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I wish I'd set up a NAS sooner. I only recently took the plunge on a system and it took a couple weeks to understand what a NAS really is. It's not really just accessible network attached storage (NAS) across a home connection: it's a personal server.
It starts with an enclosure, though I think that term slightly undersells the hardware. I'm using one from Ugreen, the NAS DXP4800 Pro, which is currently on sale over at Amazon for $640. That's 20% off.
A NAS enclosure is not just a handful of hard drive bays glued together. It's a proper little PC. The DXP4800 Pro is a 4-bay enclosure and uses low-power components not often found in gaming hardware, including an Intel Core i3 1315U and SODIMM memory. It has 8 GB of DDR5, which can be upgraded via a panel on the underside of the unit, though you'll have to pay through the teeth for more right now.
You will likely have to pay over the odds for a hard drive at the moment, too. While not ruled by the same companies making memory chips, HDDs are still in high demand for datacenters. That means prices have gone up and availability has gone down in recent months. Most of all, for drives capable of running 24/7 in a NAS.
You're looking at around $300 for an 8 TB Seagate IronWolf. Or $390 for 10 TB. Smaller drives aren't that much cheaper as to make it worthwhile and bigger drives are astronomical. Personally, I'd rather not take the risk on a refurbished model, so I'm afraid this is just a cost you have to swallow. You need a proper NAS drive, either way, as a cheaper SMR drive just won't cut it for long.
A NAS is pretty spectacular once it's set up. I run tons of things on mine: from photo storage and video streaming to my very own self-hosted RSS reader. It's let me kill most of my monthly subscriptions, as I no longer need to rely on Google for storage space, and if kicking Google out of your life isn't reason enough to do something, I don't know what is.
It's just freeing to take control of your photos, videos and documents on your own personal cloud, located in your own house. I'd take that over some datacentre in some other part of the world anyday.
If that sounds like the sorta project you're into, the Ugreen NAS DXP4800 Pro is down to a low price right now. It's not the lowest we've seen it—that happened at the end of March, when it was $624—but it's not far off. If you prefer something cheaper, the Plus model is more or less the same bar a weaker Intel Pentium Gold CPU for $584.
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1. Best overall:
WD_Black SN7100
2. Best budget:
Biwin Black Opal NV7400
3. Best PCIe 5.0:
WD_Black SN8100
4. Best budget PCIe 5.0:
Crucial P510
5. Best 4 TB:
TeamGroup MP44
6. Best 8 TB:
WD_Black SN850X
7. Best M.2 2230:
Lexar Play 2230
8. Best for PS5:
Silicon Power XS70
