Stop Juggling Drives and Clouds
Still hopping between hard drives, Google Drive, and Dropbox? Here’s a cleaner way: a private 136TB NAS that can push ~1 GB/s on a 10 GbE network—no recurring subscriptions, built for professional ArchViz workflows.
What We’re Setting Up (Specs & Context)
Model: UGREEN NAS DXP4800 Plus
CPU: 12th-Gen Intel Pentium Gold 8505 (5-core)
Networking: 10 GbE + 2.5 GbE
Max capacity: up to 136 TB (~92k movies or ~47M photos)
Certification: TÜV-certified
Use case: Centralize ArchViz projects, textures, references, and media
Setup
Step 1 — Physical Setup (Beginner-Friendly)
- Insert HDDs into trays, slide them in.
- Connect power + Ethernet to the switch.
- Run the UGREEN app and follow the guided setup.
- Works with mainstream software/hardware and third-party drives.
Step 2 — Storage Pool, RAID & Volumes
Picking RAID (We Chose RAID 10)
RAID = combine multiple drives for speed, redundancy, or both
RAID 10 = striping + mirroring → fast and fault-tolerant.
- Roughly doubles single-drive speed.
- In a 4-drive array, up to 2 drives can fail (as long as they’re not the same mirror pair).
- Trade-off: you effectively sacrifice half the raw capacity for performance + protection.
Important: RAID is not a backup. If you’re hacked or the building burns, RAID won’t save you. Use additional local/external/cloud backups (the NAS supports all three).
Our Pool & Volume
- Pool: 4×16TB HDDs in RAID 10.
- Volume: 1 main volume for simplicity.
- Heads-up: Initial pool/volume creation can take >1 day on this setup.
Health Check First
- Run Hard Drive Test to identify problematic disks early and replace under warranty before they fail.
Step 3 — SSD Cache for Real Workloads
For 4K video editing, heavy 3ds Max scenes, and texture-rich projects, SSD cache accelerates reads/writes.
- Install: Unscrew bottom plate → insert 2×4TB SSDs → add thermal pads → close.
- Note: Cache does not add to capacity; it speeds things up.
Step 4 — Map NAS as a Drive on Windows
- Create Shared Folder(s) on NAS.
- In Windows: Map Network Drive → pick letter.
- Use LAN address + shared folder name.
- Done—now it behaves like a local drive in Explorer.
Real-World Speed Tests
10 GbE vs 1 GbE (Same 60 GB File)
To UGREEN NAS (10 GbE): ~1 GB/s sustained → ~45 seconds.
To older 1 GbE server: ~125 MB/s → ~9 minutes.
Versus Cloud Upload
Google Drive chokes on big files and account limits; our smaller test file still took ages just to start. Local 10 GbE simply wins for large ArchViz assets.
Why Speed Matters for ArchViz
Unreal Engine projects: On 1 GbE, interaction lag (≈1-second mouse delay) forced us to copy projects locally—messy and slow. On 10 GbE, it’s smooth enough to work directly off the NAS.
3ds Max: Faster save/load, texture streaming, asset imports, autosaves.
Video editing: Edit off the server and skip the “copy to local → edit → copy back” shuffle.
Access Anywhere (Office, Remote, Mobile)
Office: Standard Ethernet access.
Remote: Secure web portal or map a drive over VPN to open/save from home.
Mobile: UGREEN app to browse, preview, upload from camera roll, and share.
Smart Sharing & Permissions
Time-limited, password-protected links for clients/collabs.
Users/Groups/Folder permissions so each workstation only sees relevant projects.
Local AI Photo Album (Offline, Private)
UGREEN’s AI Smart Recognition & Classification helps sort visuals—great for references and past renders.
- Search by keywords; auto-group by people/places/animals.
- Runs locally (no internet required); no uploads to external servers—ideal for sensitive work and personal photos.
Verdict: A Pro-Grade Studio Backbone
For ArchViz teams and solo creators, this UGREEN NAS setup delivers:
- Speed: 10 GbE + SSD cache = near-local performance.
- Scale: Up to 136TB—forget subscription limits.
- Control: Centralized assets, secure sharing, remote access.
- Smarts: Offline AI album to wrangle references and renders.
If you’re tired of juggling drives and slow clouds, this architecture is absolutely worth considering.
Where to Get It
The UGREEN NAS series is available on Amazon and the UGREEN website:
Grab 5% discount on the Official Website with the code: ArchViz
#UGREENNAS #UGREEN
