A NAS was something I wasn't familiar with yet. So I consulted YouTube beforehand. People there were quite complimentary about UGREEN.
The intention was to store all my data, everything that is in the cloud. You can synchronize perfectly between OneDrive and the NAS, and also between the MAC or PC and the NAS. UGREEN also provides an extensive manual, both for reading and with videos. So, a NAS was new, and the use of AI was also new to me.
I also bought the NAS to run several websites. One for photos, one for a weather station, and a final one for an association; this one can be activated when there are problems at the host. The first two require a lot of space, and that space was starting to cost money at the host. Forwarding a domain to my own changing IP address and then to the site on the NAS—I couldn't find any instructions for that. So, a chat with Copilot. A friendly guy with a lot of patience. It took me a week to get the sites online. Mainly the use of PHP and setting up a database was not straightforward. Once everything was up and running, the NAS received an update. I don't know if that was the reason or something I did myself, but certain functions went haywire. Both Microsoft's and Google's AI advised me to return the device. At Coolblue, that's no problem. Everything went smoothly until the postal service started a strike on the same day :-) Coolblue notified me and kindly asked for patience. A one-week strike! Otherwise, the exchange went smoothly, and I was able to get started with a new device.
Today, the two websites are online flawlessly. I was able to adjust the DNS settings on the host, and I only use it now for handling mail.
I installed two 6 Tera drives in RAID 1; there is plenty of space, and there is still room for two extra drives.
One last point: Coolblue does not carry the UGREEN UPS in its range. I bought one from a competitor. It is a must-have. In the event of a power outage, the NAS is shut down properly this way. Another detail: the NAS is perfectly accessible from any location, can grant access to other users, and there are numerous features I haven't tested yet.
I was also curious about the power consumption, as it runs 24/7. So I installed a wattmeter, and the consumption remains below 30W, with occasional spikes to 40W.
And for those wondering, is my data safe now? Yes/no: I have connected a 6TB external hard drive on which everything runs synchronously.
In short, a magnificent device with everything I could wish for.
With the current American situation, I am seriously considering disconnecting from that continent. I have already switched to Proton for email, VPN, and calendar; they also have cloud, and the servers are located in the Swiss mountains. There are alternatives for office applications as well.