Best nas on the market 【2020】 ⭐️ domestic and business

We have expanded our list of guides with one of the best NAS on the market, equipment that is becoming increasingly important in our homes. And it is that NAS help us to store all our data and share it over the network, but they can do much more than this, since they have their own operating system and their own applications to make very interesting configurations. Do not miss this guide, because we will also teach you the basics of NAS.

Index of contents

What can a NAS do for us?

A NAS consists of a networked computer that serves as a centralized data repository for users who have administrative permissions and access to its content. The main difference with direct-attached storage devices, also called DAS, is precisely the fact of having a system with shared files on a network, even being a VPN network whose users can remotely access these files.

NAS act as servers themselves, what's more, they even have their own operating system in most cases that will provide complete intelligence to the devices. With a NAS we can create a multimedia server, since most of them support UPnP and DLNA protocols that allow both sharing and transmitting multimedia files directly from the network in real time on the client devices that we have connected to it.

In the same way, they carry out the very important task of storing files using RAID systems, which, depending on the type, will ensure their integrity through file replication, for example, with a RAID 1 or 5. We can also make backups of the files. computers connected to the network and always have a safe backup of the files.

Being servers and having an incredible range of options available, it can be quite difficult to know how to choose the correct model for which cases. For this reason we will see some of the main characteristics that these equipment have and what we must take into account when buying them.

OS

NAS generally has its own system, which works practically the same as that of a computer, or better said that it is a Smartphone. Since we can even install applications on it. In this regard, each brand will have its own operating system, with its own interface and its own applications.

It is thanks to this operating system that NAS are highly intelligent devices and that they will be able to provide us with different uses and utilities to connect devices between them, and to share practically what we want, so it is not only a matter of dumping files and recovering them through of a network.

For example, QNAP has its own operating system such as the QTS with great functionality and compatible applications. Synology for its part has the Disktation NAS system, also with similar characteristics. Asustor also has its own as normal, and so we could cite practically all the leading manufacturers of best NAS on the market.

Hardware and performance

Like PCs, NAS servers work better with improved processors and higher RAM, as we have said that these have their own operating system. Similarly, the better the processor and more RAM installed, the higher the price, this is drawer.

If you know that your NAS will handle many I / O operations (for example, that users save and retrieve large volumes of data on a regular basis), you should use a NAS that has an agile processor and maximize memory. Most SMB NAS come with Atom, Celeron, and even Core from Intel and AMD Ryzen processors, while cheaper home devices often use Marvell and Realtek chips

Currently there are very powerful NAS that even use Intel Core i3 processors or the new AMD Ryzen such as the 2700x recently used by QNAP for its TS-877, positioning itself as one of the highest performing NAS on the market for home use and SMEs.

In the same way we will have to look at the capacity of its RAM memory, it is not the same to use a NAS for storage and backups than to play content or have virtual machines inside. The more RAM the better, this is basic and we always recommend that the capacity is greater than 2 GB so that it is able to move all our needs.

Storage capacity and type of hard drives

When buying from a NAS it is done with the aim of having a centralized storage system independent of our PC and with a greater capacity than a normal computer could offer. These devices until a few years ago were intended for use by small businesses, although nowadays the accessibility and functionality of the equipment has led to their full entry into the domestic and private consumer market.

The current NAS support different storage systems and we will not only have the option of installing traditional SATA mechanical hard drives in them. In fact, the new models support all kinds of SSD drives and even ultra-fast drives such as M.2 SATA and some PCIe. These NAS have the ability to perform hybrid RAIDs between different drives, or to target the fastest drives to fast-access caching elements.

Many of these drives have multiple slots for disk installation, and allow incredible storages of over 20TB, even reaching Petabytes (1PB = 1024TB) for the most ridiculously powerful models. NAS for home users also have USB ports in which we can connect other storage devices such as USB drives or even other hard drives.

The supported file system will also be something that we must take into account if for example we want to have different operating systems connected. In this case we will need a NAS compatible with NTFS systems for Windows, HFS + for Mac OS systems, Ext4 for Linux systems and also FAT32 for portable storage devices.

To this we include support for iSCSI hard drives, such as the QNAP TurboNAS TS-40, with the possibility of creating virtual storage units. So, we already know approximately the main function of a NAS, now we will have to know what we want to do with it, and for this the knowledge of the main RAID configurations is basic.

RAID types according to the needs of each one

RAID stands for " Redundant Array of Independent Disks " or redundant array of independent disks. It is a data storage system using storage units between which the data is distributed and it replicates it. We already say that current NAS are compatible with all hard drives, both SSD and HDD and now also M.2. Another advantage of using a RAID is that we will be able to use old hard drives that we have around our house and that we can connect through a SATA interface.

RAID technology is divided into configurations called levels, through which we can obtain different results in terms of information storage possibilities. For practical purposes, we are going to see a RAID as a single data store, as if it were a single logical drive, even though there are several physically independent hard drives within it.

Let us now see the different levels of RAID that we can make most useful:

• RAID 0: The function of this level is to distribute the data that is stored among the different hard drives that are connected to the computer. In this way, if we have two 2 TB hard drives, with a RAID 0 we will have a 4 TB hard drive between which the information is distributed, so a RAID 0 is ideal for large storage capacities, without having replicated data.

• RAID 1: In this case, what it does is create an information store replicated on two or more hard drives. Then we will have the same information on both a hard drive and the rest. It is ideal for very important files where backups are needed. Obviously the total storage capacity will be the one with the smallest hard disk.

• RAID 5: widely used precisely on NAS devices, in this case the information is stored in divided blocks that are distributed among the RAID hard drives. Simultaneously, a parity block is generated to ensure data redundancy without the need to replicate it. A RAID 5 must have a minimum of 3 hard drives to withstand drive failure.

• RAID 10: This is also called nested RAID, as it consists of two levels. Now we will have a main level of type 0 that divides the stored data between the different sublevels. At the same time we will have several type 1 sublevels that will be in charge of replicating the data on the hard drives that they have inside.

These are the most widely used RAID configurations today, which are also the most useful for home or small business NAS systems. RAID 5 is highly recommended, as it provides good fault tolerance and we will also lose much less space than for example a RAID 1

In any case, there are many more RAID configurations and variants of those mentioned that are worthwhile for other more advanced configurations with more hard drives.

For more information visit our article on RAID technology

Make backup copies of your data and also keep them safe

Of course with these types of RAID we can make backup copies of all our files stored on our main computer. Let's say, it is like having our own cloud at home, connected by network, and with high access speed and with the storage capacity that we feel like buying.

But also the files that we upload to our NAS support file encryption, so as not to allow unwanted network access to the data. We must always keep in mind that it is a device that will be connected by network, and we could even do file transfers through remote connections such as VPN or FTP, so file encryption is essential.

They also have their own management of access permissions through user accounts depending on which directories or files we configure. Without a doubt this is something that we must always keep in mind when buying our NAS. But also the number of users who will access the NAS will be a very important aspect when buying a more or less powerful equipment:

• 0-5 users: You will need a 2-bay NAS device, ideally a dual-core CPU of at least 1.3 GHz frequency and at least 1 GB of RAM. 6-25 users: You will need a solid 4-6 bay NAS device, Quad Core CPU of at least 1.5 GHz and 1-2 GB of RAM (DDR3 preferably). 26 users or more: At least an 8-bay device, a 2.0 GHZ + or i3 CPU quad-core processor or 4-8 GB of RAM to keep everything running smoothly. In this case we already recommend computers with an AMD Ryzen processor, which are giving quite a strong business level.

NAS with remote access and synchronization

Directly related to the above, we have the possibility to access our NAS without being physically on site. For many users it will be very important that their NAS has remote access capacity, both to manage the device and to access and store data. Imagine for example that we want to make a backup of our mobile and save it to the NAS, this is possible.

We will not even have the need to open ports on our router, such as the 8080 for web access or typical ports such as FTP or SSH. This is because most major manufacturers have a cloud service, for example myQNAPCloud. In this way we can share our NAS with our personal cloud and thus be able to interact with it from wherever we want.

It is not everything, because we will also have available both device-specific and generic applications such as OpenVPN that will allow us to create virtual private networks in only us and our user will have direct access to the NAS, also from remote places. In this case, we do need to open the corresponding places in the router to allow this access, so it would not hurt to put a firewall in front.

Another interesting possibility is to be able to synchronize shared folders between our devices. For example, having a shared folder from our PC with the files available on the NAS and also being able to access them from our Smartphone. Or just the opposite, direct folder sharing from Android or iOS are extremely interesting options, for example to play multimedia content or view photos on a SmartTV.

Connectivity

Of course another thing that we must take into account is the connectivity that the device provides us. Most NAS today have Gigabit ethernet connectivity via cable. In fact, many of them have two or more of these ports to perform Port Trunking, and thus provide redundancy in the connection in case one of the ports or network chips fails. Multiple Ethernet ports can also be added, combining the link speeds of the ports and thus increasing network performance.

But if we have the possibility, we can also buy a NAS that allows us access wirelessly, through Wi-Fi for example. While it is true that large file transfers are not yet a viable option due to device limitations and available Wi-Fi bandwidth. In this sense, we look forward to the implementation of clients that work under the new 802.11 AX network protocol, which has much better compared to the current 802.11 AC, and that we have already seen in action with our Asus router. In connectivity, the new Thunderbolt 3 ports with transfer capacities of 40 Gb / s have a lot to say

For now, the most viable option, for example, to mount a wireless surveillance system and store the videos on our NAS is to use powerful Wi-Fi routers or ethernet switches for the wired connection. In this way the Switch will provide the necessary power through PoE to the IP camera and another cable will go to the NAS to send the data signal to it. Then through applications we can access our NAS from the mobile and see these surveillance cameras in real time, although we must say that with a certain LAG in most cases.

Another important connectivity that we have already discussed above is the one that the USB interface provides us for example to connect portable storage devices. And also other types of ports, such as HDMI or Thunderbolt for NAS that are capable of playing content directly from the source on monitors or televisions in Full HD.

What are you going to use the NAS for?

We have already talked a lot about the characteristics of NAS and the possibilities they have, so it is worth giving a review of the main uses they are given and what we should look for.

NAS are not exactly cheap devices, especially those that are powerful and have multiple hard drive bays. Obviously to the cost of the NAS itself we must add the own cost of the storage units. NAS are primarily used for four different purposes, storage and backup, software and virtualization, multimedia services, and surveillance and security.

Storage and backups:

In this first use, we really will not need NAS with very great technical characteristics, although good storage possibilities, with at least 4 bays to mount RAID 5 or 10. We will also need one or more RJ45 connections for Ethernet, as well, if several computers are making the backup at the same time we will need good writing and transfer capacity. A decent Celeron can perform these functions smoothly, although an AMD or i3 are the ones that mount the most powerful NAS.

For virtual machines and software:

You will need a NAS with at least a quad core CPU and at least 2-4 GB of RAM. You will also need a good level of capacity across multiple bays in a RAID environment, at least 4 bays, but for the use of midrange virtual machines you should consider an 8 bay device in a RAID 5 for example as the Playing an operating system requires power.

Use as a multimedia server:

We also recommend a CPU with at least 2 or 4 cores to be in a much better position. With 2 GB of RAM we should have no problems in playing Full HD content, but if we want to play 4K for example, things get complicated and it would be worthwhile for the NAS to have memory and graphics card expansion possibilities just in case. The amount of storage in terms of hard drive bays really depends on what you want to store, but at least 2 is recommended and for future testing of at least 4 bays. A 4K movie takes a whopping 20GB so more storage is always fine. Of course the file transfer capacity should be fast, so HDMI or even USB 3.1 gen1 connections will be very necessary.

Vigilance and security:

Also here we are looking for a CPU that is capable of handling video files on the NAS. The difference is that, while multimedia files are normally accessed by heavy reading of the data, for surveillance use, you will need one that can handle a large number of write operations. In this aspect, the connection capacity is very important since the video signal must be transmitted fluidly to the NAS and most likely we have at least 5 or 6 cameras at 720p collecting data in real time at least.

Luckily we have a wide variety of use cases for these products. Fortunately, there is a wide range of devices available, and many of them we can also install applications as if it were a PC, allowing you to further customize a solution for your specific needs.

Whether for the home or small business, security, capacity, backup and file compatibility should be key factors in determining which NAS device to choose. Let's finally look at our list of best NAS on the market.

Best NAS on the market for home and multimedia users

In this section we will list the NAS that we consider most suitable and recommended for home users. Tasks such as multimedia playback, good connectivity and equipment design will be ideal for those who do not want to spend large sums of money on devices that are going to get the most out of it.

Of course we will give enough models to cover the entire range of prices and benefits, so that each one decides according to the needs and the power they offer.

WD My Cloud Home

Western Digital WDBVXC0040HWT-EESN My Cloud Home Personal Cloud, Ethernet, 4TB, White / Gray

• Quick and easy setup from the phone Access from anywhere with the My Cloud Home mobile or computer application, or from MyCloud.com Automatic backup of photos and videos from the phone USB port to import photos, videos and documents from units USB flash and external hard drives Compatible with Windows 7 (64-bit only) or later and Mac OS X v10.10 or later. For mobile, compatible with iOS 9+ and Android 4.4+. Requires a router and internet connection

184, 11 EUR Buy on Amazon

One of the best looking basic NAS on the domestic market is this Western Digital My Cloud Home, which is now available with a capacity ranging from 2 to 20TB for the two-bay model. If what we want is a NAS that performs the functions of a large-capacity storage cloud, our model will be that of a Bay, with a maximum capacity of 8 TB. If, on the other hand, we want a device capable of replicating the data in a RAID, the two-bay model will be better.

In any case, we will have a NAS that can be managed via the network or from our mobile phone, with connectivity consisting of an RJ45 GbE and a USB 3.1 gen1. In addition, we can play multimedia content on Mac, Windows, and Chromecast devices with Android. It does not have Wi-Fi as such, but by connecting it to our router we can transmit data through the wireless network.

Western Digital My Cloud Home Pros and Cons

• NAS features for storage and RAID with dual-bay Easy to use and connect With included storage

• It does not have an operating system as such inside it Basic hardware

A basic NAS for network file storage.

Western Digital WDBVXC0080HWT-EESN My Cloud Home Personal Cloud Storage, 8TB One centralized single site to store all your photos, videos, music and files; Quick and easy setup from your phone 215.20 EUR Western Digital My Cloud Home Duo - 16TB Personal Cloud (with two disks, NAS network storage, 2 bays) One centralized place to store all your photos, videos, music and records; Simple and fast configuration from the phone 440.00 EUR Western Digital My Cloud Home Duo - 6 TB Personal Cloud (NAS Storage, 2 bays) Easy use; Windows compatible; A plus of capacity for your files 332, 45 EUR

QNAP TS-228A

QNAP TS-228A NAS Mini Tower Ethernet White Storage Server - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, Serial ATA III, 3.5 ", FAT32, Hfs +, NTFS, ext 3, ext 4, 1.4 GHz, Realtek), Enclosure

• Supported storage disk interfaces: SATA, Serial ATA II, and Serial ATA III Processor model: RTD1295 Flash memory: 4000 MB Chassis type: Mini Tower Installed operating system: QNAP Turbo System

163.84 EUR Buy on Amazon

This model is one of the most economical that the manufacturer offers us and is highly suitable for the home and for users who are starting out in this world and do not need large equipment. We have in this case a NAS with two bays for SATA III hard drives and all the possibilities of the QTS 4.3.4 operating system. As hardware we have installed a Realtek RTX1295 processor with 4 cores at 1.4 GHz, 1 GB of non-expandable DDR4 RAM and 4 GB of internal storage.

All this offers us good power for own functions of backup, upload and download of files or reproduction of multimedia content through DLNA. A good centralized entertainment portal in our house capable of synchronizing with the cloud. We also have an RJ45 port and 3 USB ports which is not bad.

QNAP TS-228A Pros and Cons

• Good overall performance Very low power consumption USB connectivity Design and price

• Does not have an HDMIN port or supports 2.5 ”SSDs

Ideal for basic tasks, multimedia playback, copying and very affordable.

AS1002T scavenger

Asustor AS1002T NAS Ethernet Black Storage Server - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, Serial ATA II, Serial ATA III, 3.5 ", 16TB, 0, 1, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4)

• Marvell ARMADA 385 Dual Core 1 GHz processor and 512 RAM memory Integrates hardware encryption engine Compatible with 3.5-inch SATA II and SATA II hard drives Maximum capacity 16 TBRed Gigabit Ethernet

Buy on Amazon

We continue with low cost NAS and highly recommended for the home. This Asustor AS1002T will be available in 2 and 4 compatible storage bays for 2.5 and 3.5-inch disks with a maximum capacity of 28 TB for the two-bay version. It assembles a hardware that consists of a Marvell ARMADA 385 dual core 1 GHz CPU and 512 MB of DDR3 RAM.

It includes a hardware data encryption engine and also has an ADM 3.1 operating system and full compatibility with Mac, Windows and Linux. The hardware is basic, but it allows us to play multimedia content in 1080p like a DLNA server or create our databases of music, photos and videos. Of course we will have the ability to mount RAID and make backups without problems.

Asustor AS1002T Pros and Cons

• Available in 2 and 4 bays With operating system Real-time video playback RJ45 GbE and 2 USB

• Fair enough hardware

One of the cheapest NAS from Asustor and with everything you need for a home environment.

Asustor AS1004T NAS Ethernet Black Storage Server - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, Serial ATA II, Serial ATA III, 3.5 ", 32TB, 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4) Offers read speeds of up to 110 MB / s and write speeds of up to 96 MB / s 227.31 EUR

Synology DS218J

Synology DS218J Diskstation

• A versatile entry-level 2-bay NAS for home and personal cloud storageOver 113 MB / s reading, 112 MB / s writingDual-core CPU with hardware encryption engine

164.95 EUR Buy on Amazon

Synology is another of the most reputable brands when it comes to NAS construction. This DS218J is a basic NAS ideal for users who want to start and do not need something with too many features. It is very suitable for backups thanks to its two 3.5 / 2.5 ”bays for a maximum capacity of 28 TB compatible with RAID 0, 1 and JBOD. Build a dual-core Marvell Armada 385 processor with 512GB DDR3.

This NAS also allows us to transcode video up to 4K, although for this we have another version that we will see later. It has a good operating system such as the DiskStation Manager (DSM) that allows us many functionalities such as the configuration of the surveillance station or to download as a personal cloud. Connectivity is completed with 1 RJ45 GbE port and two USB 3.1 gen1.

Synology DS218J Pros and Cons

• Very low consumptionTwo bays compatible with 3.5 and 2.5 ”Very compact design

• Low RAM 32-bit processor

Basic NAS for cloud storage and backups.

Synology DS218 Play

Synology DS218PLAY Diskstation - NAS with 2 bays

• NAS with 2Bahas Hard Drive and optimal multimedia features for private users 4K direct video encoding supported by 10bit H.265 codecs2 Data throughput (sequential read and write up to 112MB / s).1 Versatile chl selter sequential data throughput of over 112MB / s (read) and 112MB / s (write) 1Equipped with a Quad Core processor with 64bit 1.4GHz and 1GB DDR4 RAM

244.06 EUR Buy on Amazon

Here we have a NAS very suitable to configure it as our multimedia center for the playback of 4K Ultra HD content, since this NAS supports transcoding of video in real time. It offers a 112 MB / s read and write performance over the network thanks to its RJ45 GbE connection. Like Synology's previous model, we have a total of two bays supporting 2.5 and 3.5-inch drives.

In this case we have a more powerful CPU such as the Realtek RTD1296 64-bit and quad-core 1.4 GHz compatible with H.265 and MPEG-4, in addition to 1 GB of DDR4 RAM. In general, it supports virtually the same functionality as the basic DS218 in terms of RAID configuration, backup and surveillance station.

Synology DS218 Play Pros and Cons

• Compatible with 2.5 and 3.5 inches SATATranscoding video up to 4KPrice and consumption

• We don't have HDMI ports

Basic NAS to have our own centralized multimedia center.

QNAP TS-328

QNAP TS-328 3 Bay NAS Desktop Box

• With just three disks you can build a secure raid 5 array on the ts-328 Compatible with h.264 / h.265 hardware decoding and transcoding offering a better video viewing experience Snapshots fully record system status and data (included metadata) Qfiling automates file organization greatly improving work efficiency

224.95 EUR Buy on Amazon

The next recommended QNAP model is this TS-328, which improves overall performance by being a slightly more powerful NAS, with a Realtek RTD1296 quad core processor and 2 GB of DDR4 RAM. It supports encrypted file transfer and 4K H.264 and H.265 content playback with DLNA- compliant devices for multimedia playback.

Now we do have three bays with compatibility with 3.5 ”drives and also 2.5-inch SSD, although only under the SATA III interface. For this reason we can already create RAID 5 and JBOD configurations using the QTS 4.3.4 operating system. Consumption is still super low and connectivity is similar to the TS-228A, although with Jack d audio.

QNAP TS-328 Pros and Cons

• 4K playback Very low power consumption Compatible with 2.5 ”3-bay and 3-USB disks

• Does not have HDMI port

Increased capacity with up to three 3.5 / 2.5 ”hard drives and 4K content playback

AS4002T scavenger

Asustor AS4002T - 2 x SATA3 Motherboard (6Gb / s, 3.5 "/2.5", HDD / SSD) Color Black

• ASUS, quality on motherboardMarvell 1.6GHz CPU2GB DDR4 RAM at 2400Mhz, fast and efficient.Dual gigabit Ethernet with the addition of 1 10gb portSupports 2 hot-swap HDDs

277.92 EUR Buy on Amazon

This is one of the best rated Asus NAS for home use and more advanced users. It has somewhat more interesting hardware with a Marvell ARMADA 7020 dual-core 1.6 GHz CPU and 2 GB of DDR4 RAM. We will have two variants of 2 and 4 storage bays 2.5 / 3.5 "and possibility of expansion up to 10 with, for example, the Asustor AS6004U unit.

It has high-level connectivity, thanks to a 10 GbE port and two other RJ45 GbE in terms of network, and also 2 USB 3.1 Gen1. This NAS supports hot swapping of hard drives and the possibility of multiple advanced backup creation configurations. Nor can you miss the reproduction of multimedia content.

Asustor AS4002T Pros and Cons

• Good power hardware Excellent connectivity with up to 10 GbE Ideal for advanced home use Great value for money

• They don't have M.2, to ask…

Excellent choice for advanced home use, and very economical

ASustor AS-4004T 4 Bay NAS, Marvell Armada A7020 Duad-Core, 2GB DDR4, Gbe x2, 10G Base-T x1, WOL Asus, motherboard quality; Marvell 1.6ghz cpu; 2gb ddr4 ram at 2400mhz, fast and efficient 369.00 EUR

WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra

WD 4TB My Cloud EX2 Ultra Network Storage

• Centralized network storage and access from anywhere Equipped with My Cloud OS 3 Automatic file synchronization on all your computers System requirements: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 or Windows Vista operating systems; macOS Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks or Mountain Lion; DLNA / UPnP devices for transmission; Router for Internet connection Compatible browsers: Internet Explorer 10 or later, Safari 6 or later, Firefox 30 or later, Google Chrome 31 or later on compatible Windows and Mac platforms

302.95 EUR Buy on Amazon

With this WD model we already find a NAS with more possibilities than the Cloud Home, being much more advanced than what we are used to in a NAS. WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra incorporates the My Cloud OS 3 operating system, which allows us to manage it from the NAS's web interface, just like the models from other manufacturers. It is oriented to the storage of network resources through easy remote access through the connection through the cloud.

We will have versions in 2 and 4 Bays, and what that entails in terms of RAID options. It features a Gigabit Ethernet connection and built-in storage available in different versions from 4TB to 20TB. It features a 1.3 GHz dual-core Marvell ARMADA 385 processor and 1 GB of DDR3 RAM. Generally speaking, it is a lower-middle-range NAS useful for users who want an accessible and advanced NAS.

WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra Pros and Cons

• Design and very low consumption With 2 or 4 bays Includes operating system and access from the cloud

• Basic hardware

NAS ideal for home RAID and storage and remotely accessible from the cloud.

WD Diskless My Cloud EX2 Ultra Network Storage Minimum price offered by this seller in the 30 days prior to the offer: 133.9; 1GB DDR3 memory for easy multi-tasking EUR 161.82 WD My Cloud EX4100 Expert Series, 16TB NAS Network Storage, 4 Bays, Black Web-based Management; Operating temperature range: 0 - 35 C; Security algorithm: 256-bit AES EUR 1, 030.82

QNAP TS-251B-4G

Turbo NAS TS-251B-4G

• 2-bay nas raid tower / celeron 2.0ghz dual-core / 4gb / 1gbe, hdmi

369.00 EUR Buy on Amazon

We raise the bar with this QNAP TS-251B-4G to place ourselves in a price range of around 400 euros already. Already here we have the presence of Intel with a 2.0 GHz dual-core Celeron J3355 and 4 GB of DDR3L SO-DIMM RAM expandable to 8 thanks to its two modules. We have two 3.5 and 2.5 inch SATA III drive bays and the ability to install 10GbE network cards using 2x PCIe expansion slot.

This equipment already incorporates HDMI 1.4b port for 4K content, 256 AES file encryption, and good virtualization capacity not too powerful. Of course we are still able to play multimedia content in 4K on H.264 and H.265 and the possibility of creating a video surveillance station using QVR Pro. So the possibilities and functions increase considerably.

QNAP TS-251B-4G Pros and Cons

• Higher level hardware and higher functionality Extendable HDMI and USBRAM port and 2x PCIe slot Basic video surveillance and virtualization function

• Only two bays

Indicated for slightly more advanced users who need more power and functionality.

QNAP TS-251B NAS White Ethernet Tower - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA III, Serial ATA III, 2.5, 3.5 ", 0, 1, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4) 299.99 EUR

Synology DS418

Synology DS418 - Powerful 4-bay NAS Diskstation for home and office users

• Quad-core processor, with aes-ni support Provides optimal encryption performance of over 1, 179 mb / s read and 542 mb / s write performance 2 gb and 8 gb memory configurations Has four 1 gbe (rj-45) ports and has an input frequency of 50/60 hz

423.35 EUR Buy on Amazon

This Synology increases the performance in terms of storage compared to the DS218, with now 4 bays for 2.5 and 3.5-inch drives to allow us to create wider RAID configurations such as RAID 5, 6, and 10, in addition to having support for RAID migration of different configurations. But we are still missing internal M.2 slots to extend the functionality of the NAS with ultra-fast SSD drives.

This version will be valid for both office and home use, as it also allows 4K video transcoding thanks to the Realtek RTD1296 processor and its 2 GB of DDR4 RAM. Connectivity increases with two RJ45 GbE LAN ports and the typical two USB ports. If we prefer, we can acquire the DS418 Play version with Intel Celeron J3355 more optimized for 4K content.

Synology DS418 / Play Pros and Cons

• 4 storage bays Dual RJ45 connectivity

• The DS418 Play version does not come with HDMIProcessors somewhat fair

The 4 Bay version of the DS218.

Synology Ds418Play NAS Desktop Ethernet Black - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, Ssd, Serial Ata III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, Jbod, Fat, Hfs +, Ntfs, Ext3, Ext4, Intel Celeron) Quad core processor, with AES-NI support; Provides optimal encryption performance 506.69 EUR

QNAP HS-453DX-8G

QNAP HS-453DX Ethernet Tower Gold, White NAS - Raid Unit (HDD, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5, 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 1.50 GHz)

• Qnap soho 4-bay nas hs-453dx-4g qnap hs-453dx, hard drive, ssd, m.2, serial ata iii, 2.5, 3.5``, 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, jbod, fat32, hfs +, ntfs, exfat, ext3, ext4, 1.50 ghz

710.69 EUR Buy on Amazon

With this QNAP HS-453DX-8G we enter fully into high-end and high-end performance equipment and already high cost. Undoubtedly what most attracts attention is its appearance, not being the typical square box, but a very thin and flat NAS. Don't be fooled, because inside we have space for two 3.5 / 2.5-inch SSD hard drives and also two M.2 SATA slots for 2280 drives, for hybrid RAID 0, 1, 5, 5+, 6, 10 and JBOD with hot spare.

It installs an Intel Celeron J4105 Quad core and 8 GB of UDIMM RAM, being able to offer virtualization container functions with its Thunderbolt 3 compatible 10 GbE RJ45 connection and direct 4K 60 FPS content playback through the HDMI 2.0 port it has.. In addition, it has USB connectivity with 4 normal ports and one Type-C. Amazing team we must say with this small size.

QNAP HS-453DX-8G Pros and Cons

• USB Type-C and 10 GbER RJ45 Multimedia playback with HDMI 2.0 and DLNA Design and power With 2 M.2 slots

• Refrigeration will not be the best

Very original, compact and powerful design with M.2 slots and link to 10 GbE and HDMI 2.0.

QNAP HS-453DX Ethernet Tower Gold, White NAS - Raid Unit (HDD, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5, 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 1.50 GHz) 710.69 EUR

QNAP TS-453B-4G

QNAP TS-453B NAS T - RAID Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, Intel Celeron, J3455)

• Intel Celeron J3455 processor, Quad-Core 1.5 GHz Intel HD Graphics 500 graphics card 4 GB DDR3 RAM memory Internal capacity for 4 bahas Data transfer rates up to 225 MB / s upload and download

324.00 EUR Buy on Amazon

This NAS QNAP TS-453B-4G has a similar cost to the HS-453DX-8G and also quite similar benefits, but with a traditional cube design. On its front it includes an OLED panel with two touch buttons and great connectivity with USB Type-A and Type-C 3.1 Gen1 in addition to an SD card slot. In this case we will not have 10 GbE connectivity unless we add it through its PCIe 2x slot. In it we can also install an M.2 SSD or a Wi-Fi card.

In this case, it is supported as a virtualization station with its Intel Celeron J3455 quad-core at 2.3 GHz maximum and 4 GB of RAM expandable to 8. It supports playback of multimedia content in 4K direct at 30 Hz with two HDMI 1.4, and powerful RAIDs with its 4 beans for 3.5 / 2.5 "drives, although in this case we do not have M.2 slots for SSD.

QNAP HS-453DX-8G Pros and Cons

• 4 bays for 2.5 / 3.5 ”Virtualization station PCIe x4 slot for expansion

• Somewhat less powerful connectivity than the QNAP HS-453DX-8G Does not have M.2 slots for serial SSD

Slightly more power than QNAP HS-453DX-8G, but less powerful, though expandable, connectivity.

QNAP TS-453B NAS Desktop Ethernet Black - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, Intel Celeron, J3455) Intel Celeron J3455 processor, Quad-Core 1.5 GHz; Intel HD Graphics 500 graphics card; 4 GB DDR3L RAM 709.95 EUR

QNAP TS-473-4G

QNAP TS-473-4G - Raid Unit with 4GB of RAM, Black Color

• Two PCIe Gen3 x4 card slots support QM2, 10GbE adapters or wireless network cards. It supports NVIDIA GeForce GT1030 graphics card, allowing 4K video output and transcoding. Dual M.2 SATA 6Gb slots / s SSDs enable caching or storage pools, improve file access efficiency. Auto Qtier peering technology and SSD caching enable optimized 24/7 storage efficiency. Scalable storage that supports virtualization, applications in containers, centralized storage, backup, sharing, and disaster recovery.

850, 15 EUR Buy on Amazon

We start here to talk about bigger words with this QNAP TS-473-4G model rising above 700 euros. And is that we find inside an AMD RX-421HD quad-core processor with up to 3.4 GHz in Turbo Core and 4 GB of RAM expandable to 64 with its four DDR4 SO-DIMM slots. In addition to its four drives for 2.5 / 3.5 drives, we also have two cache M.2 SATA III slots thanks to Qtier and the QTS system.

We have two PCIe x4 slots to be able to install 10 GbE network cards, Wi-Fi card, USB 3.1 Gen2 and even a graphics card for video transcoding and 4K output. What we do miss is HDMI or 10 GbE connectivity as standard, and even the availability of the graphics card for multimedia content playback. We will therefore leave some suitable and cheap cards for this NAS.

QNAP TS-473-4G Pros and Cons

• 4 2.5 / 3.5 ”bays and two M.2 slots Two PCIe x4 slots compatible with graphics cards Powerful processor and large RAM capacity

• Does not have factory HDMI connector, does not have factory 10GbE

Equipment of enough gross power and great capacity to extend its hardware.

QNAP TS-473 Ethernet Black Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 2.1 GHz) 991.10 EUR Sapphire 11233-01-20G AMD Radeon R5 230 1GB - Graphics card (Passive, AMD, Radeon R5 230, DDR3-SDRAM, PCI Express x16, 1920 x 1200 Pixels) Device type; Graphics card - fanless; T 69.68 EUR ASUS GeForce GT 710 GeForce GT 710 1GB GDDR5 - Graphics card (NVIDIA, GeForce GT 710, 2560 x 1600 Pixels, 954 MHz, 1 GB, GDDR5) Asus geforce gt 710 sl 1gb gddr5 - graphics card 42, 41 EUR

Synology DS1019 +

Synology Disk Station DS1019 + 5 CAYS Intel CELERON 4CORE 8GB NAS Server

• Synology disk station ds1019 + server nas 5 bays intel celeron 4core 8gb

908.49 EUR Buy on Amazon

One of the most recently released models by Synology is this DS1019 +, a NAS aimed at offering a great experience in Ultra HD video transmission for home users. It is capable of working with two 4K video signals simultaneously and in real time. But it also offers excellent possibilities for those who have their home offices or for SMEs that need a good storage capacity or a surveillance or virtualization station.

It has an Intel Celeron J3455 quad core at 2.3 GHz maximum and no less than 8 GB of DDR3L RAM. We will have capacity for 70 TB of storage with its four 2.5 / 3.5 ”bays although expandable up to 10 with the DX517. Likewise, it implements two M.2 NVM slots for ultrafast 2280 units. With all this power, a 10 GbE connector is missing, in its case we have two RJ45 GbE plus 2 USB 3.0 and an eSATA. It is a NAS compatible with all the most used RAIDs (0, 1, 5, 6, 10 and JBOD).

Synology DS1019 + Pros and Cons

• Expandable bays with DX517 Celeron 4-core processor Two M.2 NVMe slots High power encoding

• Somewhat fair connectivity with two RJ45 GbEN Does not have PCI slots to expand hardware Does not have HDMI

One of Synology's most recommended models for its excellent power / price ratio

QNAP TS-677-1600-8G

QNAP TS-677 Ethernet Gold Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5.3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4, 3.2 GHz)

• m.2 two 6gb / s sata ssd slots for caching or pool caches to speed up system performance. PCIe expansion capacity allows 10GbE / 40GbE PCIe adapters, NVMe SSD, graphics cards, USB 3.1 10 Gbps, or wireless network cards. Supports AMD Radeon and NVIDIAgraphics cards for video processing or GPU pass-through virtual machines. Qtier SSD caching technology and enable 24/7 optimized storage efficiency. Scalable support for virtualization, containerized applications, centralized storage, backup, sharing, and disaster recovery.

Buy on Amazon

We came to this high-end TS-677-1600-8G model that we also wanted to include in the list. The cost is high, but we are facing a next-generation NAS with an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 processor with 6 cores at 3.2 GHz and 12 processing threads, along with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM expandable up to 64 GB. Also included are 4 bays for 2.5 / 3.5 " drives, two for 2.5" drives, and two other M.2 SATA slots up to 22110.

It is practically a computer, with no less than 3 PCIe slots, two of them 3.0 x4 and x8 to be able to install relatively powerful graphics cards for transcoding multimedia content. We have enormous connectivity with 4 RJ45 GbE, 8 USB of which two are 3.1 Gen2, one of them Type-C in addition to a sound card with connectors for microphones and speakers. It supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 5+, 6, 6+, 10, 10+, 50 and 60, virtualization station and surveillance server.

QNAP TS-677-1600-8G Pros and Cons

• Ryzen3 PCIe, 2 M.2 SATA and 6-bay processors There's nothing this NAS can't do

• Price Does not have 10 GbE serial or graphics card M.2 is not NVMe

Equipment of enough gross power and great capacity to extend its hardware.

Sapphire 11233-01-20G AMD Radeon R5 230 1GB - Graphics Card (Passive, AMD, Radeon R5 230, DDR3-SDRAM, PCI Express x16, 1920 x 1200 Pixels) Device Type; Graphics card - fanless; T 69.68 EUR ASUS GeForce GT 710 GeForce GT 710 1GB GDDR5 - Graphics card (NVIDIA, GeForce GT 710, 2560 x 1600 Pixels, 954 MHz, 1 GB, GDDR5) Asus geforce gt 710 sl 1gb gddr5 - graphics card 42, 41 EUR Gigabyte GV-N1030D5-2GL 2GB GDDR5 - Graphics card (NVIDIA, GeForce GT 1030, 4096 x 2160 Pixels, 1257 MHz, 1506 MHz, 2 GB) Powered by GeForce GT 1030; Integrated with 2GB GDDR564Bit memory; Low profile design with 150mm card length 88.06 EUR

Best NAS on the market for SMEs and professional use

Now we turn to see a list of the best NAS on the market oriented to SMEs, in some cases, to larger companies. They will be models in which the processing power prevails and alone all the capacity for large volumes of storage and support for video surveillance. They are also expected to do virtualization tasks, with nested RAIDs and good replication and encryption of data.

Synology DS218 +

Synology DS218 QC-1, 4GHz / 2GB 2-Bay NAS

• Versatile 2-bay nas for small offices and home users64-bit quad-core processor delivering sequential throughput at over 112 mb / s reading and 112 mb / s writing2 gb ddr4 memory, 4 times the capacity than its predecessor

301.69 EUR Buy at Amazon (company)

This DS218 + increases its hardware performance a little more than the previous Synology 218 models. In this case, we have an Intel Celeron J3355 64 bits and dual core at 2.5 GHz and 2 GB of DDR3L RAM expandable to 6 GB. We continue with the same configuration of two 2.5 / 3.5 ” SATA storage bays for a total of 28 TB of storage space. In addition to having 3 USB and the RJ45, an eSATA port is also added for high-speed portable storage drives.

This NAS server will also allow us to play multimedia content through DLNA in Full HD and up to 4K. RAID support is exactly the same and limited by its two bays to RAID 0, 1 and JBOD. With this Celeron we will already have a NAS suitable to be a virtualization container and surveillance station of greater capacity.

Synology DS218 + Play Pros and Cons

• Dual-core Intel Celeron Expandable RAM memory Extensive functionality including 4K video transcoding

• A double RJ45 connection would have been interesting

NAS a little more office and small business oriented than the DS218s seen above.

Synology DS218 4TB 2 Bay NAS Solution | Installed with 2 x 2TB Seagate IrownWolf Drives Versatile 2-bay NAS for small offices and home users; 2 GB DDR4 memory, 4 times the capacity than its predecessor 472.68 EUR Synology DS218 / 8TB-RED - Desktop NAS Unit, Black Color Versatile 2-bay NAS for small offices and home users; 2 GB DDR4 memory, 4 times the capacity of its predecessor 566.14 EUR

WD My Cloud EX4100

WD My Cloud EX4100 Expert Series, Diskless NAS Network Storage, 4 Compartments

• Centralized storage with access anytime, anywhere Marvell ARMADA 388 dual-core 1.6GHz processor and 2GB DDR3 memory Two Gigabit Ethernet ports for link aggregation and network redundancy USB 3.0 port with One-touch copy button on Front Panel Fast transfer speeds of 115MB / s upload and 107MB / s download in high-performance HD streaming

238.40 EUR Buy on Amazon

This NAS includes four 2.5 / 3.5 ”bays and availability with storage from 2 to 34 TB, as well as completely empty. It offers features very similar to the My Cloud EX2 Ultra model, since it has the same Western Digital operating system but better management of bays and units. That is why we put it on the NAS list for SMEs and users with private offices.

We have better connectivity, with three USB 3.0 ports with direct copy from the front USB, two power supplies and two RJ45 GbE ports for better network connectivity. It will also be directly accessible from the cloud and ideal for mounting RAID and making backups. Install a 1.6GHz dual-core Marvell ARMADA 388 processor and 2GB of DDR3 RAM.

WD My Cloud EX4100 Pros and Cons

• 4 beans Good performance hardware for basic use Built-in storage if we want Two Ethernet ports

• No M.2 slots or hardware extensibility

Very economical NAS for use in offices and small businesses.

QNAP TS-431P2-1G

QNAP TS-431P2 NAS White Tower Ethernet - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA II, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5, 0, 1, 5, 6, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4, Annapurna Labs)

• For transferring large numbers of files For streaming high-bandwidth multimedia Highly efficient media center Remote access in a secure private cloud

337.00 EUR Buy on Amazon

Well, let's go for the QNAP recommended least cost model, this TS-431P2-1G is a NAS with Alpine AL-312 quad-core 1.7 GHz 32-bit processor and 1 GB of DDR3L SODIMM RAM, although Expandable up to 8 GB which is not bad. For storage we have 4 2.5 / 3.5 inch SSD and HDD compatible bays to offer us a good amount of RAID configurations.

It offers us a non-expandable dual RJ45 GbE connectivity with slots, and 3 USB ports without the presence of HDMI, it is not intended for those uses either. It offers support as iSCSI storage virtualization container, with LDAP authentication services and of course shared file system and backups with support also for QVR Pro for professional surveillance system.

QNAP TS-431P2-1G Pros and Cons

• Expandable RAM Advanced features and nested RAID Scandal price for what it offers

• No 10 GbE connectivity

For less than 300 euros we have a super complete NAS with almost everything essential.

QNAP TS-431P2 NAS White Ethernet Tower - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA II, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4, Annapurna Labs) To transfer a large number of files; To transmit high-bandwidth multimedia multimedia EUR 409.00 QNAP TS-431P2 Ethernet Gray Tower, White NAS - Raid Drive (16TB, Hard Drive, Drive Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA III, 3.5 ", Serial ATA II, Serial ATA III) Full NAS encryption with volume-based technology and hardware acceleration; Container Station to quickly develop and deploy IoT applications 520, 00 EUR

QNAP TS-332X-2G

Qnap TS-332X-2G - Networked Storage, White

• External storage disk 1.7 GHz speed 2GB memory

386.94 EUR Buy on Amazon

The next NAS we have is the QNAP TS-332X-2G, which has good possibilities in terms of storage capacity. In addition to the 3 2.5 / 3.5 ”bays, we also have 3 M.2 slots for SATA 2280 compatible with RAID 5 and cache function with Qtier. Connectivity repeat with two GbE ports and a 10G SFP + port that will come as a pearl if we mount a RAID 5 in the M.2 slots.

Connectivity is completed with 3 USB and a 3.5mm Jack, without the presence of HDMI or the like. You can connect to the private cloud to increase the possibilities of centralized storage and file sharing remotely. We did not forget its 1.7 GHz Alpine AL-324 64-bit quad core CPU or its 2 GB of RAM expandable up to 16 GB.

QNAP TS-332X-2G Pros and Cons

• RAM expandable up to 16 GB, 3 M.2 slots, Qtier and RAID 5 support, 10 Gigabit link per fiber, more powerful CPU

• We don't have a 4GB version from the factory

We are not at the gates of the upper-middle range with 10 GbE, 64-bit CPU and 3 M.2 slots

Synology DS718 +

Synology DS718 + - High Performance NAS Optimized for Heavy Workloads (Hard Drive, SSD, SATA, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 20TB, 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, BTRFS, FAT, HFS, NTFS, ext3, ext4)

• Powerful and scalable 2-bay nas for growing businessesEncrypted sequential throughput performance at over 226 mb / s reading and 184 mb / s writingIntel celeron j3455 quad-core processor with aes-ni hardware encryption engine

460.50 EUR Buy on Amazon

The Synology DS718 + is designed to be a powerful and versatile NAS server for virtually any use. It will be as valid for a multimedia center with 4K transcoding, with a 1.5 GHz quad-core Celeron J3455, as well as for an SME, being able to add a Synology DX517 bay expansion unit to expand the two it has, until 7, all of them SATA and compatible with 2.5 / 3.5 ”.

The hardware is complete with 2 GB of DDR3L RAM expandable up to 6 GB and good connectivity with two Link Aggregation compatible RJ45 GbE, 3 USB and one eSATA port. Your system is prepared to support RAID of all kinds with the expansion station and also has enough power to perform the functions of virtualization station with VMware vShpere 6 or Windows Server, or surveillance server with support for 40 IP cameras.

Synology DS718 + Pros and Cons

• Expandable bays with DX517 Good power processor High versatility for media server, backup and virtualization

• No trace of HDMIDe base, only has 2 Bays

Powerful NAS ideal for backup center and high performance and demand jobs.

Synology DX517 5000GB Desktop Black Multiple Disk Drive - Multiple Disk Drive (Hard Drive, 5TB, Hard Drive, SSD, 50TB, SATA, 1000GB) Online expansion volume; Dedicated local backup solution; Hot-swap equipped with shell unit 527.92 EUR

QNAP TS-431X2-2G

QNAP TS-431X2 Ethernet Black Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA II, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4, 1.7 GHz)

• 10 GbE layout, SSD caching, and full NAS encryption Enjoy containerized virtualization and IoT application development with Container Station Create a private cloud to centrally store, backup, share, and restore files Use the TS-431X2 to expand the Storage capacity of other QNAP NAS with VJBOD Secure access with VPN Server and VPN Client

492.04 EUR Buy on Amazon

The appearance of this NAS is very similar to the QNAP model seen above, but the price is a good guide that something in it is different. In this model we continue to mount an Alpine AL-312 quad-core processor, but the RAM goes up to 2 GB, expandable to 8, of course. We also repeat with 4 SATA bays of 2.5 / 3.5 " and without internal extension neither in PCI nor in M.2.

Connectivity does improve with a 10G fiber optic port, in addition to the two RJ45 GbE ports, thus providing a very useful high-speed link to connect to the Switch in high-speed LAN networks. In this way, the backups in all the types of RAID that it supports will be much faster, even storing several at the same time of the connected equipment. We can also place it as a virtualization station and surveillance server, in addition to everything discussed with the QNAP TS-431X2-2G.

QNAP TS-431X2-2G Pros and Cons

• Expandable RAM Advanced features and nested RAID 10 Gigabit fiber link

• CPU somewhat short for what it offers

Same CPU, but with 10 GbE, ideal for not too demanding virtualization and backup server.

QNAP TS-453BE-2G

QNAP TS-453BE NAS Mini Tower Ethernet Black Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, Intel Celeron, J3455)

• Connectivity Type: Network Connection Ethernet

503.35 EUR Buy on Amazon

We are already entering the upper-middle range with this TS-453BE-2G, a NAS that mounts a 1.5 GHz Intel Celeron J3455 and an Intel HD Graphics 500 graphics processor. It also provides us with two HDMI 1.4b outputs, 5 USB ports and even full audio connectivity, to emerge as a very valid NAS to play multimedia content in 2 and 4K. In this case we only have double RJ45 GbE connectivity and the possibility of expanding it through its PCIe x2 slot.

If we prefer, we can add an expansion card for M.2 slots, in addition to the four SATA III bays for 2.5 and 3.5 inches. We will have as always support to take snapshots, 256-bit AES encryption, virtualization station and supports QVR Pro to mount video surveillance. Powerful and very complete NAS.

QNAP TS-453BE-2G Pros and Cons

• 8GB RAM expandable up to 64GB Good level PCIe x2CPU slot

• No M.2 slots ex-factory, No 10 GbE ex-factory

Mid-range NAS with good expandability, although M.2 slots are missing.

QNAP TS-453Be NAS Mini Tower Ethernet Black - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, Intel Celeron, J3455) 579.95 EUR

Synology DS918 +

Synology DS918 + NAS Desktop Ethernet Black Storage Server - RAID Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, SATA, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 40TB, 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, BTRFS, FAT, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4)

• Quad-core processor, with aes-ni support Provides optimal encryption performance of over 1, 179 mb / s read and 542 mb / s write performance 2 gb and 8 gb memory configurations Has four 1 gbe (rj-45) ports and has an input frequency of 50/60 hz

580.83 EUR Buy on Amazon

This Synology DS918 + is one of the best rated NAS of the brand and is designed for SMEs and users who intend to make intensive use of multimedia content storage, since it is capable of transcoding 4K video in dual channel H.265 / H. 264 in real time. In this model we have AES-NI hardware encryption engine to have the files and transfer secure at all times.

It comes from the factory with four 2.5 / 3.5 ”hard drive bays expandable again with Synology DX517 until 9am for a total capacity of up to 56TB of storage. The great thing about this model is that it features two internal M.2 slots for ultrafast 2280 NVMe SSDs that are greatly appreciated. Finally, as a CPU we have an Intel Celeron J3455 quad core at a maximum of 2.3 GHz and 4 GB of DDR3L RAM expandable to 8 GB.

Synology DS918 + Pros and Cons

• Expandable bays with DX517 4-core Celeron processor Expandable RAM Two M.2 NVMe slots

• Somewhat fair connectivity with two RJ45 GbEN Does not have PCI slots to expand hardware

One of Synology's most recommended models for its excellent power / price ratio.

Synology DS918 + 16TB 4 Bay NAS Solution | Installed with 4 x 4TB Seagate IrownWolf Drives Quad-core processor, with AES-NI support; Provides optimal encryption performance € 1, 151.92

QNAP TBS-453DX-8G

QNAP TBS-453DX-8G White Compact NAS Storage Server NAS - Raid Drive (SSD, Serial ATA III, M.2, 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 1.50 GHz)

• QNAP TBS-453DX-8G. Supported Storage Drive Types: SSDIupported Storage Disk Interfaces: Serial ATA II Supported Disk Storage sizes: M.2. Processor frequency: 1.50 GHz Processor family: Intel Celeron Processor model: J4105. Internal memory: 8 GB

769.62 EUR Buy on Amazon

Here we have a very special NAS, also called NASbook because it is portable and very easy to connect to the networks we want. Ideal for people who for work reasons have to move with important files, but it is also suitable for practically what we want, from multimedia content playback to backups and RAID through M.2 SSD drives, since in this case it does not We have bays for mechanical drives, and in effect there are a total of 4 M.2 SATA 2280 slots.

It measures about 30x230x165 mm and it houses an Intel Celeron J4105 quad core at 1.5 GHz and 8 GB of non-expandable DDR4 RAM. The connectivity is impressive and of all kinds, 4 USB 2.0, 3 3.0, HDMI 2.0, 3.5 mm Jack and also an RJ45 GbE and another 10 GbE, almost nothing. We will have capacity for RAID 0, 1, 5, 5+, 6, 10 and JBOD, virtualization station and QVR Pro for surveillance. Come on, everything you can ask of a NAS in the size of a laptop.

QNAP TBS-453DX-8G Pros and Cons

• Ultra portable 4 M.2 SAT slots Impressive connectivity with 10 GbE and HDMI 2.0

• No 2.5 / 3.5 bays High cost

NAS unique in its kind and also with incredible possibilities.

QNAP TS-877 Ethernet Gold Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5.3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4, 3 GHz) EUR 1, 282.00 QNAP TS-877 Ethernet Gold Tower NAS - Raid Unit (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5.3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4, 3 GHz) EUR 1, 282.00 QNAP TS-1277 Ethernet Torre Oro NAS - Raid Unit (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5, 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 3 GHz) 3, 054.94 EUR

AS6210T scavenger

Asustor AS6210T - Raid Unit (Hard Drive, Serial ATA II, Serial ATA III, 3.5 ", 16TB, 0, 1, JBOD), Black

• Security algorithm ssh, ssl / tlsDhcp, clientDhcp, serverJumbo frames, supportBuilt-in screen

988.48 EUR Buy on Amazon

With this Asustor AS6210T we are already talking about bigger words, as it is a NAS oriented for professional use with enormous storage capacity and great power. It has no less than 10 2.5 / 3.5 ”compatible bays, although no M.2 slot, making it a pure closet-style NAS with a capacity of 140 TB. Install a 1.6GHz Intel Celeron quad core CPU and 4GB DDR4 RAM expandable to 8.

In this model we also have 4 RJ45 GbE ports, 3 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0, 2 eSATA ports, HDMI 1.4b port and S / PDIF digital audio output. We only need a 10 GbE port that is missing here. Of course, it has support for virtual machines through Portal Asustor + VirtualBox, backup, DLNA and video transcoding, management from the cloud and a great operating system such as Asustor's ARM.

Asustor AS6210T Pros and Cons

• Powerful and expandable hardware 10 bays Lots of connectivity

• No M.2N slots, no 10GbE connectivity

Excellent choice for advanced home use, and very economical

Asustor AS6204T - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, Serial ATA II, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 32TB, 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, FAT32, NTFS, ext4), Black Temperature Range Operational: 5 - 35 C; Multilingual support; Multilanguage support; Fan diameter: 12 cm 324.00 EUR Asustor AS-6208T 8-Bay NAS, Intel Celeron Quad-Core, 2GB DDR3, GbE x 4, SPDFI, HDMI, WOL, SSM Processor model is Intel Celeron, 1.6 GHz speed; 4 GB DDR3L RAM memory EUR 851.94

QNAP TVS-473E-4G

QNAP TVS-473E Ethernet Gray Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 2.1 GHz)

• Qnap business high end 4-bay nas tvs-473e-4g

489.00 EUR Buy on Amazon

We now turn to see this QNAP TVS-473E-4G model that mounts an AMD RX-421BD quad-core 2.1 GHz processor that also has an integrated Radeon R7 graphics processor and a considerable 8 GB of DDR4 RAM expandable to 64. We have 4 2.5 / 3.5 ”bays and 2 M.2 SATA slots available for caching drives. The hardware is complete with two PCIe 3.0 x4 slots to mount 10 GbE network cards, Wi-Fi or more M.2 slots.

If we want to connect portable SSD hard drives we will have available 4 USB 3.1 gen1 and also a USB 3.0 Micro B port that is very popular in new units of this type. With integrated graphics, you can not miss two HDMI 2.0 to play content in Full HD, 2k and up to 4K @ 60 FPS. Otherwise we will have the rest of the features of a high-end NAS.

QNAP TVS-473E-4G Pros and Cons

• 8 GB of RAM expandable up to 64 GB PCIe x2 slot and 2 M.2CPU AMD with integrated Radeon graphics

• No 10 GbE ex factory

This is a very balanced NAS in terms of hardware, connectivity and power, if it becomes too expensive.

QNAP TVS-473E Ethernet Gray Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, HPFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 2.1 GHz) Connections 2 x HDMI, 4x RJ-45 (LAN), 4 x USB 3.0; Quad-core AMD R-series APU; Flexible 10GbE Network Expandability EUR 1, 289.90 QNAP TVS-873E Ethernet Gray Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, HPFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 2.1 GHz) Connections 2 x HDMI, 4x RJ-45 (LAN), 4 x USB 3.0; AMD R-series quad-core APU; Flexible network expandability of 10 GbE 705.00 EUR

AS7004T scavenger

Asustor AS7004T - NAS Server, Black Color

• File sharing on Windows + Mac + Linux platforms Supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 and direct swapping of hard drives Local HDMI multimedia output (4K, 1080p and high definition multi-channel audio) Added Windows ACL support to Windows AD infrastructure improves management efficiency for business applications SMB 2/3 support increases Windows network performance by 30% -50%

1, 030.52 EUR Buy on Amazon

This is a NAS oriented to SMEs and its professional use, with great versatility and the power of a 3.5 GHz Intel Core i3 or a 3.0 GHz quad core Intel Core i5 together with 8 GB of RAM for the case of the i5, always expandable up to 16 GB. Its 4 2.5 / 3.5 ”bays are compatible with RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10 and 1080p video transcoding using HDMI connectivity.

In this case we have two RJ45 GbE, 5 USB and two eSATA connectors. It is a NAS extensible up to 16 bays with other Asustor products, reaching a maximum of 224 TB, it is the good thing of having processing power. Being a NAS we will have support for a surveillance server, virtualization station or simply as a network backup server.

Asustor AS7004T Pros and Cons

• Powerful hardware with Core i5 and i3Ideal for small and medium businesses

• No M.2N slots, no 10GbE connectivity

Excellent option for business use, although a 10 GbE link is missing.

Asustor AS7008T - NAS, Black Color File sharing on various platforms: Windows + Mac + Linux; 256-bit AES high-security encryption for individual shared folders

QNAP TS-877-1600-8G

QNAP TS-877 Ethernet Gold Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5.3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 3.2 GHz)

• m.2 two 6gb / s sata ssd slots for caching or pool caches to accelerate system performance. PCIe expansion capacity allows 10GbE / 40GbE PCIe adapters, NVMe SSD, graphics cards, USB 3.1 10Gbps, or wireless network cards. Supports AMD Radeon and NVIDIA graphics cards for video or GPU processing pass-through virtual machines. Qtier SSD caching technology and enable 24/7 optimized storage efficiency. Scalable storage support virtualization, containerized applications, centralized storage, backup, sharing, and disaster recovery.

2, 010.40 EUR Buy on Amazon

One of the most powerful tower equipment that the brand has and that is available in several different configurations in terms of bays and power. The 8G version mounts an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 6/12 3.2 GHz and 8 GB of DDR4 RAM. For its part, the 16G version mounts a colossal AMD Ryzen 7 1700 8/16 3.0 GHz and 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, almost nothing. We have variants of 6, 8 and up to 12 bays compatible with 3.5 / 2.5 ”units and only 2.5 (4/2, 6/2 and 8/4).

Two N.2 SATA slots up to 22110 and 4 GbE ports are included, although none of them is 10 Gbps, something we do miss. Anyway, we can expand it through one of its three PCIe slots x2, x4 and x8, just as we would like to install a graphics card. The RAID functionality will of course be complete from 0 to 60, we can do them all. As a virtualization station it is ideal, as long as we install 10 GbE since the Ryzen will allow us to have a very high power. We could go on for a while, but overall, it is the best that QNAP has.

QNAP TS-877-1600-8G Pros and Cons

• Brutal performance Up to 12 bays Three PCI-Express slots Full functionality

• No 10 GbE ex-factory High cost

The best that QNAP has in terms of SMEs and NAS servers.

QNAP TS-877 Ethernet Gold Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5.3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4, 3 GHz) EUR 1, 282.00 QNAP TS-877 Ethernet Gold Tower NAS - Raid Unit (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5.3.5 ", 0.1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, ext3, ext4, 3 GHz) EUR 1, 282.00 QNAP TS-1277 Ethernet Torre Oro NAS - Raid Unit (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5, 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 3 GHz) 3, 054.94 EUR

QNAP qm2-m.2ssd-10gbe expansion card

QNAP QM2-2P Internal PCIe Interface Card and Adapter - Accessory (M.2, PCIe, Full-Height / Low-Profile, Black, Brown, Stainless Steel, PC)

• Category: Expansion Card Description: Dual M.2 22110/2280 PCIe SSD Expansion Card Connector: 2 x M.2 22110 or 2280 PCIe NVMe SSD Slots PCIe and Lanes: PCIe Gen2 x 4.Support: Low profile preloaded, flat Low profile and full height.

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Well, that is a QNAP expansion card for those who want to expand the hardware of their NAS through PCIe and put two M.2 SATA slots and a 10 GbE network card on a single card.

Better generic NAS and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity

We wanted to put in a separate section the NAS that are equipped with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, very fashionable today and with an increasing presence in all electronic devices, from laptops to NAS as we can see.

The good thing about Thunderbolt is that it supports DisplayPort and also provides high-speed network links, making them ideal NASs for virtually any purpose, and especially for team graphics design. In addition, they consist of vertigo hardware with Intel Core i3 and i5 processors in most cases.

QNAP TS-453BT3-8G

QNAP TS-453BT3 NAS Black Tower Ethernet - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5 / 3.5 ", 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 1.50 GHz)

• Processor CPU Intel Celeron J3455 Quad-core 1.5 GHz, burst up to 2.3 GHz Graphics Intel HD Graphics 500 Maximum memory 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) Two memory slots SODIMM DDR3L Support 3.5-inch SATA hard drives

1, 219.57 EUR Buy on Amazon

NAS with Thunderbolt connectivity are certainly not the cheapest, but there will be users who need this connectivity. The QNAP TS-453BT3-8G is a high-level equipment that offers us two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 3, but we also have a 10 GbE port with a network card pre-installed in the PCIe x2 slot, along with two other RJ45 GbE. The rest of connectivity is 5 USB ports, two HDMI 1.4b and connectors for dynamic microphones and amplifier output, almost nothing.

A device that will be a perfect multimedia station for 2 and 4K content through DLNA for all compatible devices. But be careful because it also serves as storage and RAID (obvious), in fact, we have 4 SATA 2.5 / 3.5 ”bays and two M.2 SATA slots thanks to the pre-installed PCIe card. The CPU it mounts is an Int the Celeron J3455 quad core at 1.5 Ghz and 8 GB of DDR4 RAM.

QNAP TS-453BT3-8G Pros and Cons

• Impressive Thunderbolt and 10GbEI connectivity for video editing and multimedia station 4 bays + 2 M.2 for cache

• Its price

Ideal for Mac and Windows users who are engaged in collaborative video editing.

QNAP TS-453BT3 Ethernet Black Tower NAS - Raid Drive (8TB, Hard Drive, Hard Drive, SSD, 2000GB, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5.3.5 ") CPU Processor Intel Celeron J3455 Quad- core 1.5 GHz, burst up to 2.3 GHz; Intel HD Graphics 500 Graphics EUR 1, 689.90

QNAP TVS-672XT-i3-8G

QNAP TVS-672XT Ethernet Black Tower NAS - Raid Drive (Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA III, 2.5, 3.5, M.2, 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, JBOD, FAT32, HFS +, NTFS, exFAT, ext3, ext4, 3.10 GHz)

• Qnap business - high end 6-bay nas tvs-672xt-i3-8g qnap tvs-672xt, hard drive, ssd, m.2, serial ata iii, 2.5, 3.5, m.2, 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, jbod, fat32, hfs +, ntfs, exfat, ext3, ext4, 3.10 ghz

1.877, 15 EUR Buy on Amazon

For about 300 euros more we will have a NAS that increases its performance and benefits in general, thanks to its Intel Core i3-8100T CPU at 3.1 GHz and 8 GB of DDR4 RAM expandable to 32, so the QTS management of the NAS will be a marvel. In this case we also have Thunderbolt 3 connectivity thanks to an expansion card included in one of its two PCIe slots, one of them x4 and the other x16 direct to the CPU (where the Thunderbolt is located).

More complete than the previous one, because it now incorporates a direct 10GbE connector on the PCB, two RJ45 ports, an HDMI 2.0 and 4 USB Gen2 ports (2 Type-C and 2 Type-A). For storage we have 6 2.5 / 3.5 ”bays and two M.2 eye, PCIe x2 slots, one of a kind. The internal Intel 630 graphics chip will allow us to mount a high-level multimedia station for advanced design work and enormous backup power and with full support for RAID, Qtier and virtualization station.

QNAP TVS-672XT-i3-8G Pros and Cons

• Core i3 and gross power 6 Bays + 2 M.2 PCIe x4 PCIe x8 and x16 slots Powerful integrated graphics 2 Thunderbolt 3 and 10 GbE

Much more than a NAS, it is a full-fledged computer.

QNAP TVS-1282T3-i5-16G

QNAP TVS-1282T3 Ethernet Black Tower NAS - Raid Drive (16TB, Hard Drive, Hard Drive, SSD, M.2, Serial ATA II, Serial ATA III, 2000GB, 2.5 / 3.5 ")

• QNAP TVS-1282T3. Total installed storage capacity: 16 TB Installed storage unit type: Hard drive Supported storage unit types: SSD hard drive. Processor frequency: 3.4 GHz Processor model: i5-7500

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But we still have something more extreme and impressive in the list than the previous one. We don't know what QNAP was thinking when making this QNAP TVS-1282T3-i5-16G, but neither is it more powerful. This version mounts an In tel Core i5-7500 of 3.4 GHz and 16 GB of RAM, but we also have another version with a Core i7-7700 and 64 GB of RAM, benefits far superior to a mid-range computer.

According to the versions, we will have a maximum of 8 3.5 ”bays and another 4 of 2.5” in addition to two other SATA M.2 22110 slots. It includes three PCIe slots in which four Thunderbolt 3 ports and two 10 GbE Base-T ports are installed, in addition to its 4 RJ45 GbE, 5 USB and 3 HDMI.

This NAS is geared for multiple connectivity of Mac and Windows computers for 4K video editing and online editing and of course for high-speed file sharing and high-level RAID configuration and storage capacity of hundreds of TB.

QNAP TVS-1282T3-i5-16G Pros and Cons

• NAS "domestic" without rival except those created by the own brand Core i5 and i74 Thunderbolt and 2 10 GbE12 bays for hard drives + 2 M.2

• Cannot integrated graphics M.2 are not PCIe

Top range in the domestic market suitable for professional video editing

QNAP TVS-1282T3-i5-16G / 32TB-RE - QNAP TVS-1282T3-i5-16G / 80TB-GOLD 12 Bay QNAP TVS-1282T3-i7-32G / 32TB-REDP 12 Bay - QNAP TVS-1282T3-i7-64G / 32TB-IW 12 Bay - EUR 7, 344.76

Conclusion on the best NAS on the market

With this we finish our guide to the best NAS of the moment We have given a good overview of the best options of each type of NAS, both for home use, for professionals and companies, along with the best models with Thunderbolt 3.

We have also touched practically the entire price range, with equipment that is very good at what they offer and 100% recommended. What is your favorite? Do you recommend us to include some more in the list? We look forward to your comments to always help us improve the content.

If you want to continue looking at components and peripherals, we recommend these guides:

The market is huge and looking for the best is not easy, so guides always require extra effort. That is why we would greatly appreciate it if you shared it on your social networks and this information reaches more people. We also encourage you to leave a comment with your impressions and if it helped you. What model of the ones you have seen seemed better to you? You can ask us in the comment box below or in our hardware forum!