Want to enjoy some movies through Plex? You could even do that here. This powerful enclosure houses an Intel Celeron J4025 CPU with 2GB of DDR4 RAM, making it suitable for even the busiest homes with numerous simultaneous connections. If we were to choose a NAS for the home that strikes a good balance between price and performance, it would be the Synology DiskStation DS220+. But picking one with the capabilities for Plex playback at 4K or can be kitted out with ten hard drives for up to 160TB of capacity, that's when you need to pay attention to the specifications and marketing. I may have come across a little too strongly with the "you could get the NAS purchase wrong" since any enclosure you pick up will be able to be configured as a home file storage hub. It's a fantastic NAS enclosure for the price.ĬPU: Intel Celeron J4025 | Drive bays: 2 | RAM: 2 GB DDR4 (max 6 GB) | Features: 2x 1Gb LAN, 2x USB 3.0, upgradable RAM Manufacturer The company revamped this enclosure for 2020, and the result is the DS220+ with improved internals and a better CPU. Synology DiskStation DS220+: Best Overall NAS for Homeīottom line: The best overall NAS for the home has to get a lot right, and Synology already nailed this with the exceptionally positioned DiskStation DS218+. An important fact to remember: Intel processors are generally more capable than ARM (basically non-Intel) CPUs.ġ. The Synology DiskStation DS120j and TerraMaster F2-221 are fine examples of savings to be had without sacrificing too much on functionality, so long as you only plan on using these servers for file storage. You don't have to spend much to get a good NAS either. For those who want to set up a Plex Media Server (PMS), the QNAP TVS-672N-i3 is what you'll need.
If it's not quite what you're looking for, the ASUSTOR NIMBUSTOR 4 (AS5304T) is an excellent second choice. For most people, however, the Synology DiskStation DS220+ is the best choice overall. Numerous vendors make NAS enclosures with some of the best models croming from Synology, QNAP, TerraMaster, and ASUSTOR. RAID is a redundancy measure that makes sure if one drive fails, you'll not lose any data. Generally, you'll want to steer clear on single-bay NAS enclosures because you want to have at least two drives installed for a RAID configuration to be acceptable. The higher the number of bays, the more drives you could install, and the more capacity you can have for storing all your stuff. The second-most important factor in the decision-making for a NAS enclosure is the number of drive bays. These little server units can start at affordable prices, but when you factor in upgraded internals, features like M.2 slots, and upgradable RAM, you can quickly see the price spiral out of control. Synology DiskStation DS419slim - Best Portable: 4 bays, 1Gb LAN, 512MB RAMĬhoosing the best NAS for your home is primarily driven by the price of enclosures.
QNAP TVS-872XT-i5 - Best Performance: 8 bays, 10Gb LAN, 16GB RAM, SSD cache.TerraMaster F2-221 - Best Value: 2 bays, 1Gb LAN, 2GB RAM.Synology DiskStation DS120j - Best Affordable: 1 bay, 1Gb LAN, 512MB RAM.QNAP TS-1685 - Best Capacity: 16 bays, 10Gb LAN, 8GB RAM, SSD cache.QNAP TVS-672N-i3 - Best for Plex: 8 bays, 5Gb LAN, 4GB RAM.
ASUSTOR NIMBUSTOR 4 (AS5304T) - Runner-up: 4 bays, 2.5Gb LAN, 4GB RAM.Synology DiskStation DS220+ - Best Overall: 2 bays, 1Gb LAN, 2GB RAM.We've rounded up the absolute best NAS enclosures from vendors like Synology, ASUSTOR, and QNAP to help you choose the right one for your home. The more bays the enclosure has, the faster the processor, and the more RAM, the higher the price tag. Most people don't require a home server with 12 drive bays. Choosing the best NAS for home largely comes down to the price and size of the enclosure itself.