Synology on End of Life

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For those that might know me will know that I do want to back up my systems. I have an iMac with Backblaze, and my MacBook Air is using my Synology 2 bay NAS for Time Machine backups. I would have liked to use Time Machine for my desktop, but there wasn’t enough storage. With that said, my current system is working fine enough. The Synology NAS has two 4TB in RAID-1. RAID-1 is typically a backup of my backup. Anything written to drive 1 is written to drive 2. Therefore, if a drive failed, the system can continue operating, and should notify me of the failed drive so it can be replaced promptly. However, I have been having some problems with the drive, and with Synology’s current policy that their new NAS systems will only accept the overpriced Synology drives, it is forcing me to consider new options.

I have done some research, and found that UGreen provides NAS systems, and therefore something worth considering. Now, I could probably use my 2 drives in my current Synology and save a lot of money, I am at a dilemma where 4TB is simply too small. While it works for the backup of my MacBook Air, it is only because the Air has a 512GB (½TB) which is more than enough for backing up the Air. However, you should have at least 4 times the capacity of the drive for backup solutions. Therefore, my current 2TB desktop will not be able to use the current drives, and even after investing into a new NAS, it will not consolidate all of my backup needs.

So, what am I considering. While in a perfect world, I would get their 8 bay NAS, but that is simply too expensive at more than $1,000. Keep in mind, that I don’t even get that much in a month’s income much less discretionary spending. So, I will need as low cost of NAS as possible. I found the UGreen DXP2800 which will exceed my needs assuming that I also invest in drives. The DXP2800 will support 2 hard drives in either 2.5″ or 3.5″ sizes. There is also 2 NVME slots which I will like to use as well. I will also add 8GB of memory to make caching quicker, but this is a very small $30 cost to the system. All together, everything will cost me $2,500. This will be a problem as if my current Synology fails on me, I will have to draw on a credit card, and will take a year to pay it off.

So why do I need such a large amount of storage. Well, let’s look at things realistically. First, my iMac desktop has 2TB of storage. This is the primary PC, and the system that not only plays my music, but also where I conduct most of my activity on. I have an MacBook Air which as noted above is 512GB. I then have my Framework. I am not concerned about the OS drive, but the personal files drive is more important. That drive is 4TB. All together, backup solutions for all three systems will need about 26TB. Now mind you, that won’t be filled immediately, but there will be that initial backup, and then incremental backups to add to the backup file. This is why experts recommend 4 times the drive capacity. When you consider that, the 30TB drive now makes a lot more sense. I could technically buy smaller drives, but then I would have to upgrade them, and that would cost more money, plus downtime backing up the systems all over again. This too me just makes no sense. Next is the 8TB NVME. Again, I will need 2 and they will be RAID-1. The 8TB NVME will function as a cloud storage drive. This will eliminate the need to rely on Dropbox, iCloud, or One Drive. I currently am using the free capacities which is enough for the role they are performing for now, but there might come a time where I will need to upgrade storage. Dropbox 3TB option is about $20/month which will add up when you are paying $240 per year. The 8TB is simply much larger, and will likely pay for itself in a year.

I will use my current arrangements until I can afford to buy my proposed plan. However, if the Synology NAS was to fail in the near future, then my options will need to be more immediate. There is no point in buying everything in pieces as none of the components will matter without the NAS, and the NAS is no good if there are no drives. The drives are the expensive part costing about $550 for each drive. This is where the hit is very hard, and the reason of the high expensive of just a NAs with 4 drive slots.

FrameWork 16 – 6 Months Later

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This blog post is for the FrameWork 16 notebook PC 6 months later. There was a change from the initial configuration which Windows 11 was replaced with Zorin OS. For those that would need a refresher on the specs, they are as follows:

  • AMD 7040 Series CPU
  • 64GB of Memorty
  • 4TB 2280 NVME
  • 2TB 2240 NVME
  • 1 TB SSD
  • SD Card Reader
  • 16″ Display
  • 4×USB-C ports
  • Zorin OS

Read more “FrameWork 16 – 6 Months Later”

Motorola Razr 2025 – First Impressions

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The Motorola Razr 2025 is a flip style Android powered smartphone. It has an Octa Core CPU, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB storage. As with all flip phones, the phone is about half the size of a normal phone when closed, and full size (6.9″) when open. This allows me to carry both the Motorola Razr 2025, and the iPhone at the same time – albeit in different pockets. The phone is using Assurance Wireless for the carrier. Assurance Wireless is a lifeline provider which provides free service for low income households, and therefore – I qualify. The Motorola Razr 2025 supports 1 nano-SIM, and 1 eSIM which means I can have 2 carriers, and 2 telephone numbers on this one phone. And as with my personal policy, I will never buy a locked phone from the carrier. Read more “Motorola Razr 2025 – First Impressions”

Assurance Wireless – First Impressions

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On Friday June 6, I received my Assurance Wireless SIM card. Assurance Wireless is a Lifeline cellular service provider. They provide free cellular service to low income households. Lifeline is available to 1 per household, and that means you can’t have Lifeline service with 2 carriers. While every provider is slightly different, Assurance Wireless provides 3,000 minutes, unlimited SMS/MMS, and 4.5GB of data per month. I must use the service provider at least once every 30 days. And while the have premium phone service plans, I have chosen to stick with the base plan. Read more “Assurance Wireless – First Impressions”

New (Hopefully Better) Pharmacy

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On April 9, 2025 – I decided to change my pharmacy. I been thinking about this for a while, and gave them opportunity to fix their issues. However, I am tired of holding CVS’s hand in them doing their job. I didn’t have the problem until I was moved to CVS after the last Downtown Rite Aid closed. This was a couple of years ago, and I haven’t been at all happy with them. With that said, I am going back to Rite Aid even if I have to take a bus to get there, and a bus back. Read more “New (Hopefully Better) Pharmacy”

Cell2Jack – Very Niche

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I recently had someone write me an email telling me that I don’t need a home phone, and I could use a device called Cell2Jack instead. After looking at it, I discovered it is a very niche product, and will not replace my need for a home phone. So why wouldn’t this work? There are a few reasons of why I don’t see this working. I will go into them with this blog posting, and will not consider the device anymore.
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Windows 11 – A Waste

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I bought Windows 11 Pro for my Framework 16 notebook computer. I find myself using this new PC that has more RAM, and more storage than my other desktop and notebook combined so much less than either of my other machines. This would imply that there is something wrong with this picture. Why would I not use this what I would consider as a higher end machine more often? This notebook has 64GB of memory, and 2 NVMME drives with a total of 6GB, another 1TB module, and an SD card reader along with 4 USB-C ports. This sounds like a machine that most people will want to use? Read more “Windows 11 – A Waste”

Framework 16 Walkthrough

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This blog posting is a walkthrough on what I would do if I could do things the way it should have been done (in my opinion). This is not what I initially did, and therefore, you will learn from my mistakes. Obviously, if you should have any questions, feel free to ask me. I will be happy to provide some insights. This walk through is for the Framework 16 from Frame Work PCs ( https://frame.work ). The Framework 16 is obviously a 16” notebook PC that is modular and upgradeable. With it being upgradable, it is also repairable. If you need to replace the memory, you can use industry standards SODIMM memory (DDR 5 only). You can also upgrade or replace your storage by using NVME drives which is in the shape of a stick of gum. The longer one is a 2280 drive which is 22mm wide × 80mm long. The second drive is a 2230 drive which is 30mm long. Rather than Frame Work deciding on what ports it thinks the majority would need, they created an open standard system in which the ports are inserted into USB standard slots. They call these accessories cards, but they are not cards, and more likely to be thought of as modules.
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First Impressions – Framework 16

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This blog posting is my initial review of the Framework 16 notebook computer. I chosen the one with the 7840HS CPU from AMD, with the standard keyboard in addition to the number pad. For modules, I chosen 4 USB-C ports, a 1TB storage module, and an SD card module. I will go into modules a little later in this posting. In addition to the PC, I had to buy memory which I bought 2 × 32GB (64GB) of memory, a 2TB, and 4TB NVME storage drives. The 4TB drive didn’t fit because it was too high (a heatsink). All together, I paid a little more than $3,000 for all purchases. Read more “First Impressions – Framework 16”

First Impressions – Ubuntu

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This blog posting is the review of Ubuntu Desktop 24.04. This is the first time I ever made a Linux distribution as my primary OS. There are some things I like about it, and some things I don’t like about it. So far, the OS does almost everything I would need without too much of a fuss. However, that doesn’t make it smooth sailing. As with most Linux OSes, Ubuntu is free, and the download .iso file was 6GB in size. This meant it needed to be installed on a drive that was 8GB or larger to install the OS. Read more “First Impressions – Ubuntu”