Ask HN: Can't figure out a NAS solution. Help?

Well I have been looking into pre-built options such as Synology or QNap for Nas storage.

I have contemplated building a desktop from ground up and implementing RAID 1.

Overall I am seeking a backup and redundancy solutions for my terabytes of photographs and personal data.

The attractive part about the pre-built solution is for instance the cloud access for Synology and the mobile Apps. Sounds very convenient and mobile access is a Huge plus for the photos.

Do any of the fellow hackers here have a suggestion for a build or a pre-build sys that would cost a max of $500 Please advise