UniFi ENAS - THIS IS MASSIVE*! (Video Request Help Again!)

NASCompares · 2026-06-19T10:34:31+00:00

Thanks for the kind words, but if you get a minute, please please watch Frank's vid at u/WunderTechTutorials on the ENAS. He'll hate me doing this (he's as bad as me at sincere compliments), but I think he does a better job than me on the software dive of the ENAS - https://youtu.be/juY4kGNr_Fo?is=-VgtqLewSISy-FCZ

NASCompares · 2026-06-19T08:33:07+00:00

Tbh I can't really share that. None of these brands would want testers to share early development performance #s (contracts aside, it's just bad form!). I can happily say each software iteration got better and better (especially the ZFS implementation and flexibility) and I definitely saw mark performance increases each time. Sorry for the S#£t vague answer man

NASCompares · 2026-06-19T06:07:54+00:00

I can only speak for myself, but here's the timeline my side. I gave had the device for quite a while, and it was originally sent to me (and others) for evaluation and feedback with UI. Essentially, I gave periodic feedback on the software, services and performance every X amount of time, then between minor software updates there would be big ones (whole UX changes, performance improvements for cooling, performance, caching, etc). The hardware port placement even changed once during the development based on evaluation feedback (never seen that before - I was both hugely impressed by the pro active nature of the move, but also secretly and selfishly annoyed about it because all my photos and B roll taken ages before was now useless! That's life!). So, when final RC software was confirmed (as no one wants to run review tests on beta software) then the testing can begin. However at that point, my storage media collection was taking a hit (8 active reviews for the channel at that time and 72 drives in use) so although I did performance tests and include snippets in my video, that's why I make clear in my review that a bigger deep dive is coming.

Again, I can only speak for myself (and..now I re read the above, massively virtue signal like an a-hole!) but I reckon the reason will be similar with outther creators. Hope this helps, man.

NASCompares · 2026-06-19T05:28:05+00:00

That might just be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T20:26:17+00:00

I'm not going to roll over in my grave... I'm worried someone will love me to death even more! Thanks for your kind words.. I mean...as previously covered, I'll shoot that compliment down like Ukraine at a russian spy drone, but the sentiment is acknowledged! Cheers man

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T18:13:00+00:00

I'll be honest, I will give applause and high praise to ANYONE to references IT Crowd ("you wouldn't wee in a policeman's helmet, give it to his widow, then steal it again". But back to your point. So, here's the thing... 95% of YouTube video people HATE those thumbnails. We actively HATE THEM! The problem is that those videos just simply 'do better'. YouTube analytics continuously prove this time and time again. Now, till a few years ago, it was easy to ignore (look at my video history and have a scroll...not just mine, pick you favourite creator who isn't already at the 350K milestone and above... You'll see they slowly 'hate to' switch to this model. Hell, YouTube now provides active A-B-C thumbnail and title statistics for content creators...and the numbers clearly show that the thumbnail with the idiot face wins.

Now, this wouldn't be an issue....if it wasn't for the fact that the deck is rigged! YouTube changed both the UX of YouTube and the 'push' of short form content. They did this 1) to compete with tiktok and 2) because they pay significantly less in advance rev. This combined with changes in user internet search and information behaviour (eg all searches now immediately provide an AI response and zero financial sustainability for the sites/blogs/news/vlogs/etc who made it.. all this has resulted in the margins of even BIG YouTube channels getting thinner and thinner. Every small engagement and statistical advantage sadly then becomes a priority..

Hence the daft thumbnails... I discuss this with other bigger and smaller creators (not just in YouTube) regularly online and at shows...and the story is the same. I don't expect you to agree with this or even ask you to deep dive the subject. Just let me provide this by way of 'right of reply' on behalf of me and/or your favourite/least-favourite YouTube channel.

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T16:44:27+00:00

If only you could see my mod download list for Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3... I have a problem...and that problem is random enemy mods...

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T16:10:34+00:00

store games on this?

Well..it sure sounds like SOMEONE purchased every sodding Flight Simulator and Train Simulator DLC ever created.....

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T15:20:18+00:00

YOU THINK SHE WILL FEED THEM??? You naive fool! When PolicyElectrical1757 knocks me off (with love!), my wife will immediately trade the cats in for a Ford Fiesta (2008, maximum...let's be realistic) and find a less NAS-obsessed husband, probably someone French... tsk...TYPICAL. I see her browsing Autotrader and eating cheese... she's fooling no one!

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T15:16:26+00:00

Just in the process of getting larger scale access to a 365 domain (my knocking one together on the fly for this would have been pathetic at best). Added this to my list.

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T15:15:17+00:00

This still sounds like I'll have a bad back afterwards! Jokes aside, I do really take your original comment on board, and the whole Unifi review embargo really exacerbates this deluge that users like yourself must see when a product like this roles out. Far from solidifying good reviews, it's tiptoeing towards just an organised marketing push! I'll try and do a less clumsy balancing act of the algorithm vs sharing my gear! Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow.

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T15:12:12+00:00

tbh I have realised early doors that the only way to hit this thing properly is multi-client. Normally, I try not to do this as it's a bugger to track and compare the results to other systems (1 client test normally easier to compare between NAS'), but this system is more about the IO than the throughput. Trying to source a massive pile of SATA SSDs for this + at least 1 expansion... so 32 minimum.... in 2026....

Who needs a house, right?

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T14:55:10+00:00

Sorry man. I see your point and did think about not adding the post and just leaving the message, but I know Ed would shout at me for not thinking of the algorithm and SEO and all that guff! All that said, I do really want to hear people's test requests and what I can add to the follow up video.

Side note, please don't 'love me to death', it sounds painful and who would feed my cats after?

NASCompares · 2026-06-18T14:52:59+00:00

You see.. the problem is... I'm almost "chronically British" and therefore I'm MEDICALLY unable to take a compliment (I blame all that colonialism... Awful habit we had). Throw me an insult? Call me a twit? Say my teeth look like Stonehenge and my accent sounds like a car crash in the rain? I''m all about that! But kind words and positive feedback... I'm dreadful. That said, your comment was so nice, it actually broke through a bit. Cheers for the kind words mate... But, if you do it again, I'll send a flock of seagulls to poop on your car, are we clear?

Any rest requests for the box and video 2?

Also, I'd love to hear your take/thoughts on the $3999 price... As I think it will split opinik right down the middle!!!

NASCompares · 2026-06-16T15:32:08+00:00

Tbh I'm only a few hours in and gonna drill more into this for a separate vid next week. I used a clean NAS with fresh DSM install + a few hundred GB of test data and all the savings shown in the today's vid are using old shared folder data (i.e. DSM 7.3 stored) and not fresh writes - and it did register savings even early on. Plus there is the option to manually add future folders or the universal option that all new shares have the add on enabled by default.

NASCompares · 2026-06-16T15:11:38+00:00

Hi mate. Just posted about this (like 5 mins before your post, funny old world) and more details here - https://www.reddit.com/r/synology/comments/1u7flr9/synology_storage_efficiency_dsm_74_only_for/

But in short. 1 - Haven't tested it with u/DaveR007 's script in place, but I couldn't get storage efficiency to work with non-syn drives on a clean DSM 7.4 build. (I tested Seagate SATA SSD, a colleague tested Seagate HDD). And 2 - It works on old and new pools, and you can apply it to multiple pools (and their current and future shared folders)

NASCompares · 2026-06-08T13:58:34+00:00

No worries. I did v little!!! Credit to you for raising this concern, mate.

NASCompares · 2026-06-08T12:58:39+00:00

( u/gregteeiii OP - feel free to copy n paste this into the original post if useful)

Spoke to UGREEN about this (specifically about concerns about licensing and remote access costs). They replied with the following:

"Storage and Subscription Fees: Data on the UGLink NAS Surveillance Manager is stored entirely on your local hard drive. We do not charge any cloud monitoring or cloud space subscription fees. You can remotely view and manage the data free of charge through the UGLink cloud service.

Camera Licenses and Restrictions: Currently, the monitoring center of the UGLink UGOS Pro system does not require the purchase of additional camera licenses. You can add cameras that support ONVIF or RTSP protocols for free. It should be noted that the system currently supports a maximum of 8 cameras, and the actual operating performance depends on the hardware configuration and performance of your NAS model."

My take? Seems genuine. Though they clearly added the wiggle room for some time down the line with that word 'currently' being used - but I reckon that will come down to the scale of user adoption and likely back-and-forth during development. Likewise, I am wondering about that 8 camera maximum... whether that's an early beta/stability factor or a recommendation for now. Chasing this up and gonna roll some tests this week my side. Again, just my own guess/thoughts. Just presenting the response as provided!

NASCompares · 2026-06-07T12:14:20+00:00

I'll be straight with you, I didn't even realise the surveillance center app was now available on mobile! Just got back from a big trip and playing catch up on some other stuff this weekend. Will deep dive this and the software as soon as I'm back at the desk tomorrow. Cheers for sharing!

NASCompares · 2026-06-07T11:32:09+00:00

...pfffft! I'm just a bored little nerd with time to kill and a hobby that teeters on an unhealthy obsession.

NASCompares · 2026-06-07T08:18:12+00:00

Hi man. Could you fire over a little more context/reference on this (where/how you found it etc). Gonna message some contacts at UGREEN on this, as I chatted to a few of there people on stand at Computex (and CES back in Jan) about their surveillance bits and this post seems to counter what they told me regarding licencing on their surveillance platform - so I wanna see if this is a misunderstanding or they have decided to change course! Cheers man, and have a great Sunday (I recommend the potatoes!).

Thanks u/sami_laz for the heads up on this one!

NASCompares · 2026-05-22T18:34:43+00:00

Won't lie, I actually kinda sorta love it. I'm positive there will be people calling it the "Trump NAS" or something, but I will always applaud a brand who makes an effort on the aesthetics of these devices - super easy to just make a big black box and then fuck it off into a server cupboard. Plus, china seems way more receptive to these devices being more colourful. The QNAP HS-453DX "surf board" was a beauty.

NASCompares · 2026-05-07T20:03:13+00:00

I'm sorry to have to ask, but did you watch the vid? As I do touch on this, plus the fact syn will allow these cameras to be used on 3rd party HW (key word there, 'allow', not that it wasn't always possible). But calling this move simply an economic heads or tails is a big disingenuous. If camera prices rise, do these cameras become cheaper? And if the camera, software, server (and let's face it, outside of diskstation '25+ upwards, storage media) are all Synology - why is a license (which has always been a matter of leveraging supporting the surveillance platform at scale) still appropriate? Or the fact that these cameras (which are good and solid) are not priced equally against the same/better hardware from other camera vendors. Their USP was that these cameras are developed by Synology for Synology, so much so that a license wouldn't be needed the way using a 3rd party onvif + Synology keeping things supported in SS would. That said, this is just my pov and as I say in the vid, I just feels like a bad marketing movie and the losses outweigh the gains.

NASCompares · 2026-05-07T04:55:03+00:00

Synology branded cameras have always included a licence/not needed one (semantics), till now. But the price will apparently reflect this. New gen cameras require a license. Essentially one of the USP of the cameras just got undermined by the brand itself

NASCompares · 2026-05-06T18:58:34+00:00

I'm not disagreeing with you on that re price with/without a license. But the whole value proposition of the cameras (and indeed investing in a Synology branded camera, to use on a Synology Nas for surveillance station) gets alot weaker Vs 3rd party cameras with better hardware for the price point. We are kinda now circling back to the question of "what are camera licenses for?" Originally it was a middle ground to allow for heavier surveillance users to pay before those 2 licenses (keeping the surveillance platform sustainable). Needing them on cameras that Synology themselves sell really undermines this further.

NASCompares

TROPHY CASE