🔍 Read the full analysis: Inside The Setup: UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro For Our AI Fleet on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
ThorstenMeyerAI.com says it bought a UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro after iCloud sync conflicts created 29 duplicate database dumps and left a server with 2% free disk space. The NAS is delivered with four 16 TB drives and an NVMe SSD, but is not connected or configured; its backup plan and acceptance tests remain unproven.
ThorstenMeyerAI.com has bought a UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro after a sync-service conflict left one of its servers with 2% free disk space, but the storage system is not yet on the network and has not been tested. The site says it plans to use the six-bay device for local backups and test databases, with a separate encrypted offsite copy, while keeping its existing backup process in place until two acceptance tests pass.
In an account published November 1, operator Thorsten Meyer said that on September 17, two machines uploaded database dumps with the same filename to an iCloud folder. The service retained repeated conflict copies, producing 29 duplicate files and leaving the database server nearly full. Meyer said a later cleanup job also timed out while iCloud was busy. The incidents led him to stop treating a synchronization service as a backup destination.
The purchased system has four Seagate IronWolf Pro 16 TB drives and one NVMe SSD. The planned configuration puts the four hard drives in RAID 6, which Meyer estimates would provide about 32 TB of usable capacity and tolerate the failure of two drives. The SSD is intended for a separate storage pool for containers and test databases. These are plans, not operating results: the NAS has not been configured, and the two acceptance tests have not run.
Meyer says the first tests will check whether Time Machine works with a non-administrator account and whether snapshots remain inaccessible to that account. If either test fails, he says he will return the NAS. Until then, the operation continues to use local Time Machine disks on two Macs and an iCloud copy of its nightly database dump. Meyer disclosed that he paid for the NAS and storage himself; he said UGREEN did not provide a sample or sponsor the article.
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 Faster Route Back After a Failure
The proposed change addresses recovery speed and backup separation, rather than a shortage of storage alone. Meyer measured the operation’s current backup need at about 6 to 8 TB. A local NAS could give the team a nearby copy to restore from, avoiding the wait of retrieving hundreds of gigabytes over its internet connection. It would also place backups on separate hardware instead of relying on a sync folder that may reproduce deletions or file conflicts.
The distinction matters for a small operation running a publishing database and local AI systems around the clock. Meyer reported recurring kernel panics on the database Mac, including an outage of 2¼ hours after a crash on August 8. A NAS cannot prevent that computer from failing, and RAID is not itself a backup. The planned snapshots and encrypted offsite copy are intended to address other risks, but their effectiveness has not yet been demonstrated.
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Why the Six-Bay Model Was Chosen
Meyer describes a small fleet of Macs: one holds the main Postgres database, another serves local AI models, and others run content pipelines and tests. Measurements taken October 6 put storage use at about 2.6 TB on the main desk machine, 744 GB on the database server, and 3.2 TB on the model server. The database itself was about 293 GB; Meyer says many model files can be downloaded again.
He says he chose the DXP6800 Pro over a less expensive four-bay option because it offers six drive bays and room to add disks without replacing the existing ones. UGREEN’s specifications list two M.2 slots, a 10-core Intel Core i5-1235U, two 10GbE ports and 8 GB of DDR5 memory expandable to 64 GB. Those are manufacturer specifications, not independent performance findings. With six 16 TB drives in the planned RAID 6 arrangement, Meyer estimates about 64 TB usable, though he currently expects to install only four drives.
The planned safeguards include separate, quota-limited accounts for each Mac, daily snapshots those accounts cannot access or delete, and an encrypted offsite copy made with restic to Backblaze B2, using Object Lock against deletion. Meyer also plans to schedule disk-heavy work between 20:00 and 06:00 so the drives can remain idle during office hours. He says he will not give AI agents administrator credentials, expose the NAS to direct internet access, or count a UGREEN cloud mirror as the offsite copy.
“That was the day I stopped treating a sync service as a backup.”
— Thorsten Meyer, ThorstenMeyerAI.com
Setup Results Are Still Pending
The device has been delivered and equipped, but it is not yet connected to the network. No results are available for the Time Machine or snapshot tests, and the planned RAID layout, account permissions, offsite backup, and overnight schedule have not been verified in operation. The current backups still use local Time Machine disks and an iCloud database-dump copy.
It is also too early to know whether the setup will shorten recovery times, avoid future capacity problems, or meet the operation’s security and reliability needs. Meyer says the article is not a review or long-term test and that he intends to report results after rollout. The reported storage measurements and failure history are the site’s own figures; the hardware specifications are attributed to UGREEN and Seagate.
Two Tests Before Rollout
The next step is to connect and configure the NAS, then run the two stated acceptance tests: Time Machine access through a non-admin account and snapshots that the account cannot reach or delete. Meyer says a failure in either test means the hardware will be returned. If both pass, the planned setup would add local backup storage and a separate SSD pool while retaining an encrypted offsite copy.
The timeline for those tests has not been specified. Until Meyer publishes operating results, the proposed capacity, restore benefits and protection layers should be read as a deployment plan, not as proven performance.
Key Questions
Has the UGREEN NAS been set up?
No. As of November 1, 2026, Meyer says it has been delivered and fitted with four hard drives and an NVMe SSD, but is not on the network or configured.
Why did the operation buy a NAS?
Meyer says duplicate database dumps created through iCloud sync left a server with 2% free space. A local NAS is intended to provide a separate, faster-to-reach backup destination.
How much storage will the planned setup provide?
Meyer estimates about 32 TB usable from four 16 TB drives in RAID 6. That figure is a plan, not a tested result; he estimates about 64 TB if all six bays eventually hold 16 TB drives.
What has to happen before the NAS is accepted?
Two tests must pass: Time Machine must work with a non-admin account, and that account must not be able to access or delete snapshots. Meyer says the NAS will be returned if either test fails.
Will the NAS replace the offsite backup?
No. The plan is to keep an encrypted offsite copy with restic to Backblaze B2, alongside local NAS storage. The new system has not yet been configured or tested.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
