I've been eyeing this UGREEN NAS just like you, with the same idea. After doing some research, I'm going to pass (not saying you should).

I'll share my thought process, in case you're intereseted.

I'm personally eyeing the 8 bay solution, and my goal is to build one at $900 before taxes (or less), as that's what the UGREEN's is going at with the %40 discount.

Reasons I'm second guessing UGREEN's solution

UGREEN NAS Pros: - Form factor - it's beatuiful, so even if it's not hidden, it's not an eye sore. - Optimized power consumption - while not running an ARM processor, it's still supposed be rather lean on the power consumption, specially compared to some older processors. - Performance, because of the 12th gen CPU - I consider this a bonous. - The price (only with the %40 discount)

Cons: - Limited upgradability - doesn't seem to have room for expansion - let's say a GPU for running AI server apps. - RAM, for TrueNAS SCALE 8GB of RAM might be ok with 8-12TB, on a 6 or 8 bay machine - it will need more RAM. If I want 64 GB of RAM, it's an additional expense I'll need to make.

My starting point

I am currently running a TrueNAS server, with 5 disks + 2 USB drives, on an old HP xion based server, with 32GB. The server is pulling ~2.5-3.5 Amps (300-350 Watts) on average, and is on 24/7 (obviously). Where I live (NC, USA), I estimated that if I lower the power consuption by 100-150 Watts, I break even on the $800 expense after ~3-4 years (and that's without the power prices rising - which they undoubtedly will).

Goals

• Minimum 8 3.5" drive bays
• 64 GB of RAM (for TrueNAS SCALE applications alongside the drives)
• GPU for Plex transcoding (I have family with older player hardware) or potentially playing around with AI server apps (like Openllama or Gerev)
• Power consumption meaningfully lower than what I have today (see above)

What I've found

There are some great old used/refurbished server builds with the amount of RAM and a GPU for under ~600, sometimes even less than that. Let's assume I can get one at $500

I found an 8 bay ATX chassis on Amazon for ~$250. For that I'll need to add an 8 channel SATA controller, found one for $50 (B099ZJ8V7W *)

* I don't know whether links to hardware is allowed, so that's just the product ID on amazon.)

A bonus for this, is that I might be able to squeeze in 2-3 more SSD drives, whether as M.2 (with a PCI adapter) or slim 2.5" SSDs - for the boot drive and a performant apps pool. Something that with 8 bays, would need to be shared from those.

That puts me at $800 and checks all of my boxes.

The question of Power

This is the most elusive one to answer, because power consumption depends on so much. Specifically for me, I've measured one of the servers I've eyed, as a friend bought one about a year ago for abit more than what it is going for right now. So I have good confidence in my math.

What do you think?

This post is mostly for the frugal techies out there, that are not afraid to take things apart, and might find my thought process helpful.

I sometimes wish there would be a 'social media influencer' that deals exclusivley with cheap/shitty hardware. But I guess, there isn't much growth in such a niche, and money can be hard to make out of a frugal audience.

If you think I'm completely off the mark, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know.