Synology BeeDrive (NAS Alternative?)

General Computing
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Hopefully this comment is on topic and relative to the review of a Synology NAS. Digital Minimalism has helped me reduce and eliminate backed up data or just cloud data. Who else had their favorite 15G of music backed up on a Google Drive account just for an iPod?

As my primary device my phone ended up having 512 G of storage. I do not use this much storage, this Pixel 6 Pro was purchased off eBay, availability was a factor. I back up my phone at home in the usual chaotic manual way. For projects I have use software just going to share a link and not review. FreeFileSync Portable (synchronize files and folders) | PortableApps.com

I use Tiny PC of the 1L desktop varieties and laptop computers, I have a collection of hard drives which I hate to get rid of but building a NAS with these has been past the point of procrastinating. An issue other than the learning curve is the physical space and dedication to keeping a NAS. My backups were neglected, I shutdown my NextCloud instance from lack of use.

The cloud storage was nice and auto syncing backups sounds like a great resource. So I have tossed around using one of my 1L PC or a Pi for a NAS. Here is a Pi NAS video. I have some 500G 2.5" HD I could set up in a SABRENT USB 3.0 4 Bay 2.5” Hard Drive Docking station. This would give me a small foot print. I really live a nomadic digital life, with no home internet access. So getting my files still requires going back to the house.

I considered getting rid of all this slow junk and getting something fast and small for just back ups the Pixel phones are kinda slow for read write speeds, so not ready to pull the trigger on some 1TB USB C 3.2 external drive. So small slow and cheap I am back to some useful size thumb drives, manual backups and sync.

Techlore’s video got me looking at NAS like solutions. I stumbled across the Synology BeeDrive. https://bee.synology.com/en-us#overview
The Synology BeeDrive Backup Hub is reviewed here.

Check out the video here.

Synology BDS70-2T BeeDrive via Amazon

https://amzn.to/3qnryFk

Perhaps after more research I will talk myself out of this NAS. The software for me is worth the time I should invest in learning more about NAS. The speed is faster than my phone my primary device. The size is great.

One issue for me is the system requirements for the BeeDrive for desktop is Windows 10 (1809 or later) Windows 11. I would love to see this using my Pixel 3A using Ubuntu Touch OS for more portable system. Perhaps a USB C powered Windows 11 Single board computer would work headless.

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Should have purchased yesterday. The availability is now ships from Japan 4 to 6 weeks and the price jumped from $199 to $246.

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This is the first I’ve heard of the BeeDrive, but for a portable SSD it seems to be a decent value, surprisingly not overpriced.

I wouldn’t consider this a NAS for a variety of reasons, the use-case here simply isn’t the same at all, but for an external drive which can easily be connected to from mobile devices… I can see the appeal. For anyone looking for anything more than just backing up phone photos or whatever, I’d probably still lean towards an actual NAS, but for your usage it sounds like a neat solution.

I’ll have to check it out more later.

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I went to pull the trigger on the BeeDrive this morning. Then found the availability. I imagine the increase in cost is shipping. When available the price might drop. I also consider the price they were showing at $199 was actually intended for the 1 TB and the 2 TB is meant to be around $250.
The cost of material for me to build a homebrew NAS is basically free, my time is the issue.
Doing regular backups and more importantly work related file transfers off my phone to my work computers really takes care of my needs. Time is always an issue.
I am on this forum a bit, this is a ramble while I am waiting on a process at work, most of what I share here is from my notes. Sitting around is not an option with my work flow.

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Well, MSRP is $119 for 1TB and $199 for 2TB at Synology Store | Synology Inc.

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I ordered the 2 TB model and expect delivery in 10 to 12 days. This gives me time to work on prep work, like playing around with the desktop software and mobile app.