Best NAS hard drive of 2023
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Welcome to our pick of the best NAS hard drives. A large, fast, dependable hard drive is essential if you have a network-attached storage device.
No matter how much you spend on a NAS device, if the hard drive (or, more commonly now, SSD) in it isn’t up to scratch, you could be facing wasted money and, worse, lost or damaged files.
So, how do you pick the best NAS drive for your needs? First of all, you need to think about what you need. Is speed the most important thing? Or would you rather have the largest capacity you can afford to save all your documents?
How about a mega cache – or vibration protection? These are just some considerations when checking out the best NAS hard drives.
To help you choose, our pick of the best NAS hard drive for small business and home office environments can be found below. And with our built-in price comparison tool, you can shop safely, knowing you’re getting the best price.
Check out our best NAS devices and our best cloud storage and best cloud backup providers to complement your 1-2-3 backup strategy.
Backup your NAS drive with cloud storage
IDrive, the cloud backup veteran, delivers tons of storage online for an incredibly small outlay. 10TB for $3.98 for the first year is unmatched till now and so is the support for unlimited devices and the extensive file versioning system available.
The best NAS hard drives
Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB (Image credit: Seagate Technology LLC)
1. Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB
Oodles of storage for the network
Specifications
Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 4 – 20TB
Cache: 256MB
RPM: 7200
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
High storage capacity
+
Modest price increase for 20TB version
Reasons to avoid
–
300TB/y workload
Amazingly, cramming ten 2TB platters and 20 heads into a 3.
5-inch drive package is possible. But Seagate achieved this using CMR technology and replacing the atmosphere inside the drive with Helium.
On the plus side of this equation, the new IronWolf Pro 20TB is 2TB bigger than the 18TB model, about 25MB/s faster at reading and writing, and it’s more power-efficient. All these advantages come at a price that is only marginally more than the 18TB option. So it’s a no-brainer for commercial and enterprise NAS to support the needs of creative professionals and large businesses, indeed?
The blot on this landscape is the yearly workload limit of 300TB, which could quickly be eaten by regular integrity testing, not to mention actual use. With data center drives offering 550TB workload limits at a very similar price and nearly identical performance, the IronWolf Pro might not be the best drive for the job, depending on your NAS profile.
Read the full review: Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB
Western Digital Red NAS Hard Disk Drive (Image credit: Western Digital)
2.
Western Digital Red
A simple hard disk focused on maximising storage space
Specifications
Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 2 – 6TB
Cache: 64MB
RPM: 5400
Warranty: 3 years
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Large capacity hard drive
+
Performs better than rival 4TB models
Reasons to avoid
–
Average multi-drive small block sequential transfer speeds
It was only a few years ago that Western Digital’s 6TB NAS was the pack leader, offering more storage space than you could get from competing models. While that’s no longer the case, it’s still a unit with capacious storage space. Designed for businesses and consumers, it offers fast performance, especially in multi-drive environments with strong large-block sequential read and write speeds.
WD Gold 4TB Enterprise Class Hard Disk Drive (Image credit: Western Digital)
3. WD Gold 4TB Enterprise Class
The best 12TB NAS hard drive deal around
Specifications
Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 1 – 22TB
Cache: 128MB
RPM: 7200
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Excellent performance
+
Smartly priced
Reasons to avoid
–
Support is not as robust as rivals’
If your business requires storing large files (or just lots of them), WD’s Gold series stretches to a massive 12TB.
And they boast some exciting traits: not least being filled with helium to protect tiny components inside that can become damaged by atmospheric turbulence. It’s on par with Seagate’s 12TB offerings regarding reading and write performance and offers many of its rival drives’ features at no extra cost.
WD Red Pro WD6003FFBX 6TB (Image credit: Western Digital)
4. WD Red Pro WD6003FFBX 6TB
Comes packed with useful features
Specifications
Interface: SATA 6Gbps
Capacity: 2 – 22TB
Cache: 256MB
RPM: 7200
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Great performance
+
Highly reliable
Reasons to avoid
–
10TB drive is quite loud
WD’s Red Pro continues the company’s mantra of offering affordable and reliable storage that reduces the total cost of ownership. It packs 3D Active Balance Plugs tech, which is said to improve the over-drive performance and reliability significantly. That’s in addition to NASware tech, designed to improve reliability and system performance, reduce downtime and simplify the integration process while offering robust data protection.
Seagate EXOS 20TB (Image credit: Seagate Inc.)
5. Seagate EXOS 20TB
An Enterprise-class 20TB NAS drive
Specifications
Interface: 6Gbps SATA / 12GB/s SAS
Capacity: 18TB, 20TB
Cache: 256MB
RPM: 7200
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Affordable
+
550TB/y workload
Reasons to avoid
–
Regular integrity tests could exceed workload
Another Seagate drive with ten 2TB platters in the classic 3.5-inch form factor to sit alongside the new IronWolf Pro 20TB. The only significant difference on the outside is that the EXOS comes in a SAS flavor in addition to a conventional SATA variety model.
The EXOS drive beats the IronWolf Pro with a workload limit of 550TB, a significant improvement over the 300TB of its brother mechanism. These are the same workload limits as the Western Digital UltraStar DC HC560 20TB and WD Gold 20TB.
Tuned for data center use, the EXOS 20TB is designed for high-capacity servers, enterprise NAS systems, and bulk storage.
While the cost is higher than the 18TB models, it is slightly faster and offers enhanced rack space efficiency. Until the rumored microwave-assisted switching (MAS-MAMR) drives come along, the EXOS 20TB is as big a hard drive as you can buy.
Read the full review: Seagate EXOS 20TB
Frequently Asked Questions
What is bits per cell?
From SSD and memory specialist Silicon Power, Anthony Spence answers this question.
Flash memory cells are the basic building blocks of NAND Flash. Data is stored as bits in the cells, the bits represent an electrical charge contained within the cell that can be readily switched on and off by means of an electrical charge. Adding bits to the cell increases the number of states a cell can have, thereby exponentially increasing its capacity.
Additionally, the number of bits a cell contains serves as one of the primary ways to classify NAND Flash:
Single-Level Cell (SLC): They can only store one bit per cell and take up to two levels of charge.
SLC NAND offers the highest performance, reliability and endurance (up to 100K P/E (program/erase) cycles). However, the memory density is the lowest among the variants and the price per GB is considerably higher than the other types. SLC is only available in 2D format and mostly used in enterprise setups.
Multi-Level Cell (MLC): MLC takes up to 2-bits per cell and four levels of charge. Available both in 2D and 3D variants, MLC offers good performance, reliability and endurance at a cheaper price than SLC. 3D NAND variants can reach P/E cycles in the range of 30K.
Triple-Level Cell (TLC): TLC stores 3-bits per cell for up to eight levels of charge. Commonly used for consumer grade products, TLC has a lower performance, reliability and endurance to the previous two. However a cheaper price and higher memory density make up for the drop in performance. The 3D variant can reach up to 3K P/E cycles.
Quadruple-Level Cell (QLC): Similarly to TLC, QLC is also commonly found in consumer grade products.
5) levels, PLC is expected to knock down HDD’s last line of defense, namely high storage capacity at affordable prices. PLC will ease the production of high capacity low cost SSDs; however the drawbacks in terms of endurance, speed and reliability found in QLC will still persist.
What are the benefits of using a NAS hard drive?
There are several benefits to using a NAS hard drive, including the ability to access and share stored data from any device on the same network, automatic data backup, and improved data security. NAS hard drives also offer the convenience of being able to access stored data remotely, as long as you have an internet connection.
How do I choose the best NAS hard drive?
When selecting a NAS hard drive, it is important to consider the capacity, speed, and connectivity options that best meet your needs. Larger capacity hard drives can store more data, while faster hard drives can improve data transfer speeds. It is also important to consider the connectivity options, such as whether the hard drive supports Ethernet or WiFi, as well as the type of data interface (e.
g. USB, SATA).
Can I use a NAS hard drive as a primary storage device?
While NAS hard drives can be used as a primary storage device, they are typically used as an additional storage option or for file sharing. They may not be suitable for use as a primary storage device for larger files or for high-performance applications, as they may not have the same level of speed and performance as a local hard drive.
Can I use my NAS hard drive for backup purposes?
Yes, many NAS hard drives offer automatic backup capabilities, allowing you to easily and securely store important data as a backup. Some NAS hard drives also offer cloud backup options, allowing you to store data
Round up of today’s best deals
Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB
$339.99
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See all prices
Western Digital Red 6TB
$160.19
View
See all prices
WD Gold 8TB
$276.45
View
See all prices
WD Red Pro WD6003FFBX 6TB
$179.
99
View
See all prices
Seagate EXOS 20TB
$349.99
$329.99
View
See all prices
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Collin is the B2B Hardware Editor for TechRadar Pro. He has been in journalism for years, with experience in small and large markets, including Gearadical, DailyBeast, FutureNet, and more.
Collin is an experienced individual who has an abundance of knowledge when it comes to all things professional hardware. He is the go-to subject matter expert for TechRadar Pro and focuses on standing desks, office chairs, business laptops, “pro” monitors, and other similar topics. With his in-depth understanding of these areas, Collin can provide invaluable insights and advice to readers looking to make informed decisions about their hardware investments.
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NAS Hard Drives (HDD) | Cheap NAS Drives / Storage
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What is a NAS hard drive?
If you’re running a business or an organisation, then it is almost certain that you will need a NAS hard drive at some point.
But what exactly is a NAS drive?
Network Attached Storage is essentially an external device, like a USB stick or portable external hard drive, which is connected via a wired or wireless network connection. Unlike those types of storage, however, a NAS HDD can be accessed by any compatible device within a local area network, allowing a user to easily access the files stored on it.
How will my business benefit from a NAS drive?
If you need somewhere to store files and documents, perhaps in an attempt to clear up space on local SSDs that are becoming overloaded, a NAS HDD with multiple drives makes for the perfect wirelessly connected hard drive. Whether you’re backing up data or freeing up space, NAS is a great option for expanding your businesses storage with minimal effort and expenditure.
Small businesses can especially benefit from the use of NAS drives because multiple people will be able to manage, store, and back up files from a single location instead of spreading data out across all of the devices in the workplace.
It is much easier for a single worker to access multiple files related to one project or job when they’re stored in a centralised location, rather than on multiple computers.
Do NAS drives feature security options?
Many NAS drives feature encryption for disk volumes. This adds another layer of security to your professional digital environment. If, for example, an employee’s laptop is lost or stolen, it won’t have any sensitive files, documents, or data stored on it. Instead, everything is kept secure and separate on your NAS drive. It’s much easier to keep control of one NAS than multiple computers.
Is using a NAS drive better than the cloud?
While cloud storage can be useful for having access to important files from absolutely anywhere, it’s sometimes not the most efficient or reliable solution for online storage. It can be slow and is generally restricted to a single account or users. Access to the cloud is bound by transfer speeds, which are limited by your internet plan, bandwidth usage, and even the cloud service itself.
NAS drives, on the other hand, only require you to be in the vicinity of the drive and have access to an internet connection in order to access it, giving you ready access to the data stored on it.
Can I use a NAS hard drive as a regular hard drive?
All NAS drives are designed to be left on for extended periods of time. In fact, in many ways a NAS drive is better than an internal HDD as you don’t need to worry about wires getting in the way or finding space besides your computer to store an external HDD. NAS drives can even be used on the go, in many ways making them better than their wired portable counterparts. Whether you’re working or gaming, a NAS drive can do both flawlessly.
What is the best NAS hard drive?
It’s difficult to say what the best hard drive for NAS is. It largely depends on what you’re looking for. NAS drives can store a huge amount of data, anywhere from 1Tb up to 4TB and above. Each drive model will come with differing spindle speeds, with most drives operating at 3.
5″, though some of the smaller form 2.5″ drives are available if required.
All that being said, for the best NAS drives, you can’t go wrong with models from either Western Digital or Seagate. Both companies offer a vast array of NAS drives, with some having over 16TB of storage.
Whether you’re after one or multiple NAS Hard Drives, you’ll be able to find exactly what you need right here at Ebuyer. We stock a large selection of NAS Hard Drives, and you can choose from reputable manufacturers such as Western Digital, Seagate, and Toshiba.
Order your hard drive today and take advantage of the low prices and fast delivery available from Ebuyer. To learn more about hard drives in general, you can visit our blog.
What is NAS? | QNAP
Beginner’s Guide:
What is a NAS?
A modern NAS is:
NAS (Network-attached Storage) or a network drive is a device primarily for secure storage of files: photos, videos, music or any other documents.
Access to information on the NAS is possible from mobile devices and any computers. The NAS lets you conveniently share files with anyone and even share your device with people you trust and allow them to access certain files and folders.
Compared with cloud services, NAS has a huge number of functions and provides more opportunities for organization and convenience of working with data. Let’s look at all these benefits..
1 Independent storage
The NAS is capable of storing large amounts of data of any type and working around the clock. Storage capacity depends on the number and capacity of hard disk drives (HDD) or solid state drives (SSD) installed, and the selected JBOD or RAID disk configuration. The NAS does not require monthly fees for the amount of data stored on it, unlike cloud services, but it provides more ways to access data.
2 Data backup
Important data from any of your devices can be manually or automatically backed up to the NAS.
The QNAP NAS has a “NetBak Replicator” utility for this task. If additional protection is required, data can also be stored on portable USB drives and flash drives connected to the NAS, or even in the “clouds” that the NAS can handle.
3 Convenient sharing
By the way, NAS is also a cloud in a sense, only your own cloud! You can independently manage its entire capacity, and, if desired, share a part with other users. Your family, friends and colleagues will also be able to save their data on it and easily share and sync files between devices even with different operating systems such as Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. For example, in order to share an album of photos, you just need to generate a link for it and send it by mail or through any messenger.
4 Single point management
Data on the NAS will always be at hand when working on a computer from home – just go to the NAS through the network environment or connect any of its folders as a network drive.
The connection can be made both by means of the computer’s operating system, and using the free Qfinder Pro utility.
And even while on the road or on vacation, you can always have remote access to your drive through an Internet browser, mobile applications or the myqnapcloud.com service. To do this, you need to install the ‘myQNAPcloud Link’ qpkg application from the drive’s App Center and create an account or link an existing Google account.
5 Security
Your personal Security Counselor, from the QNAP NAS Application Center, will constantly monitor the level of protection of the NAS, make recommendations and report any vulnerabilities, for example, if it detects that you have set a password that is too simple to access or does not configured IP filtering.
What is QTS?
Any network drive has an operating system – QNAP calls it QTS and turns the NAS not only into a data storage, but also a full-fledged computer.
QTS offers more options than a public cloud or an external hard drive because you can customize your NAS to suit your needs.
Our operating system is regularly updated to provide you with the most up-to-date applications and improve storage security.
Why NAS is needed
Demanded tasks that QNAP drives solve.
Photo Archive
Free up space on your smartphone or tablet by synchronizing your media files with your storage device. Place images from your camera on the NAS as well. All photos will be available at any time on your computer, smartphone or other device. In addition to centralized storage, QNAP applications make it easy to find and access files, and automatically catalog them based on image recognition algorithms.
Video library
Build a video library and watch movies, series and your own recordings on TVs, computers and mobile devices in the right resolution and share them with family and friends.
Music Collection
The Music Station app lets you organize your music archive, add lyrics and ratings, share your collections with family and friends, stream to network media players, and of course listen to your favorite tunes on your iOS mobile devices and Android.
Media Server
Stream music, photos, and videos from your NAS to a variety of playback devices such as Amazon Fire TV, DLNA-enabled players and TVs, Android TV, and more.
Multifunctional System
The potential of the QNAP NAS is virtually unlimited. You can use it as a professional IP video surveillance solution, your own cloud, a web server for website hosting, a platform for running containers and virtual machines at the same time.
Essential
The most important technology in any NAS.
RAID arrays
RAID technology reduces the risk of data loss by combining multiple physical hard drives into a single logical space. For fault-tolerant storage, RAID arrays with data redundancy are chosen, which protect against the failure of one or two hard drives, depending on the level used. The QNAP NAS Setup Wizard will tell you the best RAID level for your device and the number of hard drives.
Remote access
Let the NAS be in your home, but you can access it from anywhere in the world via the Internet.
This can be done both with a direct connection to the Internet or through a home router with the appropriate settings, and through our cloud service myQNAPcloud, even with a gray IP address and without setting up a router.
Cross-platform storage
QNAP NAS supports all the most common file access protocols, such as SMB/CIF for Windows computers or AFP for Apple and others. For network devices, protocols are the instructions by which they send and receive data on the network.
Unique features of QNAP drives
Video transcoding
The transcoding function converts high-definition video files into the optimal format for viewing on a specific device, in order to simultaneously obtain optimal playback quality and reduce traffic.
Snapshots
Snapshots (or snapshots) are designed to protect data from accidental or intentional deletion, which save the state of files and folders at a certain point in time, similar to a real photo.
QNAP NAS allows you to take such snapshots and store them on a special section of the drive. You can enable a schedule for snapshots, clone them inside the NAS or copy them to other storages and, of course, restore the previous state of files or folders from them.
4 main differences between snapshots and regular backups:
-
Snapshots are faster than backups.
-
Snapshots save capacity because they only store a certain state of data, and backups require the same amount of space as the original information
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Snapshots are created at the block level and are protected from malware and blackmail.
-
Backups are made for a specific version of data, while snapshots can record a whole chain of versions of only specific changes. As a result, you can restore any file to the desired state in two clicks.
Large selection of PCIe expansion cards
A wide range of PCIe expansion cards allows you to add additional features and interfaces to your NAS to meet new needs.
Installing optional M.2 SSDs.
Client mode or creating an access point based on a wireless Wi-Fi adapter.
Increase network bandwidth to 5 or 10 Gbps.
How to choose a hard drive for NAS systems
- Computer store
- Blog
- HDDs and SSDs
- How to choose a hard drive for NAS systems
Article author: Sergey Koval
([email protected])
Published: 21 October 2019
Over the past few years, the network storage market has been growing rapidly. The market for NAS hard drives is also growing. Here, reliability and capacity are in the first place, and performance is already in the second place.
NAS drives are nothing like PC drives. They are a cross between server and budget models. They are not similar in terms of performance either: models of specialized hard drives do not differ in leading performance indicators. However, they are clearly faster than economical models, offering modest (by PC standards) power consumption, heat dissipation and noise.
Optimization for NAS is a set of technology solutions.
First of all, drives for NAS are focused on constant and round-the-clock work without interruptions . This results in their increased reliability – the declared lifetime of disks for NAS is about a third higher than that of conventional HDDs. In addition, NAS drives have a longer warranty, as their average lifespan is longer than conventional HDDs.
Second, NAS drives are designed to work in one cramped bin with several other similar drives. Therefore, they differ on the one hand with increased resistance to constant vibration , and on the other – have a better balance of .
Thirdly, drives for NAS are supplied with specialized firmware , which takes into account the peculiarities of working in such configurations.
The most important parameters in hard drives:
— Capacity : Varies from 1TB to 14TB. It depends on it how many files and what size can be placed on the hard drive.
— Rotational speed : 5400 or 7200 rpm (revolutions per minute). At first glance it seems that the faster the better. However, as the speed of rotation increases, the disk heats up more and becomes more noisy. 7200 rpm drives are versatile for most tasks, while 5400 rpm drives are suitable for file storage.
— Cache : acts as a buffer for storing intermediate data that has already been read from the hard disk, but has not yet been transferred for further processing, as well as for storing data that is accessed frequently by the system.
All models described below are made in format 3.5 and are equipped with a connection interface SATA III (6Gb / s) .
1TB
Seagate IronWolf ST1000VN002 and Western Digital Red WD10EFRX run at 5400rpm and have 64MB cache.
2TB
Seagate IronWolf ST2000VN004 and Western Digital Red WD20EFRX run at the same 5400rpm. Their cache size is 64MB.
The size of the cache memory differs Western Digital Red WD20EFAX – in this model it is 256MB.
The next two models run at a different speed – 7200rpm. These are Western Digital Red Pro WD2002FFSX and Seagate IronWolf Pro ST2000NE0025 models, their cache sizes are 64MB and 128MB respectively.
3TB
Seagate IronWolf ST3000VN007 and Western Digital Red WD30EFRX are less popular at 3TB: their rotation speed is 5400rpm, the cache size is 64MB.
4TB
Models of this size are more diverse, both in terms of rotation speed and cache memory size.
Seagate IronWolf ST4000VN008 and Western Digital Red WD40EFRX: 5400rpm rotation speed, 64MB cache size.
Seagate IronWolf Pro ST4000NE0025 and Toshiba N300 HDWQ140UZSVA: rotation speed – 7200rpm, cache size – 128MB.
Western Digital Red Pro WD4003FFBX: 7200rpm rotation speed, 256MB cache.
6TB
With a rotation speed of 5400rpm, one model of this volume works – Western Digital Red WD60EFAX.
Cache size 256MB.
All other models run at 7200rpm. They differ in the amount of cache memory:
– Toshiba N300 HDWN160UZSVA and HDWN160EZSTA – 128MB.
– Seagate IronWolf ST6000VN0033, IronWolf Pro ST6000NE0023 and Western Digital Red Pro WD6003FFBX – 256MB.
8TB
Most models of this size run at 7200rpm:
– Toshiba N300 HDWN180UZSVA – cache size 128MB.
– Seagate IronWolf ST8000VN004, ST8000VN0022 and Western Digital Red Pro WD8003FFBX – 256MB cache size.
Exception: Western Digital Red WD80EFAX. This model runs at 5400rpm and has a 256MB cache.
10TB
Toshiba N300 HDWG11AEZSTA 10TB, 7200rpm, 256MB cache.
Western Digital Red WD100EFAX 10TB, 5400rpm, 256MB cache.
Western Digital Red Pro WD101KFBX 10TB, 7200rpm, 256MB cache.
12TB
The cache memory of the next four models is 256MB. The difference is only in the rotation speed:
– Western Digital Red WD120EFAX – 5400rpm;
– Toshiba N300 HDWG21CUZSVA, Seagate IronWolf ST12000VN0008 and Western Digital Red Pro WD121KFBX – 7200rpm.