Use Case: Mainly storage but probably also jellyfin, and some ligher apps. Not really AI.
Performance: How key is CPU power, power efficiency, or upgradability (e.g., PCIe slots)?
For me power efficiency and noise would be important. Of course a better CPU is nice.
Your LAN speed (1, 2.5, 10, 25 Gbps)?
10Gbps at least.
Storage: Preferred drive bay count (2, 6, 8+)? NVMe cache for reads/writes? Ideal capacity (10 TB, 50 TB+)?
6 bays + nvme ofr cache.
OS: TrueNAS, Unraid, OpenMediaVault, Linux, or no preference?
Not sure
Design: Appearance matter? Displayed or hidden?
Doesnt matter that much but smaller better.
Budget: Ideal price (excluding drives)?
600 usd
Pain Points: What frustrates you about NAS or cloud solutions? Killer feature to switch?
Would be pretty cool to easily be able to expand bays. Lets say you got 4 bays. And you can then buy some case that connects to the main unit and lets you add additional storage.