some reason have'nt the knowledge of server management.
Sorry but no, it is not a good product, it might be very polished, but if you need a nas in any sort of smb use, you need to have at least NFS and iSCSI down. And for home use you need to have docker integration. There's not real market for that thing. Everyone should just gran a Syno and call it a day. I'm not a particular fan of them, but at least you get everything you need and a very usable web frontend.
I don't disagree that more is wanted (and needed) in some cases, but the challenge with this is that clearly, Ubiquiti had a goal with this device and it was ease of use. They prioritized it ahead of just about everything else, including other features, so in isolated cases, people may need a NAS to do those things, but at the same time, it doesn't seem like they were targeting those people. With that said, I can certainly see a future device (and I have zero info on this) that has better hardware that will allow for more software features.
You’re thinking about this device wrong. Tell me what other manufacturer gives a rack mounted 7 drive network attached file system? You can easily pair this with a mini PC that runs a type I hypervisor like ProxMox to run all your VMs like Plex. I agree this NAS should support iSCSI and NFS, but this device does not need to be able to run VMs at this price point.
Everyone has gotten used to NAS manufacturers providing turn key solutions that try to everything in one box, but in reality most of those NAS servers are weak, old CPUs that are overpriced. I personally don’t mind having a separate file system server and a compute server that runs VMs/containers. That gives me freedom to select a more powerful consumer CPU with either a better integrated graphics or have a separate dedicated consumer GPU. In my opinion, unless you’re buying a server grade ATX motherboard with a server grade CPU (like AMD Epyc or Intel Xeon), why are you wanting to run a file system and your VMs on the same CPU and RAM?
I don't have anything against a separate file server. I actually like it more than HCI tbh, but you just need NFS and or iSCSI. SMB is a terrible protocol for such use cases. Only very basic Media file shares are okay, as they don't contain much files and the ones that are there have big sizes so performance is okay. And having a kinda weak cpu is fine for iSCSI and NFS, for most use cases quad-core arm processors are fine for that. A price wise comparable 6bay syno also has a quad-core arm btw. Yes it's not rack mountable and the cpu is probably still weaker and you don't get 10GB, which is definitely greatly appreciated, but it's featureset is just weak.
Fantastic UI videos, especially that you get right to the point. Glad to see UI focusing UNAS Pro as a NAS solution versus an applications platform (I admit I would miss Plex). If you have any feedback "path" to UI, would love to see UNAS cloud backup/sync improvements as part of a best practices NAS solutions. Specifically, adding other leading cloud providers like Amazon S3, Azure, and better options for dealing with sync/back conflicts like you find in QNAP, Synology or any mature NAS.
Thanks for testing this with 6 HDDs in RAID 10. You seem to be getting better speeds than other reviewers, and I think that’s why.
Ubiquiti timed this release perfectly for me and I really appreciate your review. Ordering one today.
I like what they have done here. It's not ready to replace my Synology Rack that I use for Syncing with Drive and offsite clients, but it looks like a great start. Will be following their progress as I love all my other Ubiquiti devices that run my home network.
Great job covering the NAS release. Best of them on YT. Device looks promising. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Tony! I really appreciate you watching.
Great video, thanks for the in-depth info. This definitely looks like a well made and competitively priced product. Very promising 🤞
Very well presented, we can hardly keep with the new stuff lunched from Ubiquity every year.
Thank you very much! Appreciate you watching!
For launching it’s an amazing product. Agree with you
Sounds like a very attractive option! I fully agree that support for NAS basics should have utmost priority and personally I don't rely on any non-essential functionality (other than media transcoding). I'd want RAID 6, though, and struggle to see why it isn't offered yet. It would be great to see a future model that will also support media transcoding. I believe that is a useful addition to have for a storage device, i.e., it shouldn't be regarded as one of the many "luxury" features like running Docker containers that many NAS solutions offer on top of basic file storage.
I wish they would release 2 or 3 Bay model in 1U or micro tower form factor.
i would like a 10 Bay Microtower like a Synology 2422+. Sadly a Serverrack is not possible at my Location.
I can't wait!!
Great review, thanks 🙏. RAID 6 would be nice, apparently, that's coming in a future release. Everyone will always compare and comment on the lack of Docker/Kubernetes/VN Functionality. A lot of HOME NAS's are providing app functionality, and probably Plex/Emby etc, which this one is gong to struggle with. That means storing your data here and having a head end Plex encoding server to do the grunt work@
Hi there, thanks for the video.
I am looking to see the following:
1. iPhone and Android Applications to backup the pictures from the phone into the UNAS.
2. something similar to google documents to create office documents directly on the UNAS.
3. backup up one entire windows computer to the UNAS, similar to synology backup for business. .
Nice review, this NAS is not a replacement for QNAP or UGreen. Nice for the Unifi ego system.
Thank you for the review, sadly NFS is a must have for me. Hoping they add this later down the road, maybe together with a 3-slot 1u device which would be sufficient for my personal needs as an onsite family vault.
NFS is being added in the next update 😉
Need a 12-bay version, ability to upgrade RAM and set a large read cache, ability to create a write-cache mirror (or better) using nvme/flash in the bays, and options like RAID-6 instead of RAID-5, and iSCSI support! And for the love of God, Ubiquiti, release the 100Gbit connectivity switches and ports!
You should do tutorial setting up unifi network
UPS monitoring and SSD cache would make this a killer when they come out with a true "pro model"
M.2 would be a nice little add on in v2 of this NAS
I understand creating a purely NAS product rather than a NAS that is also application server like Synology/QNAP. I do believe that UI Verify brings nice access controls to the data. However, CIFS/SMB + AFS does not a NAS make. Where's NFS and iSCSI??? If they are offering a 10Gbps NIC, then why is not also an iSCSI target? If Ubiquiti wants to play in the Enterprise or even in the serious Homelab realm, then iSCSI and NFS are going to be key requirements. Oh and where are the RAW LUN options? Is the file system EXT4, RAIDn?, Zfs, RAIDz?
I assume we could block external access to the nas through the unifi router, rather than through a nas specific firewall rule set like with symbology systems?
Yes, you can limit access if you'd like (would most likely need to allow access for updates, though)!
What about apps such as Docker, VMs, media application (eg Plex) and all the other things we have entrusted to NASes? Are there any vendor restrictions on SSD / HDD? How fast is the backplane & is it SATA only? Is there anything akin to BTRFS and data scrubs to account for bit rot? Is there any drive caching to RAM? How long does it take to rebuild an array post-failure? How does it protect itself from power failures if it cannot connect to a UPS?
At the moment it looks like an (enlarged) Apple TimeMachine from a decade ago. The price point probably recognises how limited it is as a device but as the drives make up a significant part of a NAS investment the overall cost to the consumer vs its capability may limit its appeal.
A quad-core ARM would choke on anything multimedia related. With this hardware specs it is extremely unlikely additional features are planned (other than file management).
My first diskstation in 2014 had the same specs although less RAM. It was a pure file server. Which is essentially what NAS is about.
Nothing yet, though I'm sure they'll add more as time goes on. It is certainly a basic NAS at this point, but I think that's exactly what they set out to release.
I think you are asking alot for rack mount at that price point
I'd guess SATA only just like the Protect NVR (I was so disappointed). I didn't see anything to mitigate bit rot either.
none of these, Ubiquiti may probably release a proper, more powerful variant later, at higher cost,
as I see it, this is a rack backup-only device for your primary NAS/server
Can you use it for portect and my cameras as well and time machine and have my partner store photos from her PC all at the same time? Thanks.
You cannot use it to record cameras for Protect, unfortunately. Yes to Time Machine and storing data.
@@WunderTechTutorials So I could use a udm se with a hard drive for cameras and switch their Network video recorder later and use the NAS just for network files? Thanks I am sorting out all the details before I buy and build.
Yes, you can use the UDM SE temporarily as your NVR, and then switch to a dedicated NVR in the future if you want. The NAS would then be relegated to network files, backups, etc.
You skimmed past one thing pretty quick, I saw it allowed linking to Active Directory on the drop down. Did you test that out and, if so, how easy / well did that go?
Thanks for the Video, very good explenation! The performance of 600-700 MB/s is quite good but at which HDD Konfiguration Raid 0, 1, 5, 6 or 10 ?? And how many HDD-drives do you use? Is RAM or SSD Cache possible?
Thank you! I saw the same performance between RAID 5/10 - can't saturate 10Gb, but hovers around 5-7.5.
I really like the file-based backup approach. I don't want to mess with backup software in case I just want to access an older version of a file or a directory. I don't like the "all or nothing" philosophy underlying proprietary backup formats.
No NFS is a show stopper for me. As storage for Kubernetes it must support file permissions which don’t work with SMB.
The software was updated and now has NFS.
@@WunderTechTutorials Oh, then this might get interesting. Now I hope they'll add CNAME/Wildcard DNS to UDM SE.
Just saw this from a number of my subscriptions... looking pretty good especially as I am literally right now specing out the Ubiquiti ecosystem (just bought a UDM Pro last week).
Great and informative video!
A few questions on initial inspection:
1. I assume that with only 1 x 1Gb and 1 x 10Gb SPF that there is no link aggregation. Is there an option for failover at all?
2. Will RAM be expandable?
Thanks! Right now, no link Aggregation and I don't believe the RAM is expandable. My thoughts (with no info whatsoever) is this will be a starter device and some sort of "Pro Max" device will come with more of the features people are looking for from a hardware perspective, and by then, the software will catch up.
I need seemless sync from iphone to NAS everytime I re-connect to my WiFi network. Will it have that functionality?
I think one thing missed is how big of drives can it support.
Robbie over at NASCompares tested 22 or 24TB drives without a problem.
Thanks for a great review. How is the noise level compared to a Synology Nas ?
Thanks! Quiet, outside of the hard drives, but the Synology devices are very quiet too.
@@WunderTechTutorials thank you :)
Thanls Frank, great review. Forgive a dumb question but is there an integration to back up from Unifi Protect?
Thank you! Right now, no, but I am really hoping that they add it to Protect in the future.
Curious as I can't find any information on this, but can you expand the RAID-5 volume if you start with 3 or 4 drives and want to add drives later but extend the existing volume? Also, any information on what the largest drive and volume size is?
Yes, the pool/volume is expanded by simply adding the drives. There's no further configuration. Not sure what the largest size is but Robbie @ NASCompares tested with 22 or 24TB drives without an issue.
@@WunderTechTutorials Awesome, thank you!
Is it possible to make 2 RAID Arrays on the NAS, let's say one "Basic" with 3 drives and one "Higher" with 4 drives?
Right now, no, but hopefully in the future.
can I make all of the drives look like one big drive? can I use them to store my tv shows and movies and watch them with plex on a smart tv?
yes
I think what this Unify NAS loses out to Synology is the fact that it doesn’t support hybrid raids. Conventional raids forces the user to buy the exact same model and same capacity without the allowance of upgrades for higher capacities
Great video. Can you access a share from the NAS Pro via Site Magic (site to site) VPN?
Haven't tested it, but yes, I'd imagine you could.
When I use the drive encryption feature in UNAS, after setting the password, I need to restart the device for the encryption setting to take effect. when I enter the password to decrypt, I also need to restart UNAS to re-encrypt. Is there any other way to avoid needing to restart the device for the encryption to take effect?
Does it have a hardware RAID chip inside?
I believe it's all software RAID.
What’s the max supported size per drive? Any limitations?
I don't believe there's a max. Robbie over at NASCompares tested with either 22 or 24TB drives in his review and it didn't have a problem with them.
@@WunderTechTutorials thanks! Great news. Now about them coming back in stock…
Will there be a 1u coming out?
Would be awesome to see a 4-bay 1U device but I'm not sure.
Hello is it possible to set 2 ssd 2 to for one speed volume (like Time Machine in raid 1) and 4 hdd 6to for slow speed but big storage ?
Right now, no, but hopefully in the future.
What drives do you have installed?
UniFi sent me their enterprise HDDs with the device.
Will I be able to remotely access my NAS files without using VPN? I would like it to function similarly to DropBox, using a Windows client so that the NAS files appear in Windows explorer.
Yes if you're using a web browser, no if you want it to work like that with SMB.
Can you upload files remotely from the mobile app?
Yes!
It's a NAS not a media server. If you need/want a media server then this is not the product for you. Don't expect a wheel to operate as a pulley even though it could if configured to do so. For me this does exactly what I need: friendly snapshot backups, shared drives, backups and general network storage.
Glad to hear it works for you 👍
Is there any ssd or m2 cache?
No, unfortunately not in this device.
I like what they've presented to us, for now. I think I'll have to pass on this one as it's too basic. I really like how solid the software is as a start point. Drive encryption needs servious work. - Sooooo... future units, need 10g/rj45, nvme, more ram 32gig min, beefier cpu, and docker/virtual machine. When that happens I'm in for multiple units without hesitation.
Thank you! Agreed, hoping for better hardware in the future.
Does it support ISCSI?
Not right now, but hopefully in the future.
Can it play 360 video within Unifi Drive?
What exactly do you mean by 360 video?
@@WunderTechTutorials videos recorded in 360 degree format. Think virtual tour videos. We do a lot of site walkthroughs and share them with coworkers. It would be nice if the video player in Unifi can play the video and allow for panning around in the video while streaming.
Nothing can compare to DSM Software on Synology, Synology just needs to step it up with there hardware. This looks like it might get some where when apps are added also the type of file system used. Just my 2 cents Price wise not bad...
is there a photo Management software like on synology?
No, not right now.
If only it would come back into stock ...
Excellent presentation. Thank you. You are really knocking this crap out of the park. Cant believe you don't have a million subs. Keep up the work and make it happen (maybe lose that dark ass background ).
I can definitely improve the background 😂. Thank you very much for the kind words, I really appreciate it!!
I like the studio. It looks sharp
@@mattschoular8844 It looks like he is working from a cave with candles for lighting. If he gets to the point where is is actually showing us equipment and tinkering with stuff (which is coming I hope), its going to be a problem if we cant see what he is doing.
Can you use this for docker / plex / pi holes. Followed you for a bit with the whole synology setup. So curious if this will be able to handle all of that to replace my old synology.
Not right now, no. You'll need some sort of dedicated hardware for that.
400-600 MB/s writes with 7x HDDs and 10Gbe network is pathetic though
Can't compare this with Synology. Performance blows them out of the water. In the same price point, or even higher, Synology limits you to 1 gig ports. Which is pathetic. Is this unit lacking some features? Yes. However, for a first gen appliance, I think it's pretty damned good.
IT’S NOT A NAS. Is a simple borring storage. Doesn’t have all those great apps inside, which every NAS have. So stop this nonsense! 😡
A NAS is nothing other than network-attached storage. All of the other stuff is generally server-based applications, so I'd say those are better categorized as a home server with NAS functionality and this is a true NAS.
Quad core ARM and 8gb RAM?
Thats awful, even for a idle dream machine (while this is a file-shuffling NAS with backup & snapshots)!
Were talking about rack mounted Synologies from 2010 = Unifi in 2024 *facepalm*.
Yes, I know we're just talking stable file services but it is still a kill for any services beyond SMB, not least what might come in the near future.
Only reason to go here is if you're heavily invested in the Unifi eco system (as the extremely pricey Unifi Protect), or JUST need accessible files and for some reason have'nt the knowledge of server management.
its just a file NAS, no apps, thats more then sufficient..
All I need is a NAS. Is there a better rack-mounted NAS option than this at $500?
Sorry but no, it is not a good product, it might be very polished, but if you need a nas in any sort of smb use, you need to have at least NFS and iSCSI down. And for home use you need to have docker integration. There's not real market for that thing. Everyone should just gran a Syno and call it a day. I'm not a particular fan of them, but at least you get everything you need and a very usable web frontend.
I don't disagree that more is wanted (and needed) in some cases, but the challenge with this is that clearly, Ubiquiti had a goal with this device and it was ease of use. They prioritized it ahead of just about everything else, including other features, so in isolated cases, people may need a NAS to do those things, but at the same time, it doesn't seem like they were targeting those people. With that said, I can certainly see a future device (and I have zero info on this) that has better hardware that will allow for more software features.
You’re thinking about this device wrong. Tell me what other manufacturer gives a rack mounted 7 drive network attached file system?
You can easily pair this with a mini PC that runs a type I hypervisor like ProxMox to run all your VMs like Plex.
I agree this NAS should support iSCSI and NFS, but this device does not need to be able to run VMs at this price point.
Everyone has gotten used to NAS manufacturers providing turn key solutions that try to everything in one box, but in reality most of those NAS servers are weak, old CPUs that are overpriced.
I personally don’t mind having a separate file system server and a compute server that runs VMs/containers. That gives me freedom to select a more powerful consumer CPU with either a better integrated graphics or have a separate dedicated consumer GPU.
In my opinion, unless you’re buying a server grade ATX motherboard with a server grade CPU (like AMD Epyc or Intel Xeon), why are you wanting to run a file system and your VMs on the same CPU and RAM?
I don't have anything against a separate file server. I actually like it more than HCI tbh, but you just need NFS and or iSCSI. SMB is a terrible protocol for such use cases. Only very basic Media file shares are okay, as they don't contain much files and the ones that are there have big sizes so performance is okay. And having a kinda weak cpu is fine for iSCSI and NFS, for most use cases quad-core arm processors are fine for that. A price wise comparable 6bay syno also has a quad-core arm btw. Yes it's not rack mountable and the cpu is probably still weaker and you don't get 10GB, which is definitely greatly appreciated, but it's featureset is just weak.
I totally disagree, If you just need a file smb NAS for small office, this thing is great!