🔍 Read the full analysis: How We’re Configuring Our 6-Bay UGREEN NAS For AI on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Thorsten Meyer says his operation bought a UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro after iCloud sync conflicts created 29 duplicate database dumps and left a server with 2% free space. The NAS has four 16 TB hard drives and an NVMe SSD, but is not yet connected or configured; the proposed backup design and two acceptance tests remain plans.
Thorsten Meyer’s AI and publishing operation has bought a six-bay UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro after a sync-folder mishap left one server with only 2% free disk space. As of November 1, the NAS has four 16 TB hard drives and an NVMe SSD installed but is not connected to the network, so its proposed backup setup has not been tested. Buyers weighing a similar NAS for AI can review what to weigh before buying a UGREEN NAS.
Meyer says the immediate problem occurred on September 17, when two machines uploaded database dumps with the same filename to an iCloud folder. The service retained conflict copies; Meyer counted 29 duplicates on the machine running the main database. A separate backup-management issue appeared on October 29, when the nightly job timed out while trying to remove old copies from the folder. Meyer says the backup itself completed, but cleanup did not.
The planned setup uses four Seagate IronWolf Pro 16 TB drives in RAID 6 for backups, with about 32 TB of usable capacity, according to Meyer’s estimate. The design is intended to tolerate the failure of two drives without data loss. A separate NVMe SSD would hold containers and test databases. Meyer says the remaining two drive bays would allow capacity to expand later; filling all six bays with 16 TB drives in the same RAID arrangement would provide about 64 TB of usable space.
Meyer describes three planned safeguards: separate, non-administrator accounts and storage quotas for each Mac’s backups; daily snapshots that those accounts cannot access or delete; and an encrypted offsite backup using restic to Backblaze B2, with Object Lock configured to prevent deletion. These are planned controls, not verified protections. The NAS remains unconfigured, and the existing backups still use local Time Machine disks and an iCloud copy of the 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 proposed NAS addresses a practical gap in Meyer’s current arrangement: a copy synced to cloud storage can repeat deletions or preserve duplicate files, while restoring hundreds of gigabytes over an internet connection may take hours. A local network copy could provide a faster recovery route, though it would not replace an offsite copy or prevent the source machine from failing.
Meyer says the operation currently needs about 6 to 8 TB of backup capacity. Measurements from October 6 put the main desk machine at about 2.6 TB, the database server at 744 GB, and the model server at 3.2 TB, much of it AI model files that can be downloaded again. The planned four-drive pool offers more room than that stated current need, with the extra bays serving as an expansion option rather than proof of a particular future requirement.
The setup also reflects a boundary Meyer is drawing around AI workloads: agents would not receive administrator credentials, and the NAS would not be exposed for remote access from the internet. That limits what automation can do if a process misbehaves, but the actual access controls and snapshot protections have yet to be tested.
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Why the Sync Copies Failed
Meyer says the operation runs several Macs around the clock, including a machine hosting its main Postgres database, another serving local AI models, and others used for content pipelines and testing. Since August, the database Mac has experienced recurring kernel panics, which Meyer says occurred roughly every five days at their worst. A crash on August 8 caused about 2¼ hours of database downtime. A NAS cannot prevent those crashes, but a local copy could reduce restore time if the design works as intended.
The purchase followed an earlier storage workaround that had become difficult to manage. Test databases for other projects ran in Docker on Meyer’s laptop, using a virtual disk that had grown to about 30 GB. Meyer says moving that work to a separate SSD pool is part of the plan, not a tested result.
Meyer selected the six-bay DXP6800 Pro over a cheaper four-bay model, citing room to add drives without replacing the existing ones. UGREEN’s published specifications list six SATA bays, two M.2 slots, an Intel Core i5-1235U processor, two 10GbE ports, and 8 GB of DDR5 memory expandable to 64 GB. Meyer says the purchase was made with personal funds; UGREEN did not supply or sponsor the device, and the article is not a review or long-term test.
“That was the day I stopped treating a sync service as a backup.”
— Thorsten Meyer, ThorstenMeyerAI.com
Setup and Safeguards Remain Untested
The NAS has been delivered and equipped but is not yet on the network. Meyer says neither of the two acceptance tests has run: Time Machine backups using a non-administrator account, and snapshots that remain inaccessible to that account. He says the NAS will be returned if either test fails.
It is not yet known whether the system will meet the operation’s needs for backup reliability, restore speed, snapshot isolation, or quieter daytime use. Meyer plans to schedule disk-heavy tasks from 20:00 to 06:00 so the drives can sleep during working hours, but that behavior has not been demonstrated. The intended Backblaze B2 copy and Object Lock protections are also not yet in operation. Until rollout, the existing local Time Machine disks and iCloud database-dump copy remain the backup arrangement.
Two Tests Before Rollout
Meyer says setup will proceed only after testing whether Time Machine works with a non-admin account and whether the account can be prevented from seeing or deleting snapshots. A failure in either test means the NAS will be returned, according to the published plan.
If the tests pass, the proposed next steps are to configure the RAID 6 backup pool, keep the NVMe SSD as a separate pool for containers and test databases, and establish an encrypted offsite copy to Backblaze B2. Meyer says he will report back with results once the NAS is running; no completion date or measured performance results have been provided.
Key Questions
Is the UGREEN NAS already backing up the operation’s computers?
No. As of November 1, 2026, the device has drives installed but is not connected to the network. The existing backups still use local Time Machine disks and an iCloud copy of a nightly database dump.
What caused the server’s disk-space problem?
Meyer says two machines uploaded database dumps with the same filename to one iCloud folder. The resulting conflict copies accumulated; he counted 29 duplicates, leaving the database server with 2% free disk space.
How will the four hard drives be configured?
The plan is to use four 16 TB Seagate IronWolf Pro drives in RAID 6, with about 32 TB usable capacity by Meyer’s estimate. The setup has not yet been configured, so that figure describes the intended arrangement rather than a measured result.
What has to happen before Meyer keeps the NAS?
Two tests must pass: Time Machine must work with a non-admin account, and snapshots must remain beyond that account’s reach. Meyer says the NAS will be returned if either test fails.
Will the NAS replace the offsite backup?
No. The plan is to add an encrypted offsite copy using restic and Backblaze B2, with Object Lock intended to prevent deletion. That offsite system has not yet been set up, and the NAS itself is not intended to replace an offsite copy.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
