Network-attached storage (NAS) enclosures are small servers that can serve as a means to store files and backups in a centralized location, a hub for all your favorite media, or to create your very own home surveillance system. These enclosures are versatile, but can cost $1,000 and beyond. It’s possible to buy the wrong NAS for your needs.
There are multiple vendors that produce catalogs of NAS enclosures at various price points. While this does mean there are plenty of enclosures to choose from, it’s easy to get lost in the sea of choice. We’re here to help you make the right decision for Cyber Monday.
Picking out the best NAS involves a few factors, including price, the processor, and number of drive bays. The better the processor is, the more expensive the enclosure usually becomes. More advanced features like 10Gb networking can also quickly inflate prices. We’ve rounded up some of the best NAS enclosures on sale for Cyber Monday.
Today’s Best NAS Deals
But if you do have an idea as to what you plan on using the NAS enclosure for, we’ve compiled lists of the best NAS for your home and what to look for if you’re trying to set up a NAS for Plex. There’s something here for everyone!
Best NAS deals for Cyber Monday
The best NAS for Home starts off as the most affordable NAS you can buy. The more budget-friendly enclosures aren’t anything special but allow you to configure everything to your liking and have a NAS up and running. More pricey NAS options here come rocking faster processors, more RAM, and drive bays. Just remember to apply the coupon!
TerraMaster NAS enclosures aren’t the most user-friendly, but they come with some excellent specifications for the price. This discounted two-bay NAS has 10Gb networking, Intel Apollo quad-core processor, and more to create quite the capable compact server. Perfect for file storage and even Plex Media Server.
This TerraMaster NAS has four drive bays, but happens to be significantly more affordable than the F2-422. While this enclosure has a quad-core CPU too, it’s an ARM processor and not from Inte. There’s also no 10Gb networking. This enclosure is better suited to file storage, letting you save money by cancelling cloud subscriptions. Just remember to apply the coupon!
This Western Digital NAS is quite the enclosure. It may appear to be slightly more expensive than other offerings, but it comes with hard drives already installed and ready to go. There’s also an Intel Pentium N3710 quad-core processor with 4GB DDR3L RAM. It can run Plex and other services to create a smart hub at home.
This NAS enclosure is all about backing up your devices and storing files. It houses a single 8TB hard drive and while it won’t be able to do as much as other enclosures, it does offer good value for anyone looking for a replacement for a cloud storage subscription.
The My Cloud EX2 Ultra takes things to the next level, with the NAS offering 8TB of storage, 1GB of RAM, Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, and a hassle-free way to back up data and share files across your home network.
Western Digital’s 4TB My Cloud Home is an all-in-one NAS enclosure that offers a 4TB hard drive out of the box. It is very easy to set up and use and offers decent mobile apps that let you stream content and back up data from all your devices.
Getting the Best NAS Deal for you
It’s one thing to nail a good deal that saves you money, but it’s a whole other ball game to get the right deal for you. We want you to spend your money wisely, it’s why we publish all these guides with quick-fire data on all our recommended products. Instead of going in blind, you can see what each NAS enclosure offers and how this can help you achieve your goals.
If a NAS has a steep price drop but we don’t believe it to be worth your money even when on sale, we won’t recommend it. It’s important to decide what you want to use the NAS enclosure for. If you’re not comfortable paying out for a more expensive NAS at full price, there’s no reason why you should pay a similar amount for one that’s discounted.
NAS enclosures are usually priced well, depending on the processor, drive bays, and other specifications. But when we’re enjoying big events like Cyber Monday, retailers will use all kinds of tactics to make you think a deal is better than it is. Be wary of prices that are inflated to appear like deals. We use tools like CamelCamelCamel that help us spot great deals, and you should use it too.
What about Plex?
Choosing the best NAS for Plex is a little more tricky since the processor becomes vastly more important, if not the most important, deciding factor. If you plan on storing and streaming 4K content, you’ll need to make sure your recipient devices (TV, consoles, PCs, etc.) support the same format your media is saved in. If not, the NAS will need to transcode it, which requires considerable performance. These NAS will be able to handle 4K transcoding.
Best Cyber Monday NAS Hard Drives Deals
You could install some old desktop-class hard drives inside a NAS enclosure and call it a day, but that wouldn’t work well. Hard drives used in desktop PCs simply aren’t designed to run continuously and be hammered by countless users. It could work, but you’ll likely run into reliability issues.
Hard drives designed specifically for NAS come rocking some advanced features, which is reflected in the price. These drives come rocking advanced features like vibration protection and better components that can withstand lots of data being read and written. Since it’s Cyber Monday, you can find some of these drives on sale right now, like the massive 6TB Seagate IronWolf for $156. There are yet more advanced NAS drives, like the Western Digital Red Pro series, which cost more but come with faster motors and additional features.
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This post was written by Rich Edmonds and was first posted to WindowsCentral
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