With their superb data sharing, backups, and archiving facilities, Network-Attached Storage devices are perfect when you want to add extra TBs to your computing setup. But just like everything else in the tech landscape, not all NAS devices are built the same. If you’re having a hard time choosing a pre-built storage server from the endless number of options in the NAS market, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll go over some of the most essential features to look for when buying the NAS enclosure of your dreams.

A minimum of 4 drive bays

For the extra capacity and flexible RAID options

Starting things off with a rather controversial pick, it’s always a good idea to go with a NAS system that can house at least four drives. Sure, two-bay NAS devices are quite useful when you’re just starting out and desire a budget-friendly server for minor storage needs.

But when you’re planning to use the NAS to archive your essential data, it’s always better to have some extra leeway in the storage front, as you can slot in some additional drives if you run out of free space. And trust me, when you start tinkering with RAID, JBOD, or other redundancy mechanisms for your storage pools, you’ll have even more flexibility in choosing the ideal configuration with the extra drive bays.

8GB memory is necessary for home lab enthusiasts

While 16GB is the sweet spot for virtualization-heavy workloads

If you’re already a member of the home lab community, you might already be aware that your NAS can double as a rock-solid self-hosting machine, assuming you have enough resources to deploy all your containers.

As such, it’s a good idea to seek out a system with decent specs when you’re planning to self-host multiple apps and services. With most NAS processors packing enough heat for your average virtualization tasks, it’s a good idea to procure a rig with at least 8GB of memory to avoid running into performance bottlenecks in your home lab journey.

At least 5GbE support

And preferably more than one Ethernet port

Despite all-flash SSD devices packing significantly higher speeds than their traditional HDD-only variants, the speed of the Ethernet port often creates a major bottleneck in their transfer speeds. Heck, even in your average hard drive-powered NAS, a single 7200RPM HDD can choke a 1 Gigabit network, and that’s before we go into the more advanced RAID configurations designed to facilitate the speed of your transfers.

As such, I’d recommend grabbing a NAS with a 5 GbE LAN (preferably 10 Gigabit for multi-SSD setups) port if you want your storage servers to transfer data at somewhat decent speeds. Plus, if you tend to work with multiple devices, having an additional Ethernet connection lets you set up link aggregation for better load balancing and port-failover provisions. Just make sure your switch supports the extra bandwidth, or your transfer speeds will end up getting crippled by the slow network switch.

Hybrid SSD + HDD storage provisions

A snappier experience, extra high-speed drives, and all the benefits of SSD caching

When I reviewed the TerraMaster F4-424 Max a few days ago, I loved the inclusion of extra M.2 slots on the 4-bay NAS. While I always prefer storing data on (comparatively) inexpensive HDDs, being able to merge the benefits of high-capacity HDDs with the lightning-fast speeds of SSDs makes hybrid NAS enclosures all the more useful.

For instance, you can install the operating system on an SSD and get a more responsive experience than running the OS on your average HDD. Many proprietary NAS operating systems also let you store data on the OS drive, where you can keep your frequently updated files for quick access. Throw in the performance benefits of SSD caching, and hybrid HDD/flash drive storage can be a game-changer for NAS enthusiasts.

A few other pointers when searching for your ideal NAS

Aside from the hardware, the OS features (or the lack thereof) available in your NAS can hugely impact your experience. For instance, I’m fond of storage enclosures like the Aiffro K100, because they let me run any OS under the sun without forcing me to jump through different hoops or voiding my NAS' warranty. But if your NAS has a proprietary OS, it’s a good idea to go through some reviews, as not all NAS-centric operating systems are built the same…