I know it's kinda early for Xmas, but the Kickstarter campaign won't wait! After thoughtful research, I opted in and backed the Unifydrive UT2 - a portable NAS that might just solve my storage issues.

For a while, I've been looking for an M.2 chassis, but they always seemed to be lacking features or were too expensive. Then I stumbled upon the Unifydrive UT2, and here’s what stood out to me:

1. Compact Size: At 173.5mm x 90mm x 28mm, it’s about the size of a 20,000mAh power bank

2. M.2 Drives: No clicky HDDs here.

3. Powerful CPU: ARM-based octa-core RK3588C, with NPU offering up to 6 TOPs for AI.

4. Media Processing Power: The ARM Mali-G610 MC4 GPU, combined with the CPU, makes it capable of media processing, including 8K and HDR.

5. Docker Support: With build-in 8GB RAM and CPU, it should handle virtualization well.

6. Connectivity: It has good connectivity options – 2.5Gb LAN, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, Type-C with DisplayPort, card readers, and HDMI 2.1.

7. Built-in Battery: Useful for safely running M.2 drives during power outages.

8. Reasonable Price – Currently $399 on Kickstarter, which seems great for the features offered.

It ticks a lot of boxes for me, including ease of use, portability, and features I need in my setup.

To read more about my early concerns, and why I decided to go for it, you can check out my full blog post.

Unless something goes seriously wrong with this device, I believe it’s a game-changer for content creators—especially given the current pace of media size growth and the rising costs of cloud storage solutions.