Network-attached storage (NAS) is great for storing data and running apps and services. An issue may arise when running these devices continuously, drawing power from the connected outlet. The more drives you add and the more capable the system, the more power will be drawn. There are a few ways to help mitigate this, so if you're concerned about the power being pulled by your NAS, consider our suggestions.

Use fewer larger capacity drives

Less can mean more

The great thing about NAS and servers in general is bolting numerous drives to the system and creating storage pools for storing lots of data. A drawback to this is noise, vibrations (for spinning disks), and power draw. The more drives inside a NAS, the more power the system will draw, even idling. A good way to avoid this is to instead purchase fewer larger capacity drives. Instead of kitting out your NAS with four 10TB drives, purchase two 20TB drives.

With RAID 1, this would provide 20TB of capacity. It's slightly less than the 30TB with the four 10TB drives in RAID 3, but you'll be using considerably less power with just two drives. Another option would be to upgrade from HDDs to SSDs. NAS-rated SSDs are more expensive than mechanical drives, but they're worth it for the improved transfer speeds and lower power draws. We'll continue to see more SSD NAS released as they're adopted by more NAS owners.

Downgrade the CPU

Either undervolt or replace it

This is only applicable to custom NAS systems, using standard PC parts. If the CPU you're using for the NAS has a high idle or load power draw, you may wish to undervolt the processor to restrict how much power is used or downgrade the part to a more efficient part. An Intel Core i9-14900KS probably isn't the type of chip you wish to use for a low-power NAS or home lab server. An Intel Atom or Core i3 would be a better fit, depending on your needs.

Depending on the motherboard your NAS is using, I recommend shopping around on classified websites to pick up second-hand chips. You can score bargains with older-generation hardware. For prebuilt NAS enclosures, it's best to go with a NAS you know you'll fully utilize. A Synology DiskStation DS223j with two bays and an Arm chip will use less power than a four-bay Intel-powered DS923+. Running services on a NAS isn't terribly resource-intensive unless you're transcoding media or running virtual machines.

Which CPU is best for NAS?

Choosing the best processor for NAS depends on what you'll use the server for. An Intel Core or AMD Ryzen processor typically used for desktop systems will likely be overkill for a NAS box, but if you plan on using that much performance, you will need to factor in the power requirements. For prebuilt enclosures, an Arm processor is likely one with the lowest power draws. Intel Celeron and AMD Ryzen R series chips are next up with desktop-class CPUs following on.