[tomato2juice]

I've been putting off researching home network/backup devices, because I feel like it is a big decision that I don't know enough about. And they all tend to have bad reviews.

Is there a good guide to start researching that isn't a top-ten list with just affiliate links?

[fomine3]

Definitely r/homelab links and posts.

[lostlogin]

> Definitely r/homelab links and posts.

Definitely have a look though the relevant reddit subs and by and large the relavant ones are positive and helpful, eg /datahoarder /synology /homelab. It's good to scan them pre purchase too - for example it's been interesting watch the Western Digital drive issues play out over those subs

There are some off-the-shelf solutions that are expensive and well regarded (eg Synology DS918 DS1019) but expensive. There are a lot of pretty nice systems you'll be able to hack together too. Freenas is excellent in this regard, but it gets into personal favorites very fast.