You put so much effort into setting up network attached storage (NAS) for your workplace to safeguard perhaps the most irreplaceable commodity in your home or business — the data. Years of effort could go down the drain in an instant if there is a drive failure with no backup plan. Hard drives have spinning parts, so you can’t entirely steer clear of such incidents either. What you can ensure is proper upkeep of your HDDs so that they not only last longer but also become far more fault-tolerant. After all, your data must survive even if the drive dies. There are a few things you can do to ensure exactly that.

7 Use HDDs made for NAS

There is a bit more nuance than you’d guess

This one seems pretty obvious, but it isn’t that straightforward. While it’s not recommended to get anything other than hard drives made specifically for NAS, there is still some further consideration once you finally narrow down your drive selection. Most brands, including WD and Seagate, offer two kinds of NAS drives: one for regular home users and the other for heavier server loads.

The primary difference between them is their tolerance towards vibrations and the amount of data writes they can handle — a higher count on the pro-grade variants can make all the difference. Additionally, you can look at the MTBF (mean time between failures) figure, which indicates the length of time an HDD is designed to remain in good working condition before a potential failure is likely to occur. Finally, another crucial factor of note is the product warranty. You can expect 5 years of coverage from most brands. But Seagate goes a step further and offers a complimentary professional data recovery service, which offers additional peace of mind and can come in handy in case of an unfortunate event.

6 RAID is the ultimate kind of security

Prevention is better than a cure, as they say

If you’re someone like a freelancer with limited data storage needs, it’s fair to consider a smaller, single-bay NAS to save some cash. But it could prove to be an expensive affair if that single drive fails on you, leading to complete data loss with no fail-safe in place. Any RAID configuration requires at least two drives to function, allowing you to simply swap the bad drive for a new one, to which your data can automatically be restored.

Sure, it will take up half of the storage space (at most, depending on the RAID configuration), but that’s a fair price to pay for the peace of mind you’ll enjoy in the long run from having a redundant setup. A two-bay NAS is the bare minimum you should consider, though larger NAS models enable even more efficient RAID configurations that maximize the space available for your use while still ensuring robust protection. Even NAS makers offer their own RAID alternatives, such as Synology’s SHR, which could offer added space advantages.

5 Have off-site backups in place

You can never be too safe with your data

Many home users would get a NAS as their backup solution, with their phones and laptops being the primary storage devices. But for workplaces, the NAS will likely be the primary storage mode. That means you just can’t rely on the NAS alone for your data’s safety. While RAID can save your data from drive failures, it won’t be of much use in case of a mishap, like an office fire or flood. When you have tons of critical customer and internal data, you just can’t afford that risk. A good measure to avoid such a situation is to have an off-site backup solution that maintains a replica of your NAS.

Now, this off-site backup could be another NAS that can be used to restore your primary unit in case of complete data loss. Or, it could also be a cloud storage solution, be it consumer-grade Google Drive or enterprise-class AWS Backup, both of which have a far lower chance of storage failure. One could argue that cloud storage as secondary storage negates the purpose of owning a NAS. But with your own storage enclosure in place, you’d still enjoy the convenience and speed of offline data access, which the cloud cannot match. Just make sure to run these backups frequently.

4 Place your NAS in a well-ventilated area

Your hard drives need to breathe, too

Just like any other gadget, your NAS also doesn’t like to get too hot. Those fans on the back of NAS enclosures have a single purpose: keep the NAS’s (more specifically the hard drives’) internal temperatures low. As you’d guess, all the constant spinning creates a lot of heat. Most NAS models have a built-in safety mechanism to shut down the NAS when the drives get too hot; 60 degrees Celsius is typically the cut-off point. However, frequently hitting that number will degrade the HDDs much sooner than their expected lifespan, leading to premature failures.

So, how do you avoid this? Consider putting the NAS in a room that doesn’t get hot and also in an area with good ventilation. If you live in a region that gets excessively hot during the day, you can go for an after-market fan upgrade to improve your NAS’s cooling ability. Even air conditioning could help bring the heat down to ultimately extend the drives' lives.

3 Ensure a stable power supply

This one is easy to ignore, but you really shouldn’t

As with ensuring proper ventilation around your NAS, you should also see that the power supply it’s getting is stable. As you must have gathered by now, these HDDs are pretty delicate and need an optimal environment to work at their utmost performance level. When the power supply fluctuates, or if you’re in an area with frequent power cuts, the HDDs will be forced to shut down abruptly or far too frequently than they are designed for, leading to a shorter lifespan.

The solution is pretty obvious here. You just have to identify and fix any power issues that might be affecting your NAS. If that’s something out of your hands, you can hook your NAS up to an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) unit. It will supply only the required amount of current and voltage to your NAS and will also give you enough time to properly shut down the NAS in case of a power cut. Lowering your drives' wear and tear will significantly reduce its chances of failure.

2 Keep firmware up to date

Your hard drives also need those updates

Data safety extends beyond drive failures, since there’s always a chance that a bad actor could virtually lock you out of your own NAS if they somehow gained access to it. A potential ransomware attack exploiting a software vulnerability could put your business data in jeopardy while also costing you a lot in cash, time, and reputation. Like with every piece of connected tech on the planet, you can help prevent that by ensuring your NAS is up to date so that any identified vulnerabilities are all patched up.

Ideally, you should also take another next step and update the firmware of your hard disks, too. You don’t have to worry about manually updating the drives if both your NAS and the drives inside it are made by Synology. But for other brands, you will need to take the manual route. Each drive maker has its own set of instructions that you can follow to install the firmware updates, though you must first back those drives up as a precaution in case something goes wrong with the update.

1 Monitor drive health

Make it a part of your routine checkups

Most NAS enclosures have built-in tools to keep an eye on drive health. If the drives are frequently running into issues, say high-temperature warnings or performance errors, you can quickly run diagnostics and find the root cause before it gets too late. Your NAS itself can repair the drives for minor hiccups without requiring a replacement. By staying proactive with your monitoring, you will remain on top of everything and can promptly swap in a new HDD when an issue arises, without waiting for it to drop dead with your data captive inside.

Treat them well, and they will serve you well

NAS hard drives are pretty much plug-and-play devices, even when you have to replace them in case of drive failures (provided RAID is set up). But they also need a certain kind of environment and periodic monitoring to offer optimal performance throughout their life spans. The measures mentioned here are actionable and will show signs of improvement in your everyday use. Try them for yourself and see your NAS take a sigh of relief, perhaps even literally through those rear vents.