[stoppingdown]

Given that in the other thread we were talking about NAS...

My own NAS RAID (made by Lacie) unit is old. Were it just old it wouldn't be a big issue since it's still large enough for my needs, but unfortunately, as Mac OSes went on, I first lost the capability to access it as an AFS filesystem (there is a firmware patch for that, but it just can't be applied) and then it became slower and slower... (it exposes an Ethernet interface, so I really can't understand why it is so slow, but nothing that I tried to fix it worked). Now it's becoming a showstopper, because even incremental backups with rsync require many hours. This means that I'm using it less and less frequently (ok, I do have other simpler disk units as targets). So, even though I'd rather spend money for a new lens, I think this year I'll have to buy a newer unit. My problem is that I didn't keep up to date with NAS manufacturers, I see lots of names, but I can't understand which are the reliable ones...

Suggestions?

[Kunzite]

QNAP and Synology are IMO the brands to look for. They can do a lot more than your LaCie, there are lots of applications you could install - and you can even write your own.

I own a QNAP (their cheapest 4-bay, a TS-431p), for data storage it works just fine. If I wanted e.g. video transcoding or multiple Docker containers running miscellaneous stuff, I'd need more powerful hardware though.
If it breaks, I can move my RAID array into another unit - even a different model (but of course, another QNAP). This is a highly desirable feature, I'd say.

[stoppingdown]

QNAP and Synology are IMO the brands to look for. They can do a lot more than your LaCie, there are lots of applications you could install - and you can even write your own.

Well, not that this is a primary concern, but I see it as a small annoyance, rather than an advantage - I don't have needs in addition to storage, such as running extra apps, and unfortunately being able to accept apps means more chances of viruses and trojans...

In any case my primary criterion is reliability.

[Kunzite]

You should be quite safe, by only installing the essential apps from the official app store. And those apps can add very useful storage-related functions, like automated backup to cloud.
Then there's the software support - those apps, utilities and the OS are often updated (and QNAP even introduced snapshots support on their cheap NAS units). Less options doesn't give you security, as those poor folks using WD NAS units found out

With a sample of one, I can't exactly vouch for their reliability - except to say that my unit is working fine. I didn't hear bad things about either of those two brands though.

[Kodachrome 25]

I would add Western Digital if you want a super easy system which offers only limited cloud sync options though.
Anandtech has a nice overview: https://www.anandtech.com/show/9813/best-nases.

But then, why bother with another gadget at home? Which the burglars will snatch along with my Mac? With ever faster internet upload speeds and only a few dozens of gigabytes of new files, photos or videos per month, I use Arq to backup my stuff to two different clouds and the intention to get a NAS most likley gets postponed for another year.

[Kunzite]

I wouldn't even think about WD, after their backdoor blunder.
http://gulftech.org/advisories/WDMyCloud%20Multiple%20Vulnerabilities/125

[you2]

I liked zfs on linux (it also runs on freebsd and open solaris).

[stoppingdown]

Cloud is another thing that I don't want. Not being a pro, I'm not highly concerned about burglars, my primary concern is to avoid the loss of data. In any case, since I obviously have a copy of the photos at home, they are anyway exposed to classic burglars; adding a cloud copy only means to expose my data to further burglars.

[Kodachrome 25]

I wouldn't even think about WD, after their backdoor blunder.
http://gulftech.org/advisories/WDMyCloud%20Multiple%20Vulnerabilities/125

Thanks for the info. Wasn't aware of these issues. The argument pro WD was (and may get valid again if they resolve these issues) of course, that all components come from the same manufacturer. 

Cloud is another thing that I don't want. Not being a pro, I'm not highly concerned about burglars, my primary concern is to avoid the loss of data. In any case, since I obviously have a copy of the photos at home, they are anyway exposed to classic burglars; adding a cloud copy only means to expose my data to further burglars.

Arq encrypts files before it uploads them. https://www.arqbackup.com/features/
Having no off-site backup is equivalent to having no backup at all if burglars take the external drive with the originals and the NAS with the backup. That's my personal worst case scenario. And getting hardware stolen seems much more probable than some hackers intruding Amazon or Microsoft to download some gigabytes of my encrypted vacation photos.

[JJ_SO]

I'm reading only, can't say much about NAS - I'm interested in getting one some day.

I would not rate the burglar problem too high. Laptops and desktops get them some value - but second hand external drives? Here I would be too concerned about failures than to trust these things any kind of data.

Backdoors might be in the OS of other NAS as well, or worse - if it comes from China, I'd be rather sure there is a backdoor in it. I can imagine a scneario where only one of my machines is connected constantly to the internet, others would be offline (except for updates)