Best NAS or home servers for home and set up your private cloud

Frequently asked questions when buying a NAS

When we are going to buy a NAS server, we have to look at many aspects, such as the processor, maximum RAM that it allows, the bays to house storage disks, if we have one or more Ethernet ports, which brand to choose and even if it is complicated to use it. Next, we are going to try to answer the main questions that we can ask ourselves when buying one of these devices.

How many drive bays do I need?

This is the first question we must ask ourselves. Depending on the storage capacity that we want to have in our equipment, we will have to choose a 2-bay NAS, which is the recommended minimum, or go for equipment that has 6 bays and even more. For a domestic environment, we believe that a computer with 2 or 3 drive bays is more than enough to have a very good storage capacity, especially if you install large capacity hard drives such as Seagate or WD of 10TB or more. We must take into account the types of RAID that exist and how they work, the most common RAIDs are the following:

• RAID 0: Total capacity is the sum of all disks.
• RAID 1: Assuming all drives are equal in capacity, the total capacity is half the sum of two hard drives.
• RAID 5: Assuming all drives are equal in capacity, the total capacity is the sum of all drives minus the capacity of one drive. To form a RAID 5 at least 3 hard drives are required.

We must pay close attention to both the theoretical capacity of the hard drives and the type of RAID chosen, we must also take into account that we can reserve some space for the snapshot function, something that will reduce the effective space. Therefore, this is the first thing you should check and then go buy a model according to your needs.

 

Is SSD cache acceleration worth it?

Yes, it is always worth it. A computer that has M.2 NVMe or M.2 SATA3 slots, aiming to install SSD drives to speed up NAS performance through SSD cache acceleration is highly recommended. By making use of this feature we will be able to achieve high transfer rates both in reading and writing, this is ideal if we have a device with 2.5G Multigigabit connectivity or higher, where the hard drives may not be able to provide us with enough speed to make the most of the wired network. If you have Gigabit connectivity, you won’t notice much of a difference, just in random reads and writes (IOPS).

This feature is only recommended to use when we have a high budget and we want the best, if your budget is tight, then our recommendation is that you do not look at this option, although if you have it much better, to later install the corresponding SSD units. You will notice the improvement in speed if you are going to use databases, virtualization of operating systems or if you are going to transfer hundreds of small files through the local network. If you are going to use it for a home environment with backups, multimedia content playback and other basic uses, you will not need it.

 

Do I need multiple Ethernet ports?

In recent years, manufacturers have decided to incorporate more than one Ethernet port to their equipment, and it is that we can do a link aggregation (Link Aggregation) and double the real performance in the local network. We must also take into account at what speed these Ethernet ports work, because Gigabit Ethernet ports have almost become history, only entry-level models have Gigabit ports (1Gbps), since right now most are 2.5G Multigigabit and we even have 10G Multigigabit ports, in order to get the most out of the hardware without the wired network becoming a bottleneck.

Right now, we believe that a server with a 2.5G Multigigabit port is enough to get the most out of it in a home environment. However, if it has two ports or more, we could transfer data much faster with the right switches, in addition, we could use the server as if it were our own router, making use of one port for the Internet WAN and another port for the network. LAN. Manufacturers like QNAP allow us to virtualize the popular pfSense operating system in a very simple way, ideal for having everything on the same computer.

 

Which brand is the best?

Right now there are three leading brands for NAS servers: QNAP, Synology and ASUSTOR. Each brand has different models in its portfolio and different software applications to get the most out of its equipment.

QNAP and ASUSTOR servers stand out for having high-end hardware and many expansion possibilities, it could be said that with one of these teams we will have more freedom to install expansion cards, great versatility because we have a model for each requirement that we want, more powerful hardware with the latest Intel or AMD processors, and also a lot of associated software to get the most out of it. QNAP has also recently launched solutions for networking, such as professional and home routers, home and professional switches, and many more business-oriented hardware devices, we could say that now QNAP is covering both local network and storage.

On the other hand, Synology has more limited hardware in terms of processor, RAM and expansion possibilities, however, the DSM operating system is one of the most popular and most loved by users thanks to all the software that is installed automatically. default, the possibilities of expansion through the app store and much more. This brand is turning towards a hybrid model, and it is that they have recently launched different solutions in Synology C2, which is the manufacturer’s public “cloud”.

 

Is it complicated to use a NAS?

The manufacturers QNAP, ASUSTOR and Synology have dedicated a lot of effort to developing their operating systems to make them very intuitive, so anyone can install and manage one of these devices without much trouble, and on the official websites of each manufacturer we have tutorials step by step to perform the following actions. In addition, in the operating system we have different configuration wizards to greatly facilitate the start-up work, especially when creating the storage pools and also the volumes.

In this article we have published a large number of tutorials to make different configurations on a server, you can read all of them in the section of each manufacturer and follow them step by step to make all the necessary configurations.

 

NAS with 2 drive bays

Computers with 2 disk bays are the most popular for home environments, although they can also work perfectly in a small and medium office environment. These computers with two bays will allow us to configure two types of RAID (RAID 0 and RAID 1), so you must take into account the strengths and weaknesses of both, to decide which one to configure in the operating system.

 

QNAP TS-253D

This 2-bay NAS server is one of the most recommended for home environments, it has a powerful processor with integrated GPU to use it intensively with 4K video transcoding. This model is a best seller due to its hardware and possibilities, since it has 2 2.5G Multigigabit ports so that the local network does not have a bottleneck. If you are looking for a high-performance device for domestic environments, this model is ideal for you.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4125, Quad-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 4GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 8GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 2 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : no, optional via PCIe adapter.
• Ethernet ports: 2 2.5G Multigigabit ports.
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps, 3 USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI 2.0 port at 4K and 60Hz.
• Expansion Ports – One PCIe 2.0 x4 port.

The price of this model is around 450 euros approximately, a very competitive price if we take into account the new hardware that it incorporates. And it is that we are going to be able to use light virtualization intensively with Docker to have dozens of services on our server.

If you can’t afford to spend around €450 on this model, then our recommendation is that you buy the little brother, the TS-251D which also has very good hardware.

 

QNAP TS-251D

If you don’t have too much of a budget and want to buy a fairly powerful computer that doesn’t have any problems with storage or when using it for multimedia, the TS-251D model is ideal for you. This device has a powerful processor and up to 8GB of RAM, ideal for using light virtualization with Docker to enjoy dozens of additional services on our device.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4025, Dual-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 4GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 8GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 2 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : no, optional via PCIe adapter.
• Ethernet ports : 1 Gigabit Ethernet port for LAN.
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps, 3 USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI 2.0 port at 4K and 60Hz.
• Expansion Ports – One PCIe 2.0 x4 port.

This model has a price of about €275, a much lower price than the previous one, but we must take into account the main differences with the TS-253D, and that is that the CPU is less powerful and we do not have Multigigabit connectivity, so which is clearly an inferior model.

If you want a team and spend as little as possible, but that allows you to do almost everything, this team is the ideal one for you.

 

ASUSTOR NIMBUSTOR 2 (AS5202T)

ASUSTOR has equipment with really interesting hardware, both in the middle ranges and also in the highest ranges. This model is ideal for home environments and also for small and medium-sized offices. It has similar hardware to the previous QNAP model, but we have 2.5G Multigigabit connectivity, so we won’t have a wired network bottleneck.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4005, Dual-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 2GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 8GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 2 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : no, optional via PCIe adapter.
• Ethernet ports: 2 2.5G Multigigabit ports.
• Connectivity : 3 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps and an HDMI 2.0 port at 4K and 60Hz.
• Expansion ports : none.

If you want to use the ASUSTOR ADM operating system, this model is the cheapest that we are going to recommend since it is a very good device. The price is around €350, for this price we believe it would be better to buy the TS-253D model that is superior in processor.

If you want to spend a little more money on an ASUSTOR computer, pay attention to the following LOCKERSTOR 2 model as it has very interesting hardware.

 

ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 2 (AS6602T)

This ASUSTOR is ideal for home environments where we need SSD cache acceleration, or use SSD drives as a storage array, in addition to the corresponding hard drives in their bays. This model has state-of-the-art hardware, and it also has dedicated M.2 slots for NVMe SSD drives, so this equipment is highly recommended.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4125, Quad-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 4GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 8GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 2 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 Slots for SSD Cache Acceleration : Yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe ports.
• Ethernet ports: 2 2.5G Multigigabit ports.
• Connectivity : 3 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps and an HDMI 2.0 port at 4K and 60Hz.
• Expansion ports : none.

The price of this model is around €450, we believe that it is very worth it as long as you make use of the M.2 NVMe units that the equipment incorporates, in this way, we can greatly accelerate the speed of random and sequential reading and writing of the equipment .

As you can see, this hardware level equipment with 2 bays is the most complete that we can buy right now, thanks to the incorporation of M.2 NVMe slots.

 

Synology DS220+

The manufacturer Synology has this model for home environments where we do not need too much power or RAM capacity, in addition, we do not have connectivity in the Multigigabit network, but rather it is Gigabit Ethernet. If you like Synology’s operating system, this model is the entry range to the family of its servers.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4025, Dual-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 2GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 6GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 2 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : none.
• Ethernet ports: 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports.
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps.
• Expansion ports : none.

The price of this model with 2 4TB disks (8TB of storage) is around €620, a very interesting price, although at the hardware level it is somewhat below the previous models, as you have seen.

If you like Synology’s operating system and want something better at the hardware level, our recommendation is that you buy the DS720+ directly, which is a highly recommended model.

 

Synology DS720+

This equipment has high-end hardware, in addition, it has M.2 NVMe slots to greatly accelerate the performance in reading and writing of hard drives. This equipment is ideal for home environments where we need a powerful processor, and it is also ideal for small and medium office environments.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4125, Quad-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 2GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 6GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 2 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe ports.
• Ethernet ports: 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps and an eSATA port.
• Expansion ports : none.

The price of this equipment is around €450, a very competitive price if we take into account its hardware, although we miss that they have not incorporated Multigigabit ports, as both QNAP and ASUSTOR do.

If you need a 2-bay model and want it to have Synology’s operating system, this model is the best.

 

NAS with 3 drive bays

QNAP is the only manufacturer that has opted for equipment with 3 bays to house hard drives inside. All manufacturers have 2-bay and 4-bay models, except QNAP, which also has 3-bay models. QNAP’s strategy in this regard is very good, because 3 hard drives is the minimum needed to set up a RAID 5 on the computer. We must remember that a RAID 5 will allow us to have great performance in reading and writing, while allowing us to be sure that, in case one of the disks breaks, we will be able to regenerate this RAID easily and Fast, no data loss. If you want to build a RAID 5 with 3 hard drives, and you do not plan to have more storage, then our recommendation is that you buy one of these 3-bay models.

 

QNAP TS-364

This 3-bay computer has the latest Intel processor to achieve great performance, in addition, we have M.2 slots to accelerate the overall performance of the NAS. If you are looking for a 3-bay NAS, this model is the one to buy, it is simply the best and almost only model you can buy.

• Processor : Intel Celeron N5105 Quad-Core at 2.0GHz speed, up to 2.9GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 4GB of DDR4 RAM expandable up to 16GB capacity.
• Drive bays and type : 3 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : Yes, two M.2 2280 NVMe slots.
• Ethernet ports : 1 2.5G Multigigabit port.
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps ports, 1 USB 3.0 port and 1 HDMI 1.4b port.
• Expansion ports : none.

This equipment is priced at around €500, a pretty good price if we take into account the hardware of the equipment, and that it is one of the few 3-bay models that currently exist.

In the event that you want to save around €200, then you can buy the inferior model, however, they are not comparable and our recommendation is that you buy this TS-364 model that has the new processor.

 

QNAP TS-328

This equipment is the entry range with 3 bays, its Realtek processor is not very powerful but it will be able to provide you with good performance in domestic environments. If you plan to virtualize operating systems or use Docker containers, you’d better buy the older model because the processor will fall short, and the RAM is only 2GB so you won’t be able to use Virtualization Station and many other QNAP applications that require at least 4GB of RAM.

• Processor : Realtek RTD 1296 ARM Cortex-A53 64-bit quad-core 1.4GHz
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : yes, up to Full HD.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 2GB of non-expandable DDR4 RAM.
• Drive bays and type : 3 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : no.
• Ethernet ports: 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps and 1 USB 2.0 port.
• Expansion ports : none.

We can find this equipment in stores for about €300, although our recommendation is that you save a little more and buy the TS-364 model directly because it is clearly more powerful.

As you have seen, only QNAP has this type of equipment with 3 bays to house hard drives.

 

4-bay NAS

The 4-bay models allow us great versatility and a very good real storage capacity. Depending on the type of RAID chosen, we can have storage of up to 40TB (if you use hard drives of 10TB each), however, for data security it is always advisable to choose a RAID that incorporates data protection. By having 4 bays, we will have different types of RAID at our disposal:

• RAID 0
• RAID 1
• RAID 5
• RAID 6
• RAID 10

Depending on our needs, we must choose between one RAID or another. Next, we put a list of the best models that have 4 bays to house hard drives, although some of these models have M.2 slots to install SSDs and speed up performance. If you want great versatility, the 4-bay models are ideal for you because they are not as expensive as the 6-bay or more, nor as limited as the 2- or 3-bay.

 

QNAP TS-453D

This model is exactly the same as the TS-253D model, but instead of having 2 hard drive bays it has 4 bays. At the hardware level it is exactly the same, so if its characteristics are convincing, this model is highly recommended.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4125, Quad-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 8GB DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM.
• Drive bays and type : 4 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : no, optional via PCIe adapter.
• Ethernet ports: 2 2.5G Multigigabit ports.
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps, 3 USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI 2.0 port at 4K and 60Hz.
• Expansion Ports – One PCIe 2.0 x2 port.

This equipment is priced at around €650, a price of around €150 higher than the TS-253D model. In our opinion, we believe that it is worth paying a little more and having 2 additional drive bays, if you don’t need that much storage space, you can always install SSD drives and use SSD cache acceleration.

As you can see, this model is very complete, and also highly recommended.

 

QNAP TS-473A

This model has a powerful AMD Ryzen processor and we have the possibility of having a lot of RAM inside it to virtualize operating systems and even use Docker. This equipment is clearly more complete than the previous model at the hardware level, in addition, we have the possibility of installing the QTS operating system or the QuTS hero with the ZFS file system.

• Processor : AMD Ryzen Embedded V1500B, Quad-Core at 2.2GHz.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : No, optional via a GPU connected to the PCIe port.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 8GB DDR4 ECC SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 64GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 4 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : Yes, two M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x1 ports.
• Ethernet ports: 2 2.5G Multigigabit ports.
• Connectivity : 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports at 10Gbps type A, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports at 5Gbps type C.
• Expansion Ports – Two PCIe 3.0 x4 ports.

This model costs approximately €800, taking into account the improvements in hardware incorporated compared to the previous one, we believe that its price is very well justified. We’ve got a more powerful processor, more RAM, M.2 ports for installing SSDs, and even 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, so it’s really powerful.

If you are looking for a very powerful 4-bay computer, this QNAP will satisfy all your needs.

 

ASUSTOR NIMBUSTOR 4 (AS5304T)

If you are looking for an ASUSTOR model with 4 bays and quite good hardware, this equipment is ideal for you. It has a very powerful processor and Multigigabit ports so that the local network does not have a bottleneck.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4105, Quad-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 4GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 8GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 4 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : no.
• Ethernet ports: 2 2.5G Multigigabit ports.
• Connectivity : 3 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps and an HDMI 2.0 port at 4K and 60Hz.
• Expansion ports : none.

The price of this model is around €500 approximately, a very competitive price if we take into account its hardware, however, we believe that the LOCKERSTOR 4 model is much better, since the price difference is about €60 and it has M slots. .2 for SSD drives and a more powerful processor.

This model is highly recommended for people who want a very good computer, but who are not going to install SSD drives as SSD cache.

 

ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 4 (AS6604T)

This equipment is ideal for advanced home environments and also for small and medium businesses. It has superior hardware than the previous one, in addition, we have two M.2 slots to greatly accelerate the performance of the equipment when installing SSD. Below you can see all the features.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4125, Quad-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 4GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 8GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 4 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 Slots for SSD Cache Acceleration : Yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe ports.
• Ethernet ports: 2 2.5G Multigigabit ports.
• Connectivity : 3 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps and an HDMI 2.0 port at 4K and 60Hz.
• Expansion ports : none.

This equipment is priced at around €550, a really impressive price if we take into account its hardware specifications that are mid-high range.

If you love ASUSTOR’s ADM OS, and need a 4-bay model, our recommendation is that you buy this LOCKERSTOR 4 model instead of the previous NIMBUSTOR 4.

 

Synology DS420+

This Synology model is a fairly powerful computer with an Intel Dual-Core processor, it also has M.2 slots to install SSD drives and accelerate the overall performance of the computer. If you love Synology’s operating system and want a 4-bay model, this is the cheapest device we recommend.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4025, Dual-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 2GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 6GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 4 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : Yes, two M.2 NVme ports.
• Ethernet ports: 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports.
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps.
• Expansion ports : none.

The price of this equipment is around €500, a somewhat high price compared to its most direct competitors, but it is the price to pay if we want a Synology model with the DSM operating system.

In case you have more budget, our recommendation is that you give the DS920+ model a chance, which is clearly superior, especially in the processor.

 

Synology DS920+

This computer has the latest high-performance Intel J4125 processor, in addition, it allows you to have up to 8GB of RAM to start virtual machines and even use Docker to have dozens of services on the computer. The only handicap that we find is connectivity, and that is that we do not have Multigigabit ports but only Gigabit Ethernet ports.

• Processor : Intel Celeron J4125, Quad-Core 2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 4GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 8GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 4 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe ports.
• Ethernet ports: 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps and an eSATA port.
• Expansion ports : none.

We can find this Synology model with 4 4TB disks for around €1,100, logically the NAS itself has a lower price, the extra cost is for the hard disks included in the “pack”.

If you have the opportunity to buy this model, you will not regret it because its operation is truly spectacular.

 

NAS with more than 6 bays or more

If you want a model with more bays for hard drives or 2.5″ SSDs, the models that we are going to recommend below are ideal for you, since they all incorporate 6 bays and even more, with the aim of having a large storage capacity and also have the ability to configure different RAID levels. If the chosen model has 6 bays for hard drives, we will be able to configure RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50. In the event that the chosen model has 8 bays for hard drives, we will be able to configure RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, so we will have great versatility.

 

QNAP TVS-672X

This model is very powerful as it incorporates an Intel i5 processor, there is another version of this same model that is inferior as it incorporates an Intel i3 processor, however, both are highly recommended. This equipment has really powerful hardware and expansion possibilities thanks to its PCIe ports that we have available. If you want a powerful NAS and can afford it, this device is quite interesting.

• Processor : Intel i5-8400T Six cores at a speed of 1.7GHz and up to 3.3GHz in Turbo.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 8GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 64GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 6 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : Yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x2 ports.
• Ethernet ports: 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports and one 10G Multigigabit port.
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-A ports, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-C ports, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps port, one HDMI 2.0 port at 4K and 60Hz.
• Expansion Ports – One PCIe 3.0 x16 port and one PCIe 3.0 x4 port.

The price of this model is around €2,400 in its Intel i5 version with 8GB of RAM, logically it is a high price but we have very powerful hardware and 10G Multigigabit connectivity.

This equipment is quite powerful, in fact, it has a superior version that is the TVS-872X that has 2 bays for additional hard drives.

 

Synology DS1621+

This Synology solution with an AMD Ryzen processor will allow us to have 6 bays for hard drives and also M.2 NVMe slots, ideal for having the maximum possible storage capacity, and also the maximum speed thanks to SSD cache acceleration.

• Processor : AMD Ryzen V1500B, Quad-Core at 2.2GHz.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : not.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 4GB DDR4 ECC SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 32GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 6 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 Slots for SSD Cache Acceleration : Yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe ports.
• Ethernet ports: 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Connectivity : 3 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps and 2 eSATA ports.
• Expansion ports : a PCIe 3.0 x8 slot but internally it works at x4.

This model exceeds €1,000 without hard drives, but we have quite advanced and expandable hardware, since we have both the possibility of installing up to 32GB of RAM and also a PCIe expansion port.

If you want a very powerful Synology model, this equipment is ideal for you, without going to the models with an Intel Xeon processor that are logically much more powerful.

 

Synology DS1621xs+

This model is one of the most powerful from the manufacturer Synology as it incorporates a high-performance Intel Xeon processor, in addition, the hardware that accompanies it is also top of the range, since we have M.2 NVMe slots and even a 10G port among other features. . Below, you can see all the details:

• Processor : Intel Xeon D-1527, Quad-Core 2.2GHz with up to 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : not.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 8GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 32GB maximum.
• Drive bays and type : 6 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 Slots for SSD Cache Acceleration : Yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe ports.
• Ethernet ports: 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports and 1 10G Multigigabit port.
• Connectivity : 3 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps and 2 eSATA ports.
• Expansion Ports – One PCIe 3.0 x8 port.

The price of this model is around €2,400, a very high price but justified by its powerful hardware.

If you want the best of Synology and you don’t mind spending this kind of money, then this device is the one we recommend.

 

ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 8 (AS6508T)

The manufacturer ASUSTOR has an 8-bay model that has a more powerful Intel Atom processor than previous equipment, what we like most about this model are the expansion capabilities, both RAM memory, M.2 slots as well as 10G Multigigabit ports that it incorporates. This team is really complete and highly recommended, you will not regret it.

• Processor : Intel ATOM C3538, Quad-Core 2.1GHz.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 8GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 64GB maximum.
• Drive Bays and Type : 8 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe ports and supports SATA3 as well.
• Ethernet ports: 2 2.5G Multigigabit ports and 2 10G Multigigabit ports.
• Connectivity : 2 USB 3.0 ports at 5Gbps.
• Expansion ports : none.

The price of this model is around €1,000, a high price but justified by its great hardware.

If this processor is not enough for you, then you can go for the top model with a high-performance Intel Xeon.

 

ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 PRO (AS7110T)

This model is one of the most powerful of ASUSTOR, governed by an Intel Xeon processor and many expansion possibilities, it is one of the most recommended models of the manufacturer.

• Processor : Intel Xeon E-2224, Quad-Core 3.4GHz with up to 4.6GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 8GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 64GB maximum.
• Drive Bays and Type : 10 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe ports and supports SATA3 as well.
• Ethernet ports: 3 2.5G Multigigabit ports and 1 10G Multigigabit port.
• Connectivity : 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps ports and one eSATA port.
• Expansion ports : none.

This equipment is around €2,600, a very high price but we must take into account its powerful hardware, in addition, we have 10G connectivity and USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports among other features of a top-of-the-range equipment.

This model is ideal for any type of use, no matter how advanced it may be, including virtualization of operating systems.

 

QNAP TS-h1288X

This server is the best of the year 2021, and it will surely also be the best of the year 2022 considering that it has top-of-the-range hardware. This computer has a powerful Intel Xeon processor and really impressive expansion capabilities, since we have everything you need to install a dedicated graphics card or any QM2 expansion card. This team is the most complete of QNAP; along with the TVS-h1688X which is exactly the same but has 4 more bays for 3.5” hard drives. Below, you can see all the specifications of this model:

• Processor : Intel Xeon W-1250, Six cores at 3.3GHz with up to 4.7GHz in Turbo mode.
• Does it support hardware video transcoding? : Yes.
• Does it support hardware encryption acceleration? : Yes.
• RAM : 16GB of DDR4 ECC SO-DIMM RAM expandable up to 128GB maximum.
• Drive Bays and Type : 8 bays with SATA3 interface and supports 3.5” and 2.5” drives, 4 bays that supports 2.5” drives.
• M.2 slots for SSD cache acceleration : Yes, 2 x M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 ports.
• Ethernet ports: 4 2.5G Multigigabit ports and 2 10G Multigigabit ports.
• Connectivity : 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-A ports and 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-C ports. It also has HDMI 1.4b with up to 4K at 30Hz.
• Expansion Ports – One PCIe 3.0 x8 port, one PCIe 3.0 x4 port, and one PCIe 3.0 x4 port. The 10G card is installed in the first x8 port.

The price of this model is €2,800 with 16GB of RAM, a very high price but more than justified by its high performance. This model is highly recommended for any type of environment, both home and advanced telecommuting, small and medium-sized businesses and more.

As you can see, this equipment is the most complete of all, both for its specifications and for its expansion possibilities.

So far we have arrived with our complete list of the best NAS servers, before choosing any of them, we recommend you check their official website to see what software features we have available and if they meet your needs.