iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
“This container” is Immich, a self-hosted photo and video library that runs on a server you control. One XDA writer and their spouse moved their primary photo libraries from separate Google Photos and OneDrive setups to one Immich instance, keeping separate accounts while sharing selected family photos and albums. It worked for that household, but it is a personal account—not proof that Immich can replace every cloud feature or that every family can safely cancel cloud storage.
The key trade-off is control versus responsibility: you operate the server, maintain it, and protect the files and database. Immich’s documentation warns against using it as the only place to store precious photos and videos.
What the family changed
Before the move, the household split photos across Google Photos and OneDrive, with separate paid storage arrangements. The author said their OneDrive use was usually below 50 GB despite paying for a 1 TB allowance. Those figures describe one family’s usage, not typical storage needs or a current pricing comparison.
They installed Immich on a mini PC running TrueNAS SCALE and used separate accounts for the couple. The author describes sharing family photos and albums, and says Immich gave them a familiar timeline, albums, slideshow, location display, optional face recognition, and mobile automatic backup. These are features reported in the September 24, 2026 account; behavior can depend on the version and setup.
#1 Best Overall
- Entry-level NAS Personal Storage：UGREEN NAS DH2300 is your first and best NAS made easy. It is designed for beginners who want a simple, private way to store videos, photos and personal files, which is intuitive for users moving from cloud storage or external drives and move away from scattered date across devices. This entry-level NAS 2-bay perfect for personal entertainment, photo storage, and easy data backup (doesn't support Docker or virtual machines).
- Set Your Devices Free, Expand Your Digital World: This unified storage hub supports massive capacity up to 64TB.*Storage drives not included. Stop Deleting, Start Storing. You can store 22 million 3MB images, or 2 million 30MB songs, or 43K 1.5GB movies or 67 million 1MB documents! UGREEN NAS is a better way to free up storage across all your devices such as phones, computers, tablets and also does automatic backups across devices regardless of the operating system—Window, iOS, Android or macOS.
- The Smarter Long-term Way to Store: Unlike cloud storage with recurring monthly fees, a UGREEN NAS enclosure requires only a one-time purchase for long-term use. For example, you only need to pay $459.98 for a NAS, while for cloud storage, you need to pay $719.88 per year, $2,159.64 for 3 years, $3,599.40 for 5 years. You will save $6,738.82 over 10 years with UGREEN NAS! *NAS cost based on DH2300 + 12TB HDD; cloud cost based on 12TB plan (e.g. $59.99/month).
- Blazing Speed, Minimal Power: Equipped with a high-performance processor, 1GbE port, and 4GB RAM on Board, this NAS handles multiple tasks with ease. File transfers reach up to 125MB/s—a 1GB file takes only 8 seconds. Don't let slow clouds hold you back; they often need over 100 seconds for the same task. The difference is clear.
- Let AI Better Organize Your Memories: UGREEN NAS uses AI to tag faces, locations, texts, and objects—so you can effortlessly find any photo by searching for who or what's in it in seconds. It also automatically finds and deletes similar or duplicate photo, backs up live photos and allows you to share them with your friends or family with just one tap. Everything stays effortlessly organized, powered by intelligent tagging and recognition.
Immich’s current documentation describes shared albums with viewer or editor roles, as well as partner sharing for an entire library. Its mobile apps can back up selected device albums. That makes it possible to keep separate accounts while sharing some content, rather than treating the household as one account. See Immich’s sharing documentation and Quick start for current setup details.
What “container” means in this setup
A container is a packaged application process that runs on a host machine. Immich is the photo-library application; the mini PC and its storage provide the server. Immich recommends Docker Compose for a production deployment, but installing the application is only one part of running the service. The owner remains responsible for the host, disks, network access, updates, and recovery if something fails. See the Docker Compose deployment guide.
Rank #2
- 【Advanced Home Data & Media Hub】For advanced home users who need phone backup, file storage, and centralized data management. Centralize family photos, 4K videos, movies, computer backups, and personal files in one place while running multiple apps for home entertainment and everyday data management. Suitable for households with growing digital libraries and multiple NAS use cases.
- 【Built for Creators, Media Servers & Advanced Apps】Powered by the Intel N100 Quad-Core CPU, 8GB DDR5 RAM, 2.5GbE networking, and dual M.2 NVMe slots, DXP2800 handles large files and heavier workloads with ease. Run Docker, virtual machines, and media server applications compatible with Plex—ideal for content creators, tech enthusiasts, and advanced home users managing 4K videos, RAW photos, personal media libraries, and multiple NAS apps.
- 【Up to 80TB for Growing Digital Libraries】 Supports up to 80TB of storage using two HDD bays and two M.2 NVMe SSD slots for family photos, movies, RAW photos, 4K videos, work files, and device backups. AI photo management supports recognition of people, objects, scenes, and locations, album organization, and duplicate photo detection. HDDs and SSDs are not included.
- 【AI-powered Home Surveillance】Turn DXP2800 into a centralized home surveillance hub by connecting compatible network cameras and storing recordings locally on your NAS. AI-powered features include Face Recognition, People Detection, and Pet Detection, helping advanced home users review important events more efficiently while managing home surveillance and personal data in one place.
- 【One data Center Across Your Devices】Keep files from desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, and other devices together instead of scattered across cloud accounts and external drives. Access, back up, organize, and share data across Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, web browsers, and compatible smart TVs—ideal for creators and advanced home users working across multiple devices.
The author’s server had one HDD and no redundancy. That configuration can provide a working library, but a single disk failure can put the stored originals at risk. Adding another disk or RAID may improve availability, but neither is a substitute for an independent backup.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Why a backup must include more than the photos
Immich’s backup documentation says a complete backup should protect both uploaded images and videos and the database. The database stores paths and user metadata; Immich says it does not scan the library folder to rebuild that database. Its built-in database backups therefore do not, on their own, protect the media files.
Rank #3
- Your Personal Streaming Server - Build your own Netflix-style media library and stream 4K movies, shows and photos to any device without monthly fees
- Create Your Own Cloud - Store your entire photo, video and music collection; access from anywhere with fast 282 MB/s transfer speeds
- Creator-Grade Backup Solution - Protect your irreplaceable content with automated backups to cloud services, external drives and remote NAS
- Multi-Layered Data Protection - Combine RAID redundancy, automated backups and snapshot technology to prevent data loss from any cause
- Smart Home Surveillance - Support up to 30 IP cameras with AI detection, instant alerts and secure remote monitoring
Immich recommends a 3-2-1 strategy: maintain multiple copies, use more than one type of storage, and keep one copy off-site. The project’s warning is explicit: “Do not use it as the only way to store your photos and videos!” Read the Backup and Restore guide before relying on a server as your only archive, and test that you can restore both the files and the database.
The XDA author used Backblaze as an off-site backup after moving away from Google Photos and OneDrive for the primary library. They reported paying under $2 during a heavy initial-upload month and usually nearer $1 while storing more than 100 GB, also backing up Nextcloud. Those are dated personal billing anecdotes from September 24, 2026—not a current quote, general price estimate, or guarantee of what another account will pay.
Rank #4
- Entry-level NAS Home Storage: The UGREEN NAS DH4300 Plus is an entry-level 4-bay NAS that's ideal for home media and vast private storage you can access from anywhere and also supports Docker but not virtual machines. You can record, store, share happy moment with your families and friends, which is intuitive for users moving from cloud storage, or external drives to create your own private cloud, access files from any device.
- Smart Photo Backup & AI Album: Automatically back up photos and videos from your phone in real time and keep growing family memories organized with AI-powered photo albums. Semantic search, custom learning, and recognition of people, objects, pets, and similar photos help you quickly find the moments you want. Duplicate photo removal also helps keep your library organized—ideal for families and users with large photo collections.
- User-Friendly App & Easy Setup: Connect quickly via NFC, set up simply and share files fast on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, web browsers, and smart TVs. You can access data remotely from any of your mixed devices. What's more, UGREEN NAS enclosure comes with beginner-friendly user manual and video instructions to ensure you can easily take full advantage of its features.
- More Cost-effective Storage Solution: Unlike cloud storage with recurring monthly fees, A UGREEN NAS enclosure requires only a one-time purchase for long-term use. For example, you only need to pay $629.99 for a NAS, while for cloud storage, you need to pay $719.88 per year, $1,439.76 for 2 years, $2,159.64 for 3 years, $7,198.80 for 10 years. You will save $6,568.81 over 10 years with UGREEN NAS! *NAS cost based on DH4300 Plus + 12TB HDD; cloud cost based on 12TB plan (e.g. $59.99/month).
- Your Data, You Control：No third-party clouds, no hidden access, UGREEN NAS provides a more secure and private data storage solution. It stores data locally on your private hard drives and does automatic backups. Thus, you can keep full control over it. The advanced encryption is TRUSTe certified in the United States and is awarded the first (and only) ETSI EN 303 645 certification mark for NAS products by TÜV SÜD Group.
Self-hosting adds maintenance and migration work
The author describes an Immich update that required changing their previous TrueNAS storage layout. They migrated roughly 100 GB before they could update. This was a constraint of that person’s configuration, not a required migration for every Immich installation, but it illustrates why a self-hosted app is not entirely hands-off.
Recommended Free Tools
Immich is actively developed, so updates and configuration changes are part of operating it. Before upgrading, follow the current instructions for your deployment and ensure your backups are usable. If you already keep photos in a folder structure you want to retain, Immich supports mounting external libraries into a Docker deployment and scanning them into the timeline. External-library files and metadata have specific behavior, so review the External Libraries guide before treating that view as a managed copy.
Best Value
- Value NAS with RAID for centralized storage and backup for all your devices. Check out the LS 700 for enhanced features, cloud capabilities, macOS 26, and up to 7x faster performance than the LS 200.
- Connect the LinkStation to your router and enjoy shared network storage for your devices. The NAS is compatible with Windows and macOS*, and Buffalo's US-based support is on-hand 24/7 for installation walkthroughs. *Only for macOS 15 (Sequoia) and earlier. For macOS 26, check out our LS 700 series.
- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
When this kind of move makes sense
Immich may suit a household that wants to control where its library is stored, can operate a server, and is willing to maintain independent backups. It is less suitable as a simple “install once and forget it” replacement for a vendor-managed cloud account. The XDA writer acknowledged that Immich lacked some of Google’s polish and features, and the available account does not establish feature parity with either Google Photos or OneDrive.
- Consider it if you are comfortable maintaining a host and storage, can protect the database as well as media, and have a recovery plan beyond one local disk.
- Pause before moving if you need a low-maintenance service, depend on a particular cloud feature, or have not verified that your existing archive and metadata can be migrated and restored.
- Keep cloud storage in the picture if an off-site copy is part of your protection plan. Leaving a cloud library as the primary service does not require abandoning cloud backup entirely.
For a family migration, first inventory the originals and metadata you need to preserve, decide which users and albums should be shared, and make a separate backup before importing. After setup, verify uploads from each phone and perform a restore test before treating the server as the household’s main library.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
