🔍 Read the full analysis: Why We’re Building Our AI Storage Around A 6-Bay UGREEN NAS on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Thorsten Meyer says he bought a six-bay UGREEN NAS after duplicate iCloud backup files nearly filled a database server and cleanup jobs stalled. The hardware has arrived, but it is not configured; its planned backup setup must pass two tests before it is put into service.
Thorsten Meyer says he has bought a six-bay UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro after duplicate iCloud backup files left one of his servers with just 2% free disk space. The storage device has been delivered with four hard drives and an NVMe SSD, but is not yet connected or configured, and Meyer says it must pass two tests before he puts it into service.
Meyer recounts that on September 17, two machines uploaded database dumps with the same filename into one iCloud folder. He says iCloud created 29 conflict copies, nearly filling the disk on the machine that hosts his main database. On October 29, he says, a separate nightly cleanup job timed out while trying to remove old copies. The NAS is intended to provide a local backup destination and make recovery from large files faster than restoring them over his office internet connection.
The delivered system includes four Seagate IronWolf Pro 16 TB drives and one NVMe SSD. Meyer plans to put the hard drives in RAID 6, which he estimates would provide about 32 TB of usable capacity and tolerate the failure of two drives. The SSD is planned as a separate pool for containers and test databases. These are proposed settings, not results from a configured system.
The plan calls for each Mac to back up under its own non-administrator account with a storage quota, alongside daily snapshots that those accounts cannot access or delete. Meyer also plans an encrypted offsite copy using restic and Backblaze B2 with Object Lock. He says disk-heavy work would run overnight, while live database change logs, internet-facing remote access, AI-agent administrator credentials and a UGREEN cloud mirror as the offsite backup are excluded.
Infographic 01 · The box
Six bays, two fast slots, two 10GbE ports
What UGREEN lists for the NASync DXP6800 Pro, and how we plan to fill it.
How we fill it
Delivered and equipped; the setup is our plan (1 Nov 2026)
Bays 1–4: Seagate IronWolf Pro 16 TB, RAID 6, Btrfs → ≈ 32 TB usable, any two drives may fail. Bays 5–6: free for growth. M.2 slot 1: the NVMe SSD (ordered: Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB) as its own fast pool. Slot 2: free. Six 16 TB drives in RAID 6 would give ≈ 64 TB.
What else UGREEN lists
From the product page, not measured by us
- Separate 128 GB SSD for the operating system, UGOS
- RAID: JBOD, Basic, 0, 1, 5, 6, 10
- 1× PCIe x4 · 2× Thunderbolt 4 · 8K HDMI · SD card reader
- Power: 43.07 W drives in use · 24.91 W drives in hibernation
- Stated maximum: 208 TB with 32 TB drives · 3-year warranty
Why six bays: with RAID 6, two drives always hold parity. In four bays that leaves half the raw space usable; with all six bays filled it becomes two thirds.
Sources: UGREEN DXP6800 Pro product page, checked 1 Nov 2026; Seagate IronWolf Pro data sheet DS2129.4; our setup plan, 6 Oct 2026.
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A Local Copy for Faster Recovery
The decision reflects a distinction between syncing files and maintaining recoverable backups. A sync service may copy accidental changes or deletions along with intended ones; Meyer says the duplicate files did just that, while cleanup problems created a separate operational risk. A locally stored backup could shorten recovery from a large failure, though it cannot by itself protect against every cause of data loss.
Meyer says the operation’s measured storage needs are modest: about 6 to 8 TB of current backup data, based on measurements of several Macs and their workloads. The proposed NAS offers room to expand and a separate place to run test databases instead of keeping them on his laptop. Those benefits remain expectations until the device is installed and tested.
The planned safeguards also show that adding storage is not the entire backup strategy. Separate accounts, snapshots and an offsite copy are meant to limit the effects of compromised credentials, accidental deletion or a local hardware problem. Their effectiveness in this setup has not yet been demonstrated.
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The Failures Behind the Purchase
Meyer describes a small fleet of Macs used for a publishing system, local AI models, content pipelines and testing—not a data center. In measurements he says he took on October 6, the main desk machine used about 2.6 TB, the database server about 744 GB, and the model server about 3.2 TB, much of it in model files that could be downloaded again. The database itself was about 293 GB.
He also reports recurring kernel panics on the database machine since August. A crash on August 8 caused 2¼ hours of database downtime, according to his account. A NAS would not prevent a computer crash, but Meyer expects a nearby copy to make restoration faster than downloading data from cloud storage. He says the proposed setup is based on the conventional 3-2-1 approach: multiple copies, different media, and one copy stored offsite.
Meyer says he chose the six-bay model over a cheaper four-bay option because it leaves room to add drives without replacing the existing ones. UGREEN’s published specifications list six SATA bays, two M.2 slots, a 10-core Intel Core i5-1235U, two 10GbE ports and 8 GB of DDR5 memory, expandable to 64 GB. Meyer says those specifications informed the purchase; they are not evidence of performance in his workload.
Setup and Safeguards Still Untested
The NAS was not on Meyer’s network as of November 1, and neither acceptance test had run. The planned RAID arrangement, Time Machine backups, snapshots, quotas and offsite copy therefore remain a design rather than a proven working system. Meyer says the device will be returned if either of the first two tests fails.
It is not yet clear when setup will begin, how long deployment will take, or whether the system will deliver the expected restore speeds and quiet daytime operation. The account is Meyer’s own report; it does not establish independent test results or confirm that all stated product specifications have been verified in use.
Two Tests Before Daily Use
Meyer says the next step is to connect and configure the NAS, then test whether Time Machine works with a non-administrator account and whether snapshots remain inaccessible to that account. If either test fails, he says he will return the NAS rather than rely on it for backups.
If the tests pass, the planned rollout would add the local storage layer while retaining an encrypted offsite copy. Meyer says he intends to report results once the system is running. Until then, the Macs’ existing backups remain in place: local Time Machine disks and an iCloud copy of the nightly database dump.
Key Questions
Is the UGREEN NAS already backing up the Macs?
No. Meyer says the device had been delivered but was not connected to the network or configured as of November 1, 2026.
Why did Meyer choose a six-bay model?
He says the six bays leave room to expand without replacing existing drives. He chose it over a less expensive four-bay model for that reason.
What storage setup is planned?
Meyer plans to use four 16 TB hard drives in RAID 6, with about 32 TB of estimated usable capacity, and a separate NVMe SSD pool for containers and test databases. The configuration has not yet been tested.
What must happen before the NAS is put into service?
It must pass tests for Time Machine backups using a non-admin account and for snapshots that the account cannot access or delete. Meyer says the device will be returned if either test fails.
Will the NAS replace the offsite backup?
No. The stated plan keeps an encrypted offsite copy using restic and Backblaze B2 with Object Lock. Meyer says he does not plan to treat UGREEN’s cloud mirror as the offsite backup.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
