Why do you need NAS at home? Here are a few things you need to know before buying
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Why do you need NAS at home? Here are a few things you need to know before buying
NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a small server specially used to store data. It is placed at home and connected to a router. It can be accessed by mobile phones and computers. It can also automatically back up photos and build a private theater. More and more people are starting to use them, but many of them end up in the dust after buying them—because they didn’t know what they needed before buying them.
Do you need NAS?
Suitable scenarios for NAS:
- There are more and more photos and videos accumulated, and the mobile phone album is almost full.
- Access your files anytime you want on any device in your home
- Need to share files with multiple people (family or small team)
- If you want to set up a home theater, use a TV or projector to directly broadcast local 4K
- Unified management of download resources, you don’t want to install a hard drive on every device
Scenarios not suitable for NAS:
- The amount of data is very small (within 500GB), and an external hard drive is enough
- Don’t care about data security, save everything in cloud disk
- Unwilling to spend time fiddling with configuration
Number of trays: buy 2 trays or 4 trays
| Number of disks | Suitable scenarios | RAID options |
|---|---|---|
| 2 disks | Personal backup, family photo album | RAID 1 (mirror) |
| 4 disks | Home media center, small studio | RAID 5/6 |
| 5–8 drives | Studio, small business | RAID 6, RAID 10 |
Limitations of 2-disk NAS:
- Only RAID 1 can be used (two disks mirror each other)
- The total available capacity is only the size of a single disk (2×4TB = 4TB available)
- But the disaster recovery capability is sufficient, no data will be lost if a disk is damaged
Advantages of 4-disk RAID 5:
- Allow one disk to be damaged without losing data
- Available capacity = (N-1) × single disk capacity (3×4TB = 12TB available)
- Balanced choice between performance and disaster recovery
RAID type: more complex is not always better
| RAID type | Minimum number of disks | Disaster tolerance | Available capacity | Suitable scenarios |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAID 0 | 2 | None (if one disk fails, all are lost) | The sum of the capacities of all disks | Extreme speed requirements, don’t mind losing data |
| RAID 1 | 2 | Allows 1 disk to be damaged | Single disk capacity | 2 disk NAS most commonly used |
| RAID 5 | 3 | Allows 1 disk to be damaged | (N-1)×single disk | 4-disk NAS most commonly used |
| RAID 6 | 4 | Allow 2 disks to be damaged | (N-2)×single disk | Large capacity NAS important data |
| RAID 10 | 4 | Allow 1 disk in each group to be damaged | Total capacity 50% | High performance + disaster recovery |
Important Fact: RAID does not equal backup. RAID prevents physical damage to the hard disk, but cannot prevent:
- Accidentally deleted files
- Virus encryption
- The NAS machine itself is faulty (the controller is bad)
- Natural disasters (fire, flood)
True backup principle: 3-2-1 backup method (3 copies of data, 2 storage media, 1 copy offsite)
Hardware configuration: CPU and memory
The CPU of the NAS affects the transcoding capability, and the memory affects the number of concurrent tasks.
| Purpose | CPU Recommendations | Memory Recommendations |
|---|---|---|
| File backup, photo management | Entry ARM processor | 1–2GB |
| Local 4K playback (direct playback) | Entry processor required | 2GB |
| 4K online transcoding (remote viewing on mobile phone) | Processor with hardware decoding | 4GB+ |
| Run Docker applications | Intel N5105 or above | 4–8GB |
| Multi-user concurrent + VM | Stronger processor | 8GB+ |
Key parameters: Hardware transcoding
- Some NAS processors support H.264/H.265 hardware decoding/encoding
- If you need to watch 4K videos remotely on your mobile phone, there will be lags without hardware transcoding (pure CPU software transcoding cannot keep up)
Network interface: Is Gigabit enough?
| Interface | Actual transmission rate | Suitable scenarios |
|---|---|---|
| Gigabit (1GbE) | ~100–110 MB/s | Daily backup, home use |
| 2.5GbE | ~280 MB/s | Multiple people can upload large files at the same time |
| 10GbE | ~1100 MB/s | Professional Studio |
Daily home use: Gigabit is enough. 4K clips read and write directly from NAS: 2.5G or 10G is smooth.
NAS dedicated hard drive vs ordinary hard drive
NAS needs to run 24×7 uninterruptedly and has higher requirements on hard disks:
| Features | Ordinary desktop disk | NAS dedicated disk |
|---|---|---|
| Operational design | Intermittent use | 24/7 continuous operation |
| Vibration compensation | None | Yes (hard disk vibrations interfere with each other in multi-disk systems) |
| Duty Cycle | Low | High |
| Mean Between Failures (MTBF) | Approximately 1 million hours | Approximately 1–2 million hours |
| Power consumption | Slightly lower | Slightly higher (higher cooling requirements) |
Recommendation: Use at least NAS-grade or surveillance-grade hard disks in the NAS. Ordinary desktop disks are prone to premature failure if they run in the NAS for a long time.
Shopping list
| Requirements | Recommended solutions |
|---|---|
| Personal photo backup | 2 drives, RAID 1, 2TB×2 |
| Home Media Center | 4 bays, RAID 5, 4TB×4, with hard drive CPU |
| Multi-person collaboration file sharing | 4–6 disk slots, 2.5G network port, 8GB memory |
| Complete private cloud | High-end NAS + UPS uninterruptible power supply |
*The parameter information in this article comes from NAS industry standards and technical documents and does not represent a recommendation for a specific brand or model. *