Want help finding the best NAS drive? This guide will help you choose the right one, and show you the best prices. But, first, what is a NAS drive?
Network attached storage (also know as NAS) allows your entire photo and video collection to be stored in one physical location in your home or studio, just like a conventional external hard drive. But the beauty of NAS is that this drive also has a network connection, allowing it to be linked via your internet router to your home network and the web. NAS drives are also loaded with a simple computer operating system, allowing you to browse their file contents, view photos and videos, all from a remote location.
Like the sound of a NAS drive? There's just one (rather important) thing you should know. NAS drives are often sold without any actual hard disks inside. The idea is you fit your own so you can choose the right amount of storage space to suit your needs and budget. In this case, we recommend spending a bit more on heavy duty hard drives specifically targeted at NAS storage, such as Seagate's IronWolf range and WD's Red drives.
Best overall
Some NAS drives can be intimidating if you're new to the NAS game, filled with advanced features you'll likely never need. The beauty of the WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra is how easy it is to set up and use, with no unnecessary or confusing initial settings. Read more below
Easiest to use
WD has realized that NAS storage certainly doesn't have to be a gadget for geeks and computer tech guys, as the My Cloud Home is as effortlessly easy to get up and running as you could wish for. Just link it to your Wi-Fi. Read more below
Best for pros
If you’re after a feature-rich NAS storage solution, this is a great investment. It comes with two drive bays to allow you to use dual hard drives in a RAID array of your choice, and there’s loads of apps available to make use of its features. Read more below
Best media features
Synology has a reputation for producing pro-level NAS devices, but the DiskStation DS223 is a much more accessible option for amateur photographers. It lets you automatically upload photos and videos you take straight to the DiskStation. Read more below
Best value
This drive has two drives, with options for RAID drive mirroring, giving you extra data security in the unlikely event of hard disk failure. It also offers easy automatic backup for PCs and Apple Time Machine compatibility, and the drive is DLNA Certified. Read more below
Best storage
If you’re a professional photographer and you hold a lot of photographs or videos for clients, the Synology DiskStation DS1522+ can be expanded to accommodate up to 15 drives, so you can grow it alongside your business. Read more below
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Best NAS drive overall
1. WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra NAS drive
The best NAS drive for first-timers
Specifications
Capacity: 4TB, 8TB, 12TB, 16TB
Interface: Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0
Features: Remote file access, RAID features, My Cloud OS 3 software
Reasons to buy
+
Easy to set up
+
Dual core CPU
+
Dual bay for RAID setups
Reasons to avoid
-
Operating system is simplistic
-
Lack of app support
Some NAS drives can be intimidating if you're new to the NAS game, filled with advanced features you'll likely never need. The beauty of the WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra is how easy it is to set up and use, with no unnecessary or confusing initial settings to navigate.
To be clear, this a complete NAS unit. In other words, it includes pre-installed hard drives, the operating system, and the hardware itself. It's a self-contained solution for network storage.
If you do want to get more techy, the drive also boasts RAID capabilities. This allows you to configure the two hard disks within to operate in parallel, so two copies of your files are automatically stored, one copy on each disk. That means in the unlikely event of one hard disk failing, the other has a copy of your files.
Accessing and storing files from a remote location is also no problem as the built-in software allows you to use the drive as an FTP server, and the drive can be set to make automatic backups.
NAS (network attached storage) made as simple as possible
Specifications
Capacity: 2TB, 3TB 4TB, 6TB, 8TB
Interface: USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet
Features: Remote file access, DLNA, iTunes Server
Reasons to buy
+
Easy to set up
+
Very good price
Reasons to avoid
-
No RAID options
-
'Only' 8TB max capacity
WD has realized that NAS storage certainly doesn't have to be a gadget for geeks and computer tech guys, as the My Cloud Home is as effortlessly easy to get up and running as you could wish for. Just link it to your home Wi-Fi and you've got a centralized storage drive accessible from computers, laptops and smart devices around your home, or from anywhere with an internet connection.
The drive can be configured so multiple trusted users can have there own private storage space, and you can stream videos from the drive using Google Chromecast, Sonos and Plex.
Capacities vary from 2TB to 8TB, and all options are very competitively priced. The single hard drive configuration also results in a slim, space-saving design that'll easily sit on your desk, taking up little more room than a conventional external hard drive. The only downside with this single-drive solution is there are no RAID features for duplicating files across two hard disks for extra safety in the event of drive failure. But if that's a problem, consider the bulkier dual-drive WD My Cloud Home Duo which also adds 12, 16 and 20GB capacity options.
Features: Remote file access, HDMI out, 4K media transcoding, DLNA
Reasons to buy
+
Powerful hardware
+
Loads of features
Reasons to avoid
-
Does not come with hard drives installed
-
Cost of hard drives adds to cost
If you’re after a feature-rich NAS storage solution that will do a brilliant job of safely storing your photos and videos, while also allowing you to access and share them online, then the QNAP TS-253E NAS drive is a great investment. It comes with two drive bays to allow you to use dual hard drives in a RAID array of your choice, and there’s loads of apps available to make use of its features.
You can access your photos from the QNAP TS-253E NAS drive on your smartphone using the QPhotos app, and you can easily set it up so that your PC or Mac sees the QNAP TS-253E NAS drive as if it was a hard drive installed in the PC itself – which makes saving and editing your photos direct from this NAS device incredibly easy.
This drive doesn’t come with hard drives installed, however. It’s easy enough to add your own – and means you can pick drives that suit your needs and budget – but you’ll need to factor in the additional cost.
Synology has a reputation for producing top quality, pro-level NAS devices more suited to business use than in the home, but the DiskStation DS223 is a much more accessible option for amateur photographers. It can be accessed from virtually any device - PC, Mac, Chromebook, Android or iOS - and you get fast photo indexing with the option to automatically upload photos and videos you take straight to the DiskStation - it's your own private cloud storage.
Though pricier than some entry-level NAS devices on this list, the DS223 adds value with a generous 2GB of DDR4 RAM, a 1.7GHz quad-core processor, RAID capability and hardware data encryption.
Just bear in mind that you'll need to factor in the extra cost of two hard disks to make the DS223 operational.
Buffalo's dual-drive LinkStation 220 will cost you little more than a more basic single-drive NAS, but with two drives inside comes options for RAID drive mirroring, giving you extra data security in the unlikely event of hard disk failure.
And the features don't stop there. There's easy automatic backup for PCs and Apple Time Machine compatibility, and the drive is DLNA Certified so it can be used as an iTunes media server.
But the standout feature is its built-in BitTorrent client that'll allow you to download and upload without needing to use your computer. 2TB, 4TB, 6TB and 8TB capacities are available, with the 8TB model making the most sense for long-term storage, and it's the best value.
Drives are extra cost (though sometimes included in a bundle)
If you’re a professional photographer that runs a studio or business and you hold a lot – and we mean a lot – of photographs or videos for clients, then the Synology DiskStation DS1522+ NAS drive is an ideal investment. It’s a powerful – and fast – NAS device that will allow you to store and edit photographs remotely.
It can be expanded with the two DX517 expansion units to accommodate up to 15 drives, so you can grow the Synology DiskStation DS1522+ alongside your business. What's more, there are two dedicated M.2 SSD slots which can be used to boost the responsiveness and application performance of the data center.
While its impressive specs are good for pro users, if you’re a casual photographer, this is likely overkill.
Some of the NAS drives above will not come supplied with the actual 3.5in hard drives that you need. We'd recommend using heavy-duty models, designed specifically for NAS use. These are the top two options we'd consider, offering a good combination of robustness and value.
We'll start with our top pick overall. The Seagate IronWolf Pro is a high-end NAS hard disk drive with solid all-around performance, a strong five-year warranty plus three years of data recovery service, and competitive pricing per TB. It uses 7200 RPM spindle speed, 256MB cache, and CMR technology to deliver good transfer rates up to 255 MB/s.
Overall, it competes well against the Western Digital Red Pro below, offering similar performance but with better warranty and data recovery support. This is a good option if you need high capacity drives, with Seagate's software tools providing extra health monitoring and recovery capabilities. Overall, we feel this device offers the best blend of performance, warranty, data recovery services, and pricing per TB available today.
The WD Red Pro is a worthy alternative to the Seagate IronWolf Pro above. Harnessing WD's OptiNAND technology, it combines mechanical and flash storage to achieve high capacity CMR drives up to 22TB. It boasts nine platters at 2.2TB each, with metadata stored on 64GB of onboard SanDisk 3D NAND flash. This allows higher capacities than conventional drives.
Performance is impressive, meeting standard NAS drive metrics, with a 512MB DRAM cache. The onboard software includes a dashboard utility and Acronis backup, but lacks data recovery services.
Pricing per TB is not quite as good value as the Seagate IronWolf Pro, but still competitive for this high capacity range. And on the plus side, it's cooler and quieter in use than the former, so if you hate being distracted by background noise, this is the better pick.
A NAS drive, short for Network-Attached Storage, is basically a big box of hard drives that connects to your network and allows you to store and access your data from multiple devices on your network.
Why use a NAS drive?
With cloud storage becoming ever cheaper and more capacious, you may be wondering why you'd choose NAS drive over online file storage. Well, NAS can be more cost-effective over the long term, especially if you need more than 2TB of storage. Then there's the issue of uploading large files to cloud storage, which can be tediously slow on some ADSL internet connections. And of course, with a NAS drive, there are no monthly cloud storage fees to worry about.
Are NAS drives secure?
Yes. Of course security is paramount with such an accessible device, so you'll need your own login details in order to access the drive remotely, but these credentials can be given to trusted friends and family members if you want to share certain photos and videos.
Choosing the right NAS drive depends on your needs. Consider storage space: how much data do you need now, and will you need more in the future? For multiple users or frequent file access, prioritize speed with faster processors and multiple ethernet ports. RAID protects against drive failure, but adds complexity. For backups, focus on capacity and reliability. Look for NAS drives compatible with NAS-designed hard drives for better performance and lifespan. Finally, choose features like media streaming or app support based on what you'll use the NAS drive for.
To find the top NAS drives, we follow a multi-step process. First, we set up the NAS with industry-standard hard drives in RAID configurations. Then, we connect it to a test server using ethernet to assess raw performance with benchmark tools. Real-world speed is measured by copying large files and folders to and from the NAS, testing both regular and encrypted transfers. Finally, we evaluate features such as media streaming, app support, and ease of use.
Ben is the Imaging Labs manager, responsible for all the testing on Digital Camera World and across the entire photography portfolio at Future. Whether he's in the lab testing the sharpness of new lenses, the resolution of the latest image sensors, the zoom range of monster bridge cameras or even the latest camera phones, Ben is our go-to guy for technical insight. He's also the team's man-at-arms when it comes to camera bags, filters, memory cards, and all manner of camera accessories – his lab is a bit like the Batcave of photography! With years of experience trialling and testing kit, he's a human encyclopedia of benchmarks when it comes to recommending the best buys.
