Anyone know offhand if this year is getting a refresh to the 1618+? I think that Synology has a tick-tock upgrade cadence with consumer product lines getting upgrades in year x, and enterprise products get upgrades in year x+1.
Is there a good guide to start researching that isn't a top-ten list with just affiliate links?
Definitely have a look though the relevant reddit subs and by and large the relavant ones are positive and helpful, eg /datahoarder /synology /homelab. It's good to scan them pre purchase too - for example it's been interesting watch the Western Digital drive issues play out over those subs
There are some off-the-shelf solutions that are expensive and well regarded (eg Synology DS918 DS1019) but expensive. There are a lot of pretty nice systems you'll be able to hack together too. Freenas is excellent in this regard, but it gets into personal favorites very fast.
This might be the best machine I’ve ever owned. It’s rock solid, a great Docker introduction and runs a load of small tasks without issue or intervention for a year+ so far.