Ugreen DXP4800GT NAS review: ditch cloud computing costs for good with new generation of home server

If you are fed up with paying for cloud services, or concerned about data privacy, you can bypass many expensive subscription fees by hosting your own cloud storage that gives you full ownership of your content . Ugreen is a firm that offers a highly resilient, ultra-fast storage ecosystem using a NAS (Network Attached Storage) system that stores all your data and media locally, giving you faster access and without the monthly bills to cloud services such as Google Drive or Dropbox, where your files live on someone else’s servers. READ MORE: Ugreen Nexode Retractable Chargers review: ideal power bank for festivals such as All Together Now READ MORE: Ugreen FineTracker review: I tested these more affordable AirTag alternatives for iPhone users I’ve previously tested the Ugreen DXP2800 and it became one of the most practical and reliable components in my home tech set-up, offering quiet operation, powerful hardware and an easy-to-use software platform. Ugreen has now expanded its NASync DXP line-up by introducing two competitively priced new devices, the NASync DXP4800 GT and the DXP2800 GT .

There are sizeable discounts to be had on the devices if you purchase this month. I’ve been using both for the past couple of weeks and I will outline the key features of the DXP2800 GT in a separate review. The DXP4800 GT is a four-bay machine aimed at content creators, video editors, smart home enthusiasts and power users or anyone who wants to curate, store and stream movies on a home media server. It’s a stylish looking black and copper coloured machine that looks well in a living room environment as well as a home office.

DXP4800 GT is powered by a four-core, eight-thread, AMD Ryzen Embedded R2514 processor rated up to 3.7Ghz which is aided by 8GB of DDR4 RAM with ECC support. ECC RAM reduces data errors and crashes. The RAM can be expanded up to 64GB, incidentally. The chip is sufficiently zippy for running network storage.

You can store 3.5in SATA drives in all four bays , but the first two can also accommodate 2.5in U.2 NVMe SSDs that enable smooth real-time editing of 8K multi-format RAW footage. The four SATA drives can take up to 32TB each. There are also two M.2 slots accessed in the base of the unit and supporting PCIe Gen3 x NVMe drives up to 8TB. So that is a potential storage capacity of 144TB.

There are plenty of connectivity options on the DXP4800GT , with dual 10Gbps Ethernet ports (a headline feature), two USB 2.0 ports, one 10 Gbps USB-A port and HDMI on the rear. The two Ethernet ports would benefit network editing and managing multiple security camera feeds. Around the front is another 10Gbps USB-A port and a 10Gbps USB-C port, along with an SD card reader that’s so handy for transferring hi-res photos and videos from my camera quickly. I tested the 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports by transferring data from some external hard drives and by backing up my NAS data to an external drive.

The read and write speeds for these tests were excellent, and having USB 3.2 Gen 2 is a huge and welcome benefit. You can actually back up all your family’s photos to your Ugreen NAS , whether they were taken on a mobile phone or a digital camera. The Ugreen photo app is AI-driven, which is a must for managing large photo libraries efficiently. It scans your entire photo collection and automatically tags images by content, facial recognition or location.

Your photos and videos remain on your drives, not someone else’s, which means no privacy concerns, no image compression and no bandwidth costs. For anyone with a large library of images, this feature is invaluable. Setting the DXP 4800GT up is simple . The firm’s UGOS Pro operating system is slick and straightforward.

It supports standard RAID configurations for redundancy, encrypted storage, automatic back-ups and remote access. The way I use it is to mirror two drives so if one drive fails, you have a full back-up ready to go. Remember, to be ultra-safe, you should always back up your back-up and store that third copy of your data and files at a different location. All of this can be controlled using a free app available for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS .

The app offers instant access from anywhere in the world to all your media in one place. Whether you’re on desktop or mobile, you can browse files, stream music and video and manage user permissions. The firm's new Surveillance Center app is worth a mention. It connects to ONVIF-standard IP cameras on your network for live viewing, local recording, playback and event monitoring.

ONVIF is an open standard that lets security cameras from different brands work with third-party software. This means your DXP4800 GT can act as a local recording hub for a mixed set of cameras, enabling you to ditch more cloud storage costs. The UGOS Pro system includes a security manager to look after encryption, two-factor authentication, and remote access control, keeping your data safe even when accessed from outside your home network. You can also use the DXP4800 GT as a Time Machine back-up if you are a Mac use r.

I’ve tested this out and while the initial 500GB back-up of my Mac Mini took a lot longer than a back-up with a wired connection would, the subsequent regular backups took place quietly and quickly in the background. One feature I am especially impressed by is how quiet the Ugreen DXP4800GT runs in operation, especially in comparison to NAS servers I have used from rival brands. Even during transfers of huge amounts of data, the Ugreen unit is almost silent, to the point you feel the urge to check it is on by looking at the LED light indicators on the front of the unit. And it produces little or no heat.

It’s a good idea to use a USB UPS with your NAS to prevent any data loss during power outages. The area I live in has a small number of power outages every year so using a UPS is essential. IMost modern NAS operating systems (like those from Synology and Ugreen natively support UPS integration. You connect the UPS to your NAS using a USB data cable and configure the settings so that the NAS enters a safe standby mode and shuts down safely after a set number of minutes on the UPS’ battery power.

You can by an accessory made by other brands too, if you prefer, but I bought Ugreen’s own NAS 120W DC Uninterruptible Power Supply which is inexpensive at €109.99 and ultra-compact so it does not take up much space at all. This DC-passthrough back-up battery plugs directly into the NAS power brick (with a 0ms failover time) and then connects using USB for data protection. Ugreen DXP4800GT is a feature-packed NAS system with the support for dual 10GbE networking and U.2-class SSD not common at this price point. It’s easy to recommend it to content creators and small businesses who move large files and want to avoid cloud computing fees.

Ugreen DXP4800 GT costs €659.99 from Ugreen Nas or from Amazon but if you buy it this month you can get it for €589.99 . For comparison, Synology 4-Bay DS925+ NAS costs €693 from Amazon . Want to see more of the stories you love from the Irish Mirror? Making us your preferred source on Google means you’ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away.

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