I know this topic has been done ad nauseam but I'm stuck in a decision loop that looks something like this...
"...OK screw it, I'm going to stop talking about it just get a [non-enterprise/non-rack] Synology/QNAP NAS. I rent an apartment and they have a much smaller footprint and low power draw out of the box. Damn, it really costs that much for 4 bays with entry level hardware? NIC and RAM upgrade costs how much??? What if Synology abandons that model? Where's the fun in this solution anyway..."
"...OK I'm going to look at going DIY instead. It's more interesting, more customisable, virtually unlimited support, can be cheaper. Man that case is big and ugly... hey that ITX case looks alright. Wow consumer ITX boards are expensive, rather limited, and look like they will suck power too. Woah OK enterprise ITX mainboards are not in my budget. Hmm that aliexpress NAS board looks alright, but could be a dice roll. Do I really have time for this anyway? OK screw it I'm getting a Synology..."
And so on... I get all the pro's and con's of each, and that's part of the issue!
Ultimately homelabbing is a hobby, and if I wasn't such a nerd I would have bought a turnkey solution already or just paid Big Tech for the solutions I require.
On the other hand, the storage is a critical part of the infrastructure and could suck the fun out of the hobby. Maybe it's best to pay for a solution created by people smarter than me (and paid for their time), so I can spend time on fun things that aren't mission critical.
So I want to hear from fellow nerds, which path did you chose and do you regret it?
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I've had several COTS type NAS'... all of them have had some sort of limiting factor and the value vs. hardware and capabilities were just never there for me. I went through hell with Synology and their "approved" memory and now drives... that was the final nail in the coffin for me.
Just last fall I went for broke (literally) and bought a 45 Drives Storinator AV15. Zero regrets, it runs Ubuntu and ZFS, and if it breaks I keep both pieces and can customize it all I want with any off the shelf parts I see fit. Was it cheap? Hell no... (and I'm still paying for it) .. but I was tired of messing with all these Turnkey NAS' so I decided this was the path forward.
If I had it to do over again (and wish it was an option at the time) I would have opted for their new Homelab server instead. What I have is overkill, but it was the best path forward for my needs.