I need a new file server and backup – any suggestions?

[#1]

I'll add another vote for Synology although the latest software (DSM) doesn't support USB printers any more.

My USB printer is on an old Apple Airport Extreme which seems to work nicely.

My understanding is that those who have tried both generally have a preference for Synology over QNAP based on Synology's software.

It's not a cheap thing to get into although I started with a single drive in a two drive enclosure.

If I knew then what I know now I might have spent more money and bought a four drive enclosure instead.

For simple file storage the lower spec ranges are OK however if you want more functionality, the more expensive units will be worthwhile. 

[#2]

Thanks to everybody for your input - it's been really helpful.

I think this is where I'm at:-

I've looked at TrueNAS which is interesting - but it needs a minimum of 8GB of memory, so I'd need to upgrade the existing server hardware - which would still be 11 years old. As it is a HP ProLiant micro server it uses proprietary hardware - I don't think new spares are available - hardware failure would still be a risk. 

I'm currently thinking of a Synology DS923+ 4 bay NAS with 2 6TB drives. That should get me started and allow room for expansion either by adding more drives and moving to raid 5 or adding 2 drives as a second raid 1 array.(Taking @mystreet1's point about a single point of failure, I could possibly add aDS723+ 2 bay unit later) 

Does this sound sensible?

Thanks

Ian

[#3]

Personally I think the Synology DS923+ would be an excellent choice.

[#4]

@IMM Good choice, plenty of useful apps. Allow for extra memory especially if thinking of running VMs.

[#5]

@IMM just can across this

https://www.xda-developers.com/reasons-building-a-nas-is-better-than-buying-one/

[#6]

@mystreet1 Thanks for that. As it happens, I've already purchased the Synology.

Now I'm just trying to work out how to configure Active Backup for my PCs (and possibly the home server for a while.) - I'm a bit annoyed that it doesn't seem to offer any options as to where to store the backups -I'd prefer them in a separate volume to my data shares.

Also it seems to hide where the operating system is and where the packages are stored - I'm used to being able to see everything in  windows. Maybe it's just me not being familiar with it yet.

Ian