🔍 Read the full analysis: Planning An AI NAS Setup With The UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Thorsten Meyer says his operation bought a UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro after duplicate iCloud sync files nearly filled a database server. The NAS has been equipped but is not yet connected or configured; the planned RAID, snapshots and offsite backup remain untested.
Thorsten Meyer says he has bought a UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro after duplicate files created by an iCloud sync workflow left a database server with 2% free disk space. Another UGREEN NAS model has also been considered for AI use. The six-bay storage device has been delivered and equipped, but it is not yet connected to the network, so its planned backup system has not been tested.
Meyer described the purchase in a November 1 report on ThorstenMeyerAI.com. He said two machines uploaded database dumps with the same name to one iCloud folder, producing 29 conflict copies by September 17. The episode led him to stop treating synchronization as a backup. He also reported that a nightly cleanup job timed out on October 29 while iCloud was busy; according to Meyer, the dump itself was sound, but managing old copies was not.
The NAS has been equipped with four Seagate IronWolf Pro 16 TB drives and one NVMe SSD. Meyer’s proposed arrangement uses the four hard drives in RAID 6, which he estimates would provide about 32 TB of usable capacity and tolerate two drive failures. He plans to use the separate SSD pool for containers and test databases. These figures describe the intended configuration, not a tested result.
The planned safeguards include separate, quota-limited accounts for Mac backups, daily snapshots that those accounts cannot access or delete, and an encrypted offsite copy sent with restic to Backblaze B2 using Object Lock. Meyer says the NAS is not yet set up and the two initial acceptance tests—Time Machine access through a non-admin account and snapshots remaining protected—have not run. The operation continues to use local Time Machine disks and an iCloud copy of its nightly database dump.
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 purchase addresses a practical risk for a small operation that relies on several Macs, including one running its main publishing database. Meyer reports that the database server has experienced recurring kernel panics since August, with one crash causing 2¼ hours of downtime. A NAS cannot prevent those crashes, but a local copy could make restoration faster than retrieving hundreds of gigabytes over an internet connection, if the setup works as planned.
The report also highlights a distinction between file synchronization and backup. Sync can copy changes—including accidental deletions or duplicate files—rather than preserve a clean recovery point. Meyer’s proposed combination of local backups, protected snapshots and an offsite copy is intended to separate those jobs. The actual reliability and restore speed remain unknown until testing and routine use begin.
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Why Six Drive Bays Were Chosen
Meyer says the operation’s current backup need is about 6 to 8 TB, based on his measurements. On October 6, he measured about 2.6 TB on the main desk machine, 744 GB on the database server, including a 293 GB database, and 3.2 TB on the model server. He says much of the model server’s data consists of AI model files that can be downloaded again.
He chose the six-bay model over a less expensive four-bay option because he wants room to add drives without replacing the existing ones. According to specifications cited from UGREEN, the DXP6800 Pro has six SATA bays, two M.2 slots, a 10-core Intel Core i5-1235U and two 10GbE ports. UGREEN also lists 8 GB of DDR5 memory, expandable to 64 GB. Meyer’s planned four-drive RAID 6 layout leaves two bays available; filling all six bays with 16 TB drives would yield about 64 TB under the same RAID arrangement, according to his estimate.
The hardware choice follows several reported storage and reliability problems, but it is not a product review or a long-term test. Meyer says he bought the NAS, drives and SSD himself, received no product sample or sponsorship from UGREEN, and included no affiliate links. He also says product specifications come from UGREEN and Seagate, while the measurements of his own machines are his.
“That was the day I stopped treating a sync service as a backup.”
— Thorsten Meyer, ThorstenMeyerAI.com
Setup and Recovery Tests Pending
The NAS has not been connected to the network, and Meyer has not run either acceptance test. It is not yet known whether Time Machine will work as intended with a non-admin account or whether snapshots will remain inaccessible to that account. No measured restore time, long-term reliability data or confirmed backup schedule from the new system is available.
The planned RAID configuration is not itself a substitute for a separate backup, and the proposed Backblaze B2 copy has not been established. Meyer says the existing arrangement remains in place for now. He also plans to keep AI agents away from administrator credentials, avoid internet-facing remote access, and schedule disk-heavy tasks overnight; those policies have not yet been implemented on the NAS.
Two Checks Before Rollout
Meyer says the next step is to connect and configure the device, then test Time Machine backups using a non-admin account and verify that the account cannot see or delete snapshots. If either test fails, he says he will return the NAS. If the checks pass, the proposed rollout would put Mac backups on the hard-drive pool, use the SSD for containers and test databases, and add an encrypted offsite copy.
He says he plans to report results after the system is running. Until then, the purchase is confirmed, but the intended storage design and its benefits remain a plan rather than a demonstrated outcome.
Key Questions
What problem prompted the NAS purchase?
Meyer says 29 iCloud conflict copies of database dumps left a server with only 2% free disk space. He also described a later timeout during cleanup of old copies.
Is the DXP6800 Pro already backing up the Macs?
No. As of November 1, 2026, the NAS had been delivered and equipped but was not yet on the network or configured. Local Time Machine disks and the iCloud database-dump copy remain in use.
How does Meyer plan to configure the drives?
The plan is to use four 16 TB hard drives in RAID 6 for backups, with an NVMe SSD as a separate pool for containers and test databases. The setup has not been tested.
What tests must pass before the NAS is kept?
Meyer plans to test Time Machine with a non-admin account and check that the account cannot access or delete snapshots. He says the NAS will be returned if either test fails.
Will the NAS replace offsite backups?
No. Meyer’s plan includes an encrypted offsite copy to Backblaze B2 using restic and Object Lock. That arrangement has not yet been set up, and the NAS is not intended to be the only copy.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
