8 things to know before buying your first NAS

There are plenty of reasons to get your first NAS for your home — whether your devices are running out of storage or you need a more secure cloud storage space. While recognizing the signs that it’s time to bring home a NAS is easy, choosing the right model can be tricky. Since network storage enclosures are a long-term investment, you need to carefully select a product that meets your current and future needs.

But fret not; we’ll break the process down into simple steps to help you determine your requirements and find the perfect NAS model. Below are the key things to consider when buying your first NAS.

How much storage do you need?

Storage needs grow over time, so plan ahead

Future-proofing your NAS starts with storage space. For instance, if you’re getting a NAS to store home videos and photos that currently amount to 200GB, remember that higher-resolution media will demand much more storage than that in the future when 8K videos from your phone become the norm. Additionally, a NAS is rarely used for just one purpose. If you plan to use it for something like freelance project management or as a surveillance station, you’ll need significantly more space.

A good starting point is a pair of 8TB drives. This is ample storage for family photos, videos, movies, backups, and more. If you don’t anticipate exponential growth in your storage needs over the next few years, 8TB should suffice. However, for even better future-proofing, you can opt for larger drives, such as 16TB — or even 24TB, depending on the maximum capacity your NAS supports.

Don’t forget data redundancy

RAID takes up some space, but it’s worth it

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is essential for protecting your data against drive failures, saving you from complete data loss. To set up RAID, you’ll need at least a two-bay NAS, which is why you should avoid single-bay models. With a two-drive system, you can configure RAID 1, which mirrors one drive to the other. This ensures that if one drive fails, your data remains safe on the second drive.

However, this base-tier RAID configuration reduces usable storage by half. For example, two 16TB drives in a RAID 1 setup will give you 16TB of usable space instead of 32TB. You can avoid that constraint with larger NAS units, like the 4-bay ones, that allow for RAID 5, which is much more storage-efficient. With RAID 5, four 16TB drives provide 48TB of usable space, reserving only one drive’s worth of capacity for redundancy without compromising data security.

Data security and other considerations

Little things make a big difference

While RAID protects against drive failures, your NAS also needs to safeguard your data from threats like ransomware. Look for models with built-in encryption, robust access control tools, two-factor authentication, and secure file-sharing protocols to ensure your data is safe at rest and in transit. Even if you don’t plan to use these features immediately, they are still good to have for future use.

Another thing you might also want to consider is the noise level. While most home NAS units make minimal noise, the internal hard drives do make an audible sound while spinning, which could be distracting if the unit is placed on your desk or in your living room. You can avoid this by placing the NAS in a less intrusive location or opting for SSDs, which are silent but more expensive.

CPU and RAM requirements

Think of it as your PC’s little cousin

A NAS can do without a powerful, PC-grade processor but still needs sufficient performance for efficiency and longevity. Most home NAS models are suitable for streaming media, but if your files are in a format your TV doesn’t support, the NAS will need to transcode them in real-time. This requires a CPU with built-in GPU capabilities for smooth playback. A more powerful processor becomes crucial if you plan to run surveillance systems, web servers, or virtual machines. For such tasks, you’d be better off getting a quad-core or better processor instead of a dual-core chip.

Additionally, some basic models come with around 2GB of RAM, which is often just enough to get started. To future-proof, look for models with at least 8GB of RAM or the option to expand it later on.

Is your router NAS-ready?

The two must work in harmony

As its name suggests, a network-attached storage unit operates over your home network, effectively serving as a personal cloud. At times, it’s the router that becomes the bottleneck and not the NAS itself. For optimal performance, your router should support at least gigabit connections on each of its Ethernet ports to enable super-fast transfer speeds. This is especially important for applications like remote file access and streaming high-resolution media (such as 4K movies).

If your current router lacks sufficient gigabit ports or features, consider upgrading to one with robust QoS (Quality of Service) features. These allow you to prioritize traffic to and from your NAS, improving overall performance.

Figure out apps and features to prioritize
Spell out your NAS’s purpose

As previously pointed out, your NAS can serve multiple purposes, from device backups and media streaming to file sharing and even surveillance. It is up to you to identify your specific needs and the purpose you’re getting the NAS for. This way, you can prioritize the features you just can’t miss and ensure the model you’re eyeing supports them.

Most mainstream brands that offer pre-built NAS products, like Synology, QNAP, and Asustor, offer built-in apps for most of these functions at no additional cost. They even support the installation of third-party apps like Plex for media streaming or WordPress for hosting websites through their own app stores. There are ways to use apps that your NAS model doesn’t natively support, but that’s something you can dive deeper into once you’re well-versed in the basics of network storage.

Ease of setup for non-techies

How comfortable are you with DIY tech?

If you’re the tech-savvy and adventurous kind, you can build your own NAS from scratch, much like assembling a custom PC. However, this requires a lot of technical expertise and even more patience while going through the entire process. For most first-time users, it’s best to start with a pre-built NAS from one of the popular brands without needing much tinkering, at least on the hardware level.

These branded NAS models come with a user-friendly OS along with a guided setup process, making setting up a NAS as simple as installing Windows on a computer. Since these brands offer their own app stores for a range of first- and third-party apps, you don’t have to hunt for them on the internet either.

What’s your budget?

Because a lot depends on it

When budgeting for a NAS, it is easy to miss, including the cost of NAS-specific hard drives. You can easily get a small two-bay NAS for under $300, but with drives included, the total can reach $500 for the entire package. If you choose SSDs instead of HDDs for storage and NVMe drives for caching and better performance, the price can further go up.

A lot of home users would want to start with a bigger NAS to store more data. For such users, a four-bay NAS would be an excellent option, though the complete setup with drives may cost between $800 and $1,000. Despite the seemingly hefty upfront investment, a NAS is more affordable than paying for cloud subscriptions for equivalent storage in the long run — all that while giving you full control over your data.

NAS your way to a better digital life

Installing a NAS at home can supercharge your digital life, simplifying file storage and sharing while giving you control over your data. For that, you don’t have to invest in a large setup, and mid-tier models like the QNAP TS-464 offer plenty of capabilities, from running a Plex server to backing up your devices. Once you experience the convenience of a NAS, you’ll wonder how you managed without one.

Source Info: https://www.xda-developers.com/things-know-before-buying-your-first-nas/