NAS storage

How to choose a NAS

A NAS is a network drive that keeps family photos, computer backups and a film collection in one place and is reachable from your phone away from home. Unlike the cloud, you pay once and the data stays yours. The choice comes down to four things: drive bays, processor, network and software.

• Number of bays. 1 bay is cheap but has no redundancy. 2 bays mirror (RAID 1) — one drive failing loses nothing. 4 bays give you three drives' worth of space in RAID 5 and room to grow; 6–12 bays are for a serious photographer, a video team or a company.
• Processor and memory. An ARM chip with 1–2 GB is fine for file storage and backup. An Intel Celeron/N-series with 4–8 GB transcodes 4K in Plex and runs Docker, an AMD Ryzen with 8 GB handles virtual machines and dozens of users.
• Network. 1 GbE gives 110 MB/s — hard-drive speed. 2.5GbE (250 MB/s) pays off if your router or switch supports it; 10GbE SFP+ is for video editing and the server room.
• Chassis. A tower (DiskStation, TS-x) sits on a shelf and runs quietly, a 1U–2U rack unit (RackStation, TS-xxxU) goes in a cabinet; RP models have two power supplies.
• Software. Synology DSM is the simplest: Photos, Drive, Hyper Backup and Surveillance Station work out of the box. QNAP QTS gives more hardware for the money and an HDMI output on some models.

NAS units in our range

For the home there are 1–2 bay Synology DS124, DS223j, DS223 and DS225+, QNAP TS-233 and TS-216G, plus QNAP TS-264 and TS-253E with 2.5GbE; the fanless QNAP HS-264 suits a living room next to the TV. Home office and small business means the 4-bay Synology DS423, DS425+ and DS925+ (2×2.5GbE), QNAP TS-433, TS-453E and TS-464, and the Asus Lockerstor AS6704T. For business there are 5–8 bay Synology DS1525+, DS1825+ and DS1823xs+, QNAP TS-664, the Ryzen-based TS-673A and TS-873A, and TS-832PX and TS-932PX with 10GbE. Rack models in 1U–2U — Synology RS422+, RS826RP+ and the 12-bay RS2423RP+, QNAP TS-433EU, TS-464eU, TS-832PXU-RP and TS-1232PXU-RP — plus expansion shelves Synology RX1223RP and QNAP TL-D400S. Filter on the left by bays, chassis and memory.

Brands

Synology is known for its DSM software — mobile apps, automatic backup and long security-update support make it the easiest NAS for a beginner and for a company. QNAP gives more hardware for the same money: 2.5GbE even in cheaper models, 10GbE SFP+ and PCIe slots in the mid range, an HDMI output for a media centre. Asus Lockerstor is a strong alternative with 2.5GbE and M.2 cache, StorViX AiRE is an enterprise data platform.

Related products

A NAS does nothing without drives — pick NAS hard drives straight away. For 2.5GbE speed see switches and routers, and a UPS guards against power cuts. The full selection is in memory and storage.

Frequently asked questions

Are drives included? No, a NAS is sold empty and you choose the drives. That way you fit exactly the capacity and class you need.

How many bays do I need at home? Two bays with RAID 1 are a sensible minimum: photos and backups survive one drive failing. Go for four if your data is growing or you want to add drives later.

Does RAID replace backup? No. RAID protects against a drive failure, not against deletion, ransomware or fire. Keep an extra copy on an external drive or in the cloud — Synology Hyper Backup and QNAP HBS do it automatically.

Synology or QNAP? Synology if you want everything to just work. QNAP if you need 2.5GbE or 10GbE, HDMI or more memory for the same money and are happy to configure.

How is a NAS delivered? Tower models go to a parcel locker or by courier in 1–2 working days; rack units and 8–12 bay devices come by courier.