

I’m a prosumer/hobbiest photographer for 20+ years and started from film as well. I have spent countless days/months of my life migrating from systems to systems. While my subsystem is folder based and all tags are on the photo itself, not every software is alike and migrations becomes a chore.
The major issue with software systems like digikey(which I also had) is that they all eventually stop support. After switching to Synology, I have everything you are asking for and more. I went from a 2 bay system, to a 4 bay system and currently on an 8 bay system. Each time it was super seamless. Ran out of space? Pop a new drive in. A drive is starting to fail? It takes your spare drive and automatically brings it into rotation and emails you telling you to replace the spare drive. It does an automatic monthly data scrubbing to ensure data integrity. Seriously so much more. I recently added a docker container for Joplin(a notes, journaling app).
Quite literally zero fiddling, and zero headaches.
I have 8 family members using my system and it’s super easy to implement. Give them the credentials and ask them to download from the play store or Apple store.
Yes it’s proprietary. And moving from Synology to another system will probably be a chore too. But honestly, it’s so simple that I’m willing to some money on it on that less headache.
I’m currently on my Fold 5. Started from Fold 2, 4 and then 5. My wife who is currently on 6.
In between I have used Pixels and iPhones.
The Fold is a productively monster. I can have up to 4 screens running simultaneously.
I can be on a zoom call and work on the slide the slide or PowerPoint at the same time. I can plug it into a monitor and a mouse and keyboard.
There is a price to pay for this innovation. It is constantly breaking. So I pay for the insurance. It’s totally worth it.