This is how my setup looks in Jan 2026. I have had previous setups, but this is what it is in my own space after the break in period after moving.
Unifi Cloud Gateway Ultra
└ PoE Injector
└ Reolink RLC-830A
└ TP Link 5 port L2 Switch
└ LG TV
└ PS4
└ HP ProDesk 600 G6 Mini
└ TP Link 8 port L2 Switch
└ PoE Injector
└ U7 Lite
└ UNAS Pro
└ Main Rig
└ Server Rig
└ SO's Rig
I wanted to use more than the basic ISP router, and Unifi seemed the best option that gave a good amount of control while being easy to use. At the beginning, I had minimal networking knowledge, and it seemed like the best option for easy setup and tinkering down the road. It is what I deployed at my parent's house, including an AP there. When I got more knowledge with networking and moved into my own place I saw how much features that Unifi was implementing and actually becoming more viable as a business ecosystem (I have opinions on this but later thing). So I went with the same thing and used it in my new home.
I wanted a pc attached to my TV to increase flexibility and as a bonus it runs Immich in a docker container while the OS is Ubuntu.
I got this because I wanted a place to securely store my photos (see below), projects, my SO's digital commissions and maybe run a media server. This was the best bang for buck option at the time (June 2025) as Synology was locking down on HDDs and I have had a bad experience with TrueNAS (for a future post). I didn't know what my data size was going to look like, so I threw 2-20tb Seagate Exos Drives in it, and I have future room for expansion with the 5 empty bays. Looking back, I could've gone smaller, but now that multiple pools are an option, I'm not as worried. Unfortunately, I'm using 1Gbps on this, so doing the commissions straight off of it isn't ideal yet, but that's for future planning.
I have made plenty of computers/upgrades and done complete system builds for friends. Though for my own it's always been piece mailed and never a new complete system for myself. I have had amazing luck with eBay GPUs, that two have died on me. I still use Ebay, but I don't get used GPUs anymore. They're nothing to boast about, but they work. I want my SO to get a better GPU since theirs died, and I fortunately had this one from a friend. Though it's not in the cards right now to get one.
Mine:
R5-5600X, 32GB-3600 DDR4, RX-5700XT, 1TB NVMe (boot), 1TB NVME (games/projects), 500GB SSD (old boot, games), 2TB HDD (games)
I eventually want to have the 1TB boot and a 4TB Game/Project SSD and everything else on the NAS, but again, piece mailed. I used to have bad internet, so I store games for a while before uninstalling.
SO's:
i5-8400, 16GB-2666 DDR4, Quadro k4000, 500gb NVMe, 1TB HDD
Server:
i5-9600k, 16GB-2666 DDR4, 500GB NVMe
I wanted to store my photos in a central place as Google has deleted all my photos in the past... 3 times... Yes, I had backup on, the settings were all correct. I am missing so many precious memories, including when I started dating my SO. However, when my child was born, I drew the line and said photo loss was not an option. Immich is set up to automatically grab photos from our phones when we connect to the Wi-Fi at home, and I've instructed to never open the app. It runs in the background, but the idea is to never delete photos from it. Immich writes to my NAS, and then we never delete them, even if Google does. I still primarily use Google Photos as the front end to share with my family as the accessibility especially for non-google users is so easy. Eventually I would like Immich to be the main source, but it works as is for now.
The photos are also backed up to Backblaze every month, which costs under $1 a month as a just in case. I get notifications if the UNAS fails to back up (hasn't yet) and I can investigate. Eventually would like to do encrypted backups for extra security, but Backblaze is very reputable and since it's just my photos it's ok for now. I use Google Photos anyway so it's not like they're private.
Since Plex keeps locking more features behind their paywall, I decided to give Jellyfin a try and have found no downside besides the web player on some (not all) TVs top have a bad library viewer compared to others. It formats differently than everything else, and I don't like it. But that's only on a TV in my parent's guest room. I also have a copy with a smaller selection of movies at my parents on a computer also running Jellyfin. I ripped everything used ARM and found the experience overall slow but rewarding.
Running on my server. Love modded, but I am at the point where have beaten a few and can't find the same spark.
I have plenty of ideas, but currently there are 2 big ones. Faster Networking and proper backup.
I would like 10g between my PCs and NAS, but it's not too much of a need, so I haven't. A cheap 10g SFP+ switch and a few fiber transceivers or maybe DAC cables, and it's good. This would allow my SO to have their commissions live editing on the NAS without worrying about a PC failure. Though, I have more important things I want first, like:
Currently, all my Jellyfin media is in one place, the NAS. The commissions are on one place, my SO's computer, and my photos are in 3. 3 places, 3 medias, 1 offsite (I know what a concept). I am getting my SO to reluctantly (habit) move commissions once completed to the NAS for second copy but at the end of the day if I lose my place due to whatever. It's all gone. Sure, stuff can be redownloaded and insurance is a thing. But you know what else is a thing? Time.
I don't want to spend days getting data back, I want proper offsite backup. I considered using another UNAS and storing it at my parents for 1:1 backup, making a 212 backup (or is it 222?). Though the UNAS lacks important things like incremental snapshots, better user control, ZFS and personal drives are a pain on Linux. Note: if you ever get one, only use Shared drives and assign users to which ever ones.
I think the UNAS is a great backup device. Something you put in a second site for backup or for very basic NAS applications. Separation of compute and storage is something I like a lot, which is why I went with it. But man, the new player is still missing stuff. I will continue to use it as is until I create my new NAS, which I think will be made from scratch or a different vendor. We'll see.
That all being said, I just watched Craft Computing's setup for data retention and backup and really like it. NVMe pool for active projects backed up to HDD array A and B where A is data but not SSD fast and B is forever archive all in one site (my home). This will be for projects and commissions. Jellyfin would live on A and B as B is essentially just SSD and A. And then my photos would live on HDD A and B set, back up to parents and Backblaze. I don't really have other data atm that matters. I may send the final commissions to BackBlaze as well every once completed, since money is a factor with that. But otherwise, most of my data doesn't leave, so I don't have to worry about internet security/bandwidth.
I would like to have maybe Home Assistant, my own weather dish to get satellite weather data, maybe a LLM, though the biggest thing is data backup.
That's what it looks like now. We'll see how it evolves from here. I'm also about to take the Network+ which will be a nice thing to have. I'll eventually get Security+ as well.