NAS servers are in our day to day to use them as multimedia centers, download manager and even for advanced backups and many other options. The main use we give to a NAS server is to transfer files over the local network and the Internet, via Samba and FTP. Can routers do “NAS-like” functionality? Yes, but you must take into account certain requirements and characteristics.
Normally, home NAS servers incorporate Dual-Core or Quad-Core processors to provide good performance when managing data transfer on the local network, in addition, they usually have at least 1GB or 2GB of RAM memory so that all processes and software work properly.
If we want to use our router as a NAS server, and to provide you with adequate performance, it must have a series of hardware characteristics that are totally necessary for this.
Hardware aspects that a router must have to use it as a NAS
USB 3.0 ports
The first thing that a router must have to be able to use it as a NAS server, is that it has USB 3.0 ports to achieve the best possible performance . If our router has USB 2.0 ports, the reading and writing performance will be really penalized, achieving around 35MB / s maximum, therefore, it is essential that it has USB 3.0 ports to avoid bottlenecks in this regard.
Powerful processor
Once we have made sure that our router has USB 3.0 ports, or at least, a USB 3.0 port, the next thing we should take a good look at is the processor . The main CPU plays a fundamental role in the read and write performance of the USB 3.0 ports, if we have a slow processor or with few cores, we will have a bottleneck and we will not get more than 50MB / s approximately. If you want to use your router as a NAS server and achieve read and write speeds around 100MB / s or more, it is absolutely necessary that your router has a latest generation processor, such as the Broadcom BCM6750KFEBG which is Tri-Core at 1.5GHz speed, although it would be much better if your router has the Broadcom BCM4908KFEBG which is Quad-Core at 1.8GHz.
Enough RAM
The RAM memory in a router is also very important, since, when we are transferring data with the USB 3.0 ports, the RAM memory is used intensively. Therefore, it is recommended that your router has at least 512MB of capacity, although there are already high-end and top-of-the-range routers with 1GB of RAM, which will provide you with better performance.
Multigigabit ports and Wi-Fi 6 with 160MHz
If you are going to use the USB 3.0 ports intensively with a wired computer, it would be interesting if the router has a 2.5GbE port , because high-end routers far exceed the maximum speed of the Gigabit Ethernet interface. In this article we have already analyzed several routers that have achieved speeds of up to 150MB / s in reading and writing, therefore, the 110MB / s of the Gigabit Ethernet interface is really short.
If the chosen router has Wi-Fi 6 with two antennas (or more), you should bear in mind that achieving speeds of 120MB / s via Wi-Fi is feasible. Wi-Fi cards such as the ASUS PCE-AX58BT, PCE-AC58BT or the Intel AX200 itself can achieve real speeds of approximately 120MB / s, so you can make the most of the USB 3.0 ports of your router if you have Wi-if 6 high perfomance.
Once we’ve seen the hardware requirements, let’s dive into the software requirements for using the router as a NAS server.
Software features of a router to use it as a NAS
NAS servers have a large number of services, and we even have an application store to increase these functionalities that come by default. Routers are somewhat more limited in this regard, but they have the fundamentals to be able to squeeze the USB ports.
Samba server and FTP server
Almost any router that has a USB 3.0 port will have in its firmware both a Samba server to access files and folders through the local home network, and also an FTP server to access locally or remotely. Depending on the manufacturer’s firmware, we will have a greater number of configuration options or fewer, however, we anticipate that routers do not have as many configuration and customization options as NAS servers.
An important detail is that, if you are going to access from the Internet, it is highly recommended to use the FTP protocol to transfer files, however, routers do not usually incorporate FTPES so that authentication and file transfer is secure, therefore It would be a great idea to connect to our local network via VPN, and later use the router’s FTP service, although the actual performance we will achieve is affected by doing this.
DLNA media server for multimedia
Along with the Samba and FTP server, it is one of the services most incorporated by routers to play multimedia content on TV or on computers on the local network. Thanks to the DLNA media server, we will be able to stream photos, audio and video on different devices simultaneously, although an important aspect is that we will not have video transcoding, and if it did, the routers processors are not prepared for it, They would “drown.”
Plex Media Server built into the router
NETGEAR is one of the few manufacturers to incorporate the popular Plex Media Server into a high-end home router, the NETGEAR R9000 has this interesting feature to enjoy a complete DLNA media server, but also each and every one of the services that Plex provides us, including transcoding, but you must bear in mind that the CPU of the routers is quite limited.
Once we have seen the main services, we are going to see other services that routers also incorporate and that are very interesting.
Other services on routers
Other services that the router firmwares incorporate to make the most of the USB 3.0 ports that they incorporate are the following:
- Print server : we can connect a printer via USB and share it on the local network, in this way, if the printer is old and does not have Wi-Fi or cable connectivity, we can share it on the network without having a PC always on .
- 3G / 4G modem: If we connect a 3G / 4G mobile broadband modem, we could use this connectivity as a primary or secondary Internet WAN.
- Time Machine and iTunes server : some routers have this functionality for backups of Apple computers.
- Download manager : manufacturers like ASUS or NETGEAR incorporate a download manager in some routers, specifically torrent, HTTP and FTP download manager among others. Due to the CPU limitation in the routers and the high resource consumption of this software, the performance that we will obtain will be around 100Mbps approximately (it will depend on the router’s CPU), we will not be able to fully squeeze the router’s USB 3.0 port because CPU bottleneck.
As you have seen, we can use our router as a true NAS server, although with its hardware and software limitations. Of course, with a router we will not be able to have any type of RAID, snapshots or advanced features that any basic NAS server does incorporate.