10 Best Network Attached Storage (NAS) Solutions for Office and Home Use

Tired of paying for cloud storage you don’t fully control? Or worried about your sensitive data floating around on someone else’s servers? A network-attached storage, a.k.a. NAS, might be the answer. In addition to hosting your data, NAS offers several key benefits such as data redundancy, encryption, and remote access.

NAS allows small and medium-sized businesses to get all their data in one location—secure and accessible from anywhere, with collaboration capabilities. One of the biggest advantages is that NAS devices can function like mini-computers. You can host a website, run virtual machines, or have your very own media server.

Moreover, NAS is also handy for personal use, such as for storing your photos, videos, music, and documents, and syncing with internet accessible devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

According to a research, NAS market is expected to grow at a 19.5% CAGR between 2025-2030. The report also shows that over 80% of small to enterprise companies prefer NAS solutions over DAS (Direct Attached Storage) and SAN (Storage Area Network).

The main drivers behind the demand for NAS are the increasing need for centralized data management, easy access, and the growing SOHO (Small Office or Home Office) landscape.

Let’s take a look at some of the best NAS devices on the market.

1. Synology DS920 NAS

The Synology 4-bay NAS DS920 features a 4-core processor that delivers 15.5% faster file indexing, 24% faster photo indexing, and 133% faster internet response. This NAS device has 4 GB of RAM, which can be expanded up to 8 GB.

It supports multiple file-sharing protocols like CIFS, AFP, NFS, and FTP, which allows anyone to centrally store or sync files on multiple devices across locations.

Its intelligent security solution enables the connection of multiple IP cameras with live-streaming and integration of I/O modules.

Thanks to its massive memory size and 2.7 GHz processor speed, users can transcode 4K H.265 / H.264 video up to 1080p and stream it to HD TVs, digital media players, mobile phones, and computers.

Features

• Two built-in SSD slots for SSD drives
• Supports up to 9 HDDs with DX517 expansion module
• Multiple backup versions with block-level incremental backups and cross-deduplication
• Complete surveillance solution for recording, monitoring, and management

The Synology 4-bay DS920 NAS is the best choice if you’re looking for data backup and security for small and medium-sized businesses. Even companies looking for scalability can plug in a DX517 expansion unit to handle ever-growing volumes of data.

If you’re interested, here are a few NAS backup methods to store critical data in the cloud.

2. QNAP

QNAP offers a range of storage solutions for both individual and small business use. The listed QNAP devices are two to nine bay NAS, offering up to 10 GbE connectivity.

The list equally serves business and personal needs. Businesses can securely store their sensitive data, set up VMs, configure backups, transfer between NAS and major cloud providers, whereas home users can enjoy a high-quality multimedia experience with 4K HDMI 2.0 direct streaming and output.

Features

• Host virtual machines and containers to run various applications
• The private cloud that supports account protection, IP blocking, verification, and two-step encryption
• QuDedup technology eliminates duplication of data before it is stored on the NAS to save storage space, bandwidth usage, and backup time.

The above are some common features. The actual features depend on the specific QNAP device you choose.

3. Asustor Lockerstor 2

The Asustor NAS (AS6602T) from Lockerstor is an award-winning device that ranked first as a best 2-bay NAS in Germany for 2021.

ASUSTOR is an official Adobe partner, and its storage integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud for designs and projects within the Adobe ecosystem.

This NAS features 4GB DDR4 RAM, which is 30% faster than DDR3 RAM, and is powered by the Intel Celeron Gemini Lake quad-core processor with 4MB of built-in cache for faster processing. The hardware and software are compatible with the best virtual environments, such as VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft Hyper-V.

Features

• Two 2.5 GbE ports with the ability to expand up to 5 Gbps with supported hardware
• Power on and off your NAS remotely or locally with the mobile app.
• Two M.2 NVMe SSD ports for fast caching
• Integrated firewall and ADM protection against malicious attacks
• Supports Wake on LAN and Wake on WAN

Two-bay NAS devices particularly target individuals with (limited) storage and entertainment requirements. You can use Lockerstor 2 for streaming full-HD content with ASUSTOR’s App Central or to store personal data for your remote office by syncing it with Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Yandex, etc.

4. Buffalo LinkStation 220DR

Buffalo LinkStation is a 2-drive network-connected repository that is smart, fast, and equipped with functions for private storage of audio, video, and other data files. It comes with pre-configured for superior RAID performance and reliability.

It has various multimedia functions like Direct Copy and DSD (Direct Digital Stream). Direct Copy automatically transfers media files from digital devices to your LinkStation website, while DSD plays high-end audio files without losing quality.

Features

• Integrated BitTorrent client for direct download of large files to devices without a computer
• Backup compatibility with Windows and MAC systems via the award-winning NovaBACKUP Buffalo Edition and Time Machine for Mac systems.
• Supported RAID levels: RAID 0, RAID 1
• 800 MHz processor and 256 MB DDR3 RAM

It has basic NAS features and average CPU and RAM clock speeds. It can be used for personal use to create a private cloud to store media files. I would not recommend this NAS for business use, since the underpowered hardware isn’t best for professional workflows.

5. Synology DS220+ NAS

The Synology DS220+ has a very compact structure and is designed to streamline your data and provide a simple interface for accessing media files. Its RAID 1 redundancy provides data protection and recovery functions in case of device failure.

It has a dual-core processor (turbo frequency up to 2.9 GHz) that not only speeds up access to intensive applications, but also improves photo indexing, read/write times, and web access. You can access your data through web applications structured across three centers – audio stations, photo, and video stations.

Features

• Up to 225 MB/s (sequential read) and 192 MB/s ( sequential write) speed
• Transcode H.265/H.264 4K videos to full HD (1080p)
• The mobile app lets you access your work or home data from anywhere
• Btrfs file system prevents data corruption and reduces maintenance costs
• Automatic file recovery to detect and recover corrupted files

The Synology 2-bay NAS is ideal for SOHO networks. Users don’t have to worry about operating system compatibility, as this NAS supports all platforms, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.

6. Synology DiskStation DS1522+

DS1522+ is a highly rated NAS from Synology with a fluid DSM and decent hardware, making it perfect for your home or office. This comes with a native 5-bay storage, which you can expand up to 15 bays with two DX517 separately sold extension units.

Diskstation DS1522+ is powered by a dual-core AMD Ryzen R1600 (3.1 GHz) and 8 GB DDR4 RAM (maximum 32 GB supported). You also get two M.2 NVMe drive slots for SSD caching.

Features

• Four onboard 1 GbE ports that can be extended up to 10 GbE
• Wake on LAN/WAN and scheduled power on/off
• Data deduplication and AES-256 encryption
• Two USB Type A 3.2 Gen 1 ports
• Back up to remote servers, 3rd-party cloud, and external drives
• Extensive RAID support

This NAS device also does great if you’re into video surveillance. It can handle up to 40 IP cameras simultaneously, which you can choose from over 8,300 compatible models. Its software suite lets you automatically locate cameras with an IP range, get event-based alerts, analyze captures, and more.

7. Asustor AS5402T

Asustor AS5402T is a 2-bay NAS that comes with four “tool-free” M.2 NVMe SSD slots for high I/O throughput, especially for content creators. This Adobe-certified storage features snapshot version history of Creative Cloud files and supports local/remote live collaboration.

AS5402T is powered with an Intel quad-core Celeron 2 GHz processor with a boost frequency of 2.9 GHz. Besides, you have 4 GB DDR4 RAM, which you can upgrade to 16 GB for handling heavy multitasking workflows.

Features

• Two 2.5 GbE ports for high network performance and productivity
• Three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, which can handle up to 10 Gbps
• Internet security with built-in firewall, ClamAV antivirus, and off-site backups
• Data protection with AES-256-bit encryption
• Supports WOW (Wake on WAN) and WOL (Wake on LAN)

AS5402T is a multimedia powerhouse, thanks to a native HDMI 2.0b port supporting 10-bit 4K hardware decoding, HEVC decoding, and VP9 10-bit Profile2 decoding.

Overall, this NAS is aimed at content creators and gaming enthusiasts. Furthermore, home office setups can also take this one for having a local copy of sensitive data, centralized management, and sync.

8. Amber X

Amber X is for anyone looking for personal cloud storage with built-in capacity. You can use this as an extension of cloud services, such as Dropbox, iCloud, and Google Drive.

Besides being a typical storage device, Amber X lets you host a Plex Media Server locally. This setup offers access to your favorite content everywhere (smartphones, smart TV, etc.) with the Plex app.

Features

• 512 GB SSD native storage and an optional USD expansion
• Compatible with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS
• AI-powered file management and sorting
• HDMI 2.0 4K output and media casting

Amber X has a gigabit Ethernet port, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A port, and an SD card reader. Moreover, you get a 64-bit hexa-core ARM Cortex processor and 2 GB DDR4 RAM, making the overall spec sheet fit for day-to-day personal entertainment and storage.

9. Asustor Flashstor 6 FS6706T

Flashstor FS6706T is a 6-bay NAS for the heavy hitters looking for a cloud storage device no bigger than an A4-sized paper. This also comes in another variant, 12-bay, should you want it to support your small to medium business venture.

Flashstor 6 can also serve power multimedia users quite well. You get hardware decoding for H.265 4K media content with 10-bit color depth and HDMI 2.0 support, making the viewing experience butter smooth. This NAS also supports S/PDIF over TOSLINK for superior audio that complements your home theater.

Features

• Quad-core Intel Celeron CPU with speeds up to 2.9 GHz
• Data redundancy and speed with SMB Multichannel and RAID 5
• Two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and six M.2 NVMe slots
• WOW & WOL support, power scheduling, and sleep mode
• Two 2.5 GbE ports

Flashstor 6 FS6706T leaves no stone unturned in data security. It has an in-built firewall, malware protection, and supports off-site backups. Data transmission takes place with TLS, and data at rest gets encrypted with AES-256.

You can further protect data with file/folder/app isolation, two-step authentication, and VPN connections.

10. TERRAMASTER F8 SSD Plus

Terramaster F8 SSD Plus is an 8-bay NAS beast you can confuse for an average paperback novel. Its sleek and compact design and incredibly powerful spec sheet make it a worthy addition to your office or home.

You can expect high computing (for a NAS) and networking performance with its octa core Intel i3 processor (turbo frequency up to 3.8 GHz), 16 GB DDR5 RAM (extensible up to 32GB), Intel UHD graphics, and 10 Gbps ethernet (read/write speeds up to 1024 Mb/s).

Features

• 8-PCIe M.2 NVMe slots, offering an onboard max capacity up to 64 TB
• Storage expansion up to 128 TB via three USB 3.2 10 Gbps ports
• Four fan modes to adjust for light to heavy use
• Supports Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS
• Native virtualization support for Windows, Linux, and more
• Cloud sync with Google Drive, OneDrive, Amazon S3 buckets, Dropbox, etc.

Terramaster F8 SSD Plus has a firewall, AES encryption, antivirus, two-factor authentication, and SSL certificates to safeguard critical data. One also gets support for scheduled power on/off and wake on LAN for remote operations.

Finally, you have support for 4K video decoding and uPnP/DLNA protocol. The latter allows you to convert this NAS into a multimedia server (with Plex, Emby, and Jellyfin) and connect to other devices.

Now that you’ve known my picks for the best NAS solutions, let’s understand how these solutions function.

How Exactly Does Network Attached Storage (NAS) Work?

A NAS device is an array of interconnected hard drives, enhanced with onboard CPU, RAM, operating system, etc., for managing file systems, launching applications, processing media files, managing multiple users, and more.

In even simpler terms, I would imagine NAS as a storage-heavy mini computer, like a low-end PC in a small form factor, but with 100s of TBs of detachable storage.

The hardware configuration determines the speed and scalability of the NAS. From a software perspective, a NAS consists of a Linux-based operating system which makes app downloads, data sync, sharing, and other NAS-related functions easy.

You can connect a NAS device with WiFi or ethernet and connect it to a display. Afterward, it closely resembles a personal computer experience with folder hierarchies, menus, and all.

The USP of any NAS device is that it can be accessed by authorized people from remote locations, even through smartphones and tablets. This makes NAS suitable for family and businesses alike.

How to Select the NAS for Your Network?

Here are the major factors to consider before choosing the best NAS for your use cases.

• Storage capacity: NAS with 1 or 2-bays are good enough for home or personal use. Small or medium businesses can choose from 3 to 8+ bays and even opt for NAS that support extension units.
• Speed and Performance: The higher the CPU and RAM, the better the speed and computing performance. Business owners should pick higher core processors and RAM for greater productivity. Besides, look for multi-gigabit ethernet ports for avoiding bandwidth bottlenecks.
• Data Protection (Protection): A NAS with multiple levels of RAID functionality makes sense as a professional storage solution. Moreover, look for firewalls, anti-malware, VPN support, cloud sync, and on-device encryption to protect critical data from cyberattacks and technical failures.
• Remote access: Easy-to-use mobile apps or web access are essential for easy backup, sharing, and restoration that can be accessed from anywhere. While all brands have device managers, I would advise looking for YouTube tutorials to get the vibe of their operating system.
• Others: You can buy a NAS with or without an SSD/HDD. Select a diskless device if you want to select your own drives and can configure it later. NAS with SSD/HDD comes pre-configured and ready to use.
• Cloud sync: Check support for the 3rd-party cloud provider you currently use. Generally, NAS manufacturers mention it upfront since it’s a critical feature people look for.
• USB ports: Make sure you get the latest USB ports for quick offline transfers.

Conclusion 👨‍🏫

Now you know everything for making the right NAS buying decision.

However, NAS devices charge a premium for what they offer is a sentiment shared by many from the DIY realm. Therefore, an alternative but “adventurous” route is to build your own NAS. You can learn from dozens of tutorials about how tech-savvy professionals assemble hardware, install NAS software/OS of their choice, and do everything NAS while saving a few hundred bucks.

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