A Completely Mobile Life

[kevlar397]

Hi, For the past 5 years or so I have spent 99% of my time on either my iPhone or iPad and used a Mac Mini simply as a "digital hub". My Mini is hooked up to my TV saving me the cost of a monitor. I have it connected to an external hard drive to make disk image backups and Time Machine for more current backups. I was lucky enough that the Mini I bought (Late 2012) had memory that could be expanded so I have been able to keep it performing well enough. With my Mini now 6 years old and feeling like there is not much hope for an updated low cost Mini in the future I am wondering if I can get away with staying in the Apple ecosystem without owning a laptop or desktop? Since all of my jobs have provided a PC laptop I can still do the one or two tasks a year that require a non-mobile device. With iCloud now used to store all of my photos and videos instead of just transferring them to my Mini I don't feel like I have a need for a traditional home computer. My only concern now is not wanting to completely rely on cloud servers to store all of my files. I'm not aware of a way to "backup" the data that is stored in iCloud without a traditional computer. In addition to that concern I would need to price out the cost of storing all of my old files in iCloud. It would be great to be able to make periodic updates to my Mini and have it continue to serve in its current role for the next five years, but I don't see that working well. Can any of you suggest a way for me to manage and backup my files without needing to own a traditional computer? Thanks.

 

[pdafan]

Consider a Synology NAS. Never regretted doing it. The range of software provided by Synology is simply unbeatable.
I am able to do all the documents, video, music storage and still able to access them via internet (just like cloud).
Prior to this, I had been connecting a Thunderbolt Storage to mini.

 

[kevlar397]

Thanks for the suggestion @pdafan! I've been doing a good amount of research into a few Synology NAS'. So far the DS218+ is my favorite. While I found out some good info about this NAS since the reviews were geared toward someone who just wants to backup and access data I am still left with a few questions regarding this solution:

• How would you suggest I utilize iCloud if I'm using a NAS? Can the features of the NAS take the place of iCloud? If so, would I be able to backup my iPhone's data there and download a backup if my phone died?
• iTunes Match requires a Mac or PC. How would I sync my music to my devices? I have seen some small pieces of data regarding iTunes. Synology supports iTunes, but if I understand how a NAS could function for me I would be able to purchase a song on my iPhone and the NAS would automatically create a copy of the file and then make it available for my iPad and Apple TV. Is this NAS able to automatically upload the song into iTunes on my iPad and Apple TV?
• I don't have many movie files. I have only purchased 4 movies in iTunes and don't have any intention to load all of my blu-rays. Since the bulk of my media will he unedited does that impact what NAS I should buy?
• How well does this NAS work with a cloud backup service? I read one review that said most cloud services don't work with Synology NAS'.

Thanks!

Consider a Synology NAS. Never regretted doing it. The range of software provided by Synology is simply unbeatable.
I am able to do all the documents, video, music storage and still able to access them via internet (just like cloud).
Prior to this, I had been connecting a Thunderbolt Storage to mini.