Don’t be tempted to rely solely on JBOD or RAID0 configurations, however: these offer more capacity, but lack fault tolerance – if one drive fails, all your data is lost. That way, if one drive fails, you’ll still have a copy of all your data. NAS drives all come with a different number of drive bays, with consumer models generally coming in one, two, three or four-bay variants.Ī sensible minimum is a two-bay system, using two matching hard disks in a mirrored RAID1 configuration. What type of NAS should I buy? And how many bays do I need? JBOD allows you to take drives of varying sizes and combine them into a single volume.Īll of the NAS drives on this list support JBOD and various RAID levels, from RAID 1 to RAID 10. JBOD: Just a Bunch Of Disks – no, seriously.

RAID: Redundant Array of Independent Disks – a method of storing the exact same data on multiple disks – in case of hardware/software failure – that also benefits performance.Storage manufacturer Seagate describes NAS as 'like having a private cloud in the office', and we think that's spot on. NAS: Network-Attached Storage – a storage device that is attached to a local network.READ NEXT: Best cloud storage solutions How to choose the best NAS drive for you What do all the acronyms mean?īefore we begin in earnest, here's a brief index of confusing acronyms and what they mean (for the newcomers out there): We're here to steer you towards the best NAS drives on the market right now, but before we do, here's a guide to unscrambling the acronyms and choosing the best NAS appliance for you. No matter what your needs, a NAS can help. Better still, modern NAS appliances can also run all sorts of useful network applications, from media servers to databases, wikis and security camera management systems. And, if one of your hard drives fails, it’s good to know that a multi-disk RAID array is keeping your data safe.

It ensures that you can access your data from wherever you happen to be, even if you’re out on the road, thanks to the easy-to-use remote-access services that come as standard. In most homes today you’ll find a plethora of desktops, laptops and mobile devices – so a central repository for your important files makes sense. But network-attached storage isn't just for big businesses. If you're a business owner, it makes perfect sense to invest in the best NAS drive you can afford.

Building a nas for mac