How does it connect to my devices when I'm away from home?

Harbor uses Tailscale, a widely-used networking service built on WireGuard. You install the free Tailscale app once on each device. In most setups your phone talks directly to the dock over an encrypted tunnel, with nothing in between. When a direct connection isn't possible (some mobile carriers, restrictive wifi), Tailscale relays the encrypted traffic — they can see that you connected, not what you sent. Harbor's servers are never in the data path; we don't see your files at any point.

Does it work on iPhone, Android, and desktop?

Yes. Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, and Android all work. Once you install Tailscale on your device, the dock appears like a local server. Open any browser, type its name, and your files are there.

What happens if my home internet goes down?

Devices on your home Wi-Fi can still access the dock normally. It is a local network device first, remote second. Remote access from outside the home pauses until your internet returns, the same as any home server. Your files are never lost; they live on your drive.

The Harbor Dock itself, a small low-power device, plus a power adapter, an Ethernet cable, and a quick-start card. You bring your own USB drive (any size, any brand).

What size USB drive can I use?

Any standard USB drive works. Common sizes range from 1TB to 20TB. Use one drive for personal storage, or pair two docks (one at home, one at a friend's or family member's place) for automatic encrypted off-site backup.

What happens if the drive dies?

A single dock with a single drive has the same failure profile as any single-drive setup: if the drive fails, what was on it is gone. Harbor isn't a RAID array; we don't pretend it is. The intended pattern for anything you can't afford to lose is two docks at two locations, syncing to each other. That's the off-site backup story. If you only buy one dock, treat it like you'd treat any external drive holding important files: keep a separate copy of the photos and documents you can't replace.

How much power does it use?

It's a low-power ARM device designed to run 24/7, like a Wi-Fi router. The impact on your electricity bill is minimal, closer to a smart hub than a desktop computer.

Will it be open source?

Yes, that's the plan. The dock software and companion tools will be open for anyone to audit, build, or fork. You probably won't ever need to look at the code, but knowing the option exists is the difference between owning your storage and renting it.

What if Harbor Dock the company disappears?

Your drive keeps working. Files are stored in standard formats. Plug the drive into any computer and read them directly. Tailscale is independent infrastructure that keeps running without us. You are never stranded.

Comparison

Harbor Dock vs Synology

Synology is a real NAS. Harbor Dock is not. They solve overlapping but different problems, and the right answer depends entirely on who you are. This page is the honest version, including the cases where Harbor is the wrong pick.

Who each is for

Pick Synology if…

You need RAID or btrfs snapshots.
You want auto-photo-backup with a real mobile app today.
You want video transcoding, surveillance recording, or multiple users with separate permissions.
You enjoy DSM and don't mind a Saturday of setup.

Pick Harbor Dock if…

You have a USB drive in a drawer and want it to behave like cloud storage.
You want appliance simplicity, not a project.
You want one place to see what's backed up across your existing cloud accounts.
You don't need RAID, transcoding, or a photos app yet.

Side by side

	Harbor Dock	Synology
Audience	Households who want to own their files without a project.	Prosumers and small businesses who want a real NAS.
Storage model	Single USB drive (any size, any brand).	Multiple internal SATA drives, RAID/SHR, hot-swap.
Filesystem	ext4 on the USB drive.	btrfs or ext4 with snapshots and checksumming.
Setup time	Plug in, plug ethernet, type http://harbor.	Hours, including drive init, RAID setup, package install.
Mobile photo backup	Not on v1. Files-only via WebDAV.	Synology Photos app with auto-upload.
Video transcoding	No.	Yes (model-dependent, DS+ series).
Multi-user permissions	Single space on v1.	Full per-user, per-folder ACLs.
App ecosystem	Opinionated stack: file browser, rclone-driven cloud import + backup orchestration.	Mature: Drive, Photos, Office, Surveillance Station, Active Backup, etc.
Remote access	Tailscale (WireGuard tunnel). No port forwarding.	QuickConnect or DDNS + port forwarding + your own TLS certs.
Encryption	Encrypted in transit (always) + opt-in LUKS at rest.	Per-folder encryption, optional full-volume.
Open source	Open source on launch.	Closed-source DSM. Open-source community projects exist (e.g. Xpenology) but unsupported.
Lock-in if vendor disappears	Drive readable on any computer; OS will be open-source on launch.	DSM is proprietary. Without DSM the array is recoverable but inconvenient.
Cost shape	One-time hardware. No subscriptions.	One-time hardware (often higher up-front). Some apps push cloud add-ons.
Power use	Low (ARM SBC, ~3-5W idle).	Higher (multi-bay x86, ~15-30W idle depending on model).

What both are missing

Neither product is zero-knowledge encrypted by default. Both hold their own keys so they can serve your files. That's usually fine: with Harbor there's no third-party server in the data path and no way for us to reach your dock. If you want true zero-knowledge cloud storage on top of either system, look at Cryptomator or rclone's crypt remote.

Neither replaces a tape archive or a 3-2-1 backup discipline. Both are primary storage. The right backup story is at least one additional copy somewhere else, encrypted, that you test periodically.

Bottom line

Synology is the right answer if you want a real NAS and the depth that comes with one. Harbor Dock is the right answer if a real NAS is more box than you need, and the appeal of one opinionated appliance with cloud import and backup orchestration outweighs the missing power-user features.

We're pre-launch and transparent about it. If a feature on the Synology side is a hard requirement for you, we'd rather you buy a Synology than a Harbor Dock you'll regret. If you're still here, reserve a unit and we'll keep you in the loop.