If you want your NAS to also be a server for miscellaneous containers or VMs, then pick a QNAP. If you want a dedicated device, the UNAS is better bang for the buck. If I didn't already have a couple of QNAPs, I'd prefer the UNAS and use the savings for a mini-PC like a NUC or Protectli.
ill be getting this to use as my offsite storage hopefully remote backup once I've cloned the data locally will work alright, would be great if unifi made an app for QNAP and others that allows easy backup to the UNAS Pro.
Love your channel. But would like to clarify a widespread misunderstanding in knowledge about qnap deadbolt. To my knowledge, most common among people who did not update their firmware on qnap.
@@preacherplays Same. I’m running WS 2025 and have 56tb on a software raid. I hate and don’t trust it. I just want a brainless rack mount storage solution.
From the software perspective, I concur with multiple other commenters that thr UNAS is a no thrills NAS without all the 'bloat' options other brands offer. It's network storage, very few thrills. Given that, I do believe the biggest miss here is lack of NFS. Missing such a common network storage option to me is the biggest problem with the UNAS right now. I'd also love if they could add further integration into the networking features of Unifi, better integration between the UNAS and SDN Controller for things like firewalls, network based access rights etc would be great to have. Hardware wise, can't complain much for this price point. I would love if they would instead offer dual 10G ports and NVMe caching in a future version. Full agreement on the lack of Protect support, this should definitely be an option on a device like the UNAS.
A lot have commented about NFS and even iSCSI. Enough that I feel Ubiquiti are listening and may have these added in an update. I don't know UI's roadmap, but I know they listened with RAID options and already plan to add Raid 6 to the unit, so keep the noise up about wanting NFS. UI do listen and the more noise there is the better
if you are not currently in the UNIFi space, i see no reason to jump into a single purpose NAS only device. If you are a brand loyalist, then go ahead and not expect any more than simple file storage.
1:30 if you're going to let what Unifi has done to set the discussion you should have limited this to QNAP's short depth rack mounts IMHO. For that matter, this would be a great time to suggest a SHORT DEPTH RACK MOUNT SHOOTOFF. Limit yourself to the true shortdepth rackmounts (e.g. >14 inches.)
If this video was only about hardware and/or specifically that Rackmount, I would agree. However, a user will buy a solution from either of these brand as that...a solution. And a big part of that is the evolving software platform and company focus towards it at QNAP and UniFi. I reckon in 12 months time, there will be 2-3 more UNAS devices and the software will evolve (same for QNAP, but more so), so I wanted to cover the brands who respect NAS input and output as broadly as possible to keep it relevant. Hope that annoying word salad makes sense of my brain!
Important question: suppose the hardware (chassis)breaks and the UNAS Pro is not sold anymore. Is there a way to recover your data? Reason for asking: it is not the first time I hear people having a NAS, then the hardware breaks and there is no way to recover the data anymore afterwards. So it would be good to know if e.g. there is unifi software that can be installed on whatever box to be able to at least read the RAID when disks are dropped in another box
What don't you like about the UNAS? Is it because it is just a basic nas without the extra features or other things? Curious about that :). I kind of like the UNAS for being a basic, no thrills NAS without the extra features that I would run on a separate server rather than in my NAS.
I don't know if the redundant power supply at this price point is a big thing. Same with the NIC at the same price point. Synology, as an example, at the same price point do not have redundant power options at all, where as unifi at least has an optional device. Same with NIC's My Synology 918+ which is equivalent price point if we move to the 923 version, doesn't even have multi gbps nic. it has 2 1gbps. QNAP is definitely a different beast to Synology though. I might have to review the QNNAP vs Syno video :). When the UNVR first came out it only ran Protect. Now it can run both Protect and Access, so there is always potential for a combo style unit, but I am not sure this would fit with Ubiquiti's business model. Who would by a stand alone UNVR device if for the exact same price they had a NAS that can run Protect and have both in one device? I just can't see that happening, as much as it would be nice. Maybe I will be wrong on that :). I have never really been a fan of a NAS trying to be a jack of all trades as I feel they end up mastering none, so I do see the UNAS as a bit of a breath of fresh air. That said, I have a Synology 918+ and a Synology 416 that I use primarily with Surveillance Station (combining the two to get 4 free camera licenses through CMS) This might be why I feel like defending UI and the UNAS a little with their first entry into the NAS world. I am not saying they have it all right, as I agree that things like NFS and possibly iSCSI if they can implement it well could be good options on a NAS / Storage device. These are NAS-centric features that really need to be added. I do like the security and integration to directory services Unifi have got in at first release. This is out of the box without needing additional apps. I do wish that the RAM was upgradeable on the UNAS, but it does seem to work really well on the hardware specs it has. Protect can export to NAS devices, meaning footage can be archived to the UNAS ( or other NAS devices ) so that's kind of a good thing. that I like. Protect is still not fully up to the same feature set as the platform it replaced a couple of years ago ( Unifi Video) so Protect, as much as it is maturing, is still fairly young in the surveillance industry. Protect has really only been a contender recently, with its early days being pretty useless. Unifi Video was retired in 2021, less than 4 years ago. I know I am making some long comments lately. Just so much to consider with these NAS devices. I guess I am hoping Ubiquiti might make there way in here and have a look at the comments and get some ideas, as well as maybe sparking some conversation and alternative views as well.
For what it's worth, I definitely, definitely know that the Ubiquiti team reads these comments. You should see the feedback I am sent by them (nothing official, just their teams response to my points) on some of these vids. It's certainly worth a punt putting feedback down here in the comments!
@@nascompares The more noise we make, the more they will listen. UI Team - NFS has been a big thing in most reviews I have seen, and maybe an iSCSI implementation :). Special for them lol
Mooo. But honestly it does make sense to do a side by side of one of the most frequently requested NAS entries that I can recall. I would expect a similar video to Terremaster as well.
Sure he can keep milking the unifi NAS by pitting it against each brand out there, including the likes of Aoostar and churn out another 12 videos. Mooo. Mooo. 🤣😂
Hi bud. I mean...would you rather I didn't compare this new entry into the world of NAS Vs the status quo? Sure, I would have not made the vids, or left them for a few months...but why? People are asking me to compare these, to evaluate UniFi in ALOT of ways in the world of NAS? I would genuinely welcome your suggestion for how else I can approach this? Won't be doing a Vs with Asustor or Terramaster as...well...no one asked!
you can makes videos about whatever you want. The point is that if you make a video about this unifi every second day, it feels you are milking this new product as much as possible. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, save for the bad optics. If you need ideas, for what is worth, I have noticed on Ali a couple new NAS offers from Orico and new (at least in term of style) DAS enclosures from their subsidiary Yottamaster. Edit: there are a couple Yottamaster NAS models as well.
@@nascompares Keep on comparing the UNAS Pro. It is the new kid on the block. Taking into account the track record of Ubiquiti this one indeed could disrupt the status quo on consumer/prosumer NAS hardware. Keep up the good job
