Because the world grows extra digital, so does the scale of the recordsdata we have to retailer, whether or not we’re speaking about movies, reveals or huge work recordsdata, particularly for graphics designers and video editors. That is the place a Community Hooked up Storage (NAS) can are available in actually helpful. Not solely do they offer you a central place in your house to retailer a great deal of information, however in addition they assist you to keep away from paying the exorbitant charges that include utilizing a cloud storage service for high-capacity storage. Relying in your funds and desires, you possibly can go for a fast plug-and-play choice or a extra concerned NAS that allows you to choose your personal HDDs or SSDs.
A NAS drive basically capabilities as a self-contained cloud, with a number of high-capacity storage drives that anybody on the community can entry. Whereas they are often expensive up entrance, they’re one of many extra environment friendly methods to maintain your group’s information assembled, safe and accessible. Plus, you possibly can typically discover fashions on sale for a whole lot lower than their checklist costs. We have rounded up among the finest NAS drive offers on the market in the meanwhile, and we’ll proceed to replace this web page as affords come and go, so remember to test again typically.
With 4TB of storage, this WD My Cloud EX2 Extremely is nice for each people with critical storage wants, and for smaller companies searching for a budget-friendly choose. With 1GB of DDR3 reminiscence, it boasts spectacular information switch speeds, and the built-in USB 3.0 ports will let you switch images or movies from a digicam or flash drive with the contact of a button. It is also appropriate with Apple Time Machine so you possibly can again up your recordsdata, and with 256 AES quantity encryption, you will be assured that your information is protected from prying eyes.
Read our WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra preview.
If you would like a budget-friendly NAS the place you possibly can insert and take away the laborious drives or SSDs, this four-bay model from QNAP is an effective choice. It has 2GB of RAM, a 1.7 GHz Annapurna Labs AL-314 Quad-Core processor, and is 2.5GB succesful. It might probably additionally match each 3.5-inch and a couple of.5-inch laborious drives and SSDs, so you could have a variety of choices to work with.
With 8TB of storage, this two-bay Buffalo TeraStation is a stable midrange drive for each private {and professional} use. It helps spectacular switch speeds with a 2.5GbE port, and protects your information with 256-bit drive encryption. Plus, it is appropriate with Amazon S3, Dropbox, Azure and OneDrive so you possibly can create a hybrid cloud and sync your information throughout a number of providers.
This WD drive is primarily designed for house use and private storage, however nonetheless boasts a considerable 20TB storage capability. It plugs instantly into your property Wi-Fi router, and permits you to entry your information from wherever with an web connection utilizing the companion My Cloud Residence apps. The drive’s Mirror Mode retains your information safe by routinely duplicating any recordsdata saved on one drive and backing it up on the opposite.
For those who want one thing with a bit extra capability and options, the WD Knowledgeable Sequence can maintain as much as 4 laborious drives and SSDs and comes with two Ethernet ports for redundancy. Even higher, this deal consists of 4 6TB WD REDs to get you going, so it is a good choice if that is your first NAS. It comes with a 1.6 GHz Marvell Armada 388 Twin-Core processor and 2GB RAM, so about what you’d anticipate for a NAS at this value level.
With 32TB of included storage and at $535 off its regular value, this is among the best-value NAS drives you may discover on the market in the meanwhile. It is outfitted with 4GB of ECC reminiscence in addition to a 10-gigabit Ethernet port for lightning-fast information switch, and the 256-bit AES encryption ensures that your information cannot be accessed from anybody exterior your community. It additionally helps integration with widespread third-party cloud providers reminiscent of Dropbox and Microsoft Azure for an additional offsite backup of your information in case one thing occurs to the bodily drive.
This deal is on the identical NAS because the earlier WD Cloud Knowledgeable, besides it comes preloaded with 4 14TB HDDs, providing you with 56TB of whole house. So why would you choose this over the opposite? Effectively, it may be cheaper to go for the 24TB deal and purchase 4 14TB HDDs later, however if you happen to’d fairly skip straight to the best capability, then go together with this deal. Simply observe that this NAS drive requires a particular order, and can take between two and 4 weeks to ship.
