4 NAS devices for enterprises in 2025 and buying factors

Enterprise NAS device vendors to consider

While numerous enterprise NAS devices are available from vendors such as Dell and HPE, this article focuses on options from lesser-known brands. Here are some top picks.

Asustor

Asustor offers a variety of NAS appliances, many of which are geared toward home office use. Such appliances are useful to those who wish to create a media server or personal cloud or for users who simply need additional storage capacity and want something more sophisticated than consumer-grade external hard drives. The company also offers several appliances for small businesses and at least one NAS suitable for larger organizations.

The Asustor NAS of choice for enterprise environments is Lockerstor 16R Pro (AS7116RDX), which is available online for $4,999. This NAS appliance features a quad-core, ninth-generation Xeon CPU running at up to 4.6 GHz and four DDR4 slots that can be filled with error correction code (ECC) RAM. The NAS comes with 8 GB of ECC RAM and can accommodate up to 128 GB. The 3U chassis includes 16 3.5-inch drive bays that can accommodate both HDD and SSD storage, as well as two additional NVMe ports that can accommodate M.2 SSDs for SSD caching.

Asustor Lockerstor 16R Pro natively includes four 1 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports. Users requiring greater levels of throughput can take advantage of the appliance's two Gen 3 x4 PCIe slots and one x8 slot. These ports can add SAS storage support and install 10 GbE, 25 GbE, 40 GbE or 50 GbE network adapters.

QNAP

Like other vendors, QNAP offers a variety of enterprise-grade NAS appliances ranging from all-flash appliances to dual-controller NAS devices. One of the company's more capable NAS appliances is its TS-h3087XU-RP. This storage device is a 4U rackmounted NAS that is available directly from QNAP for $7,999.

This NAS supports up to 128 GB of DDR4 ECC memory and a mixture of HDD and SSD storage. QNAP recommends this NAS for hosting file servers, VMs, backup repositories and VDI deployments.

QNAP offers TS-h3087XU-RP in a variety of hardware configurations. It's equipped with an eight-core Intel Xeon E-2378 CPU running at up to 4.8 GHz. The appliance includes four slots for DDR4 ECC memory with each slot able to accommodate up to 32 GB. Other noteworthy hardware features include dual 10 GbE and dual 2.5 GbE connectivity. An optional 25 Gbe adapter can be installed into one of the appliance's three PCIe 4.0 slots.

QNAP rounds out the TS-h3087XU-RP with redundant power supplies and an HDMI port. The appliance features 24 3.5-inch SATA 6 Gbps bays for HDDs or SSDs and six 2.5-inch SATA 6 Gbps SSD slots. Additionally, the appliance can be equipped with M.2 storage by way of an optional QM2 PCIe adapter.

Synology

Synology offers several different NAS devices, including all-flash arrays designed for scalability and those meant for general-purpose storage. One of its more noteworthy NAS appliances is RackStation RS4021xs+, which is available from several websites for $5,399.99.

RackStation RS4021xs+ delivers performance and scalability. The 3U rackmounted appliance is equipped with an Intel Xeon D-1541 eight-core processor running at up to 2.7 GHz. It is natively equipped with 16 GB of DDR4 ECC RAM, but it can accommodate up to 64 GB. The appliance includes 16 drive bays supporting both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drives, but it can expand to 40 drive bays through the company's RX1217RP expansion unit. Additionally, the unit's two PCIe Gen 3 x8 slots can each accommodate an NVMe M.2 SSD that can act as an SSD cache.

RackStation was designed with data availability in mind. The appliance includes redundant power supplies. Two appliances can be linked together to create a Synology High Availability cluster that supports minute-level failover times. Network connectivity is supported through four 1 GbE ports and two 10 GbE ports, both of which include failover support. There are also two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and two InfiniBand ports. It is possible to add a 25 Gbe port by way of a PCIe expansion card.

TerraMaster

TerraMaster also tends to focus primarily on home users and small businesses. However, the company offers several enterprise-grade NAS appliances, such as U24-722-2224, a 24-bay rackmounted appliance that can accommodate HDD and SSD storage. This storage device is available directly from Terramaster for $5,999.

U24-722-2224 is equipped with a quad-core Intel Xeon E-2224G processor running at up to 4.7 GHz. As an alternative, some models feature the Intel Xeon E-2244G CPU running at up to 4.8 GHz. The appliance's four DDR4 slots come preconfigured with 8 GB of non-ECC memory but can accommodate up to 128 GB RAM. ECC RAM is not supported.

The appliance has four 1 GbE ports, as well as a PCIe Gen 3 x8 expansion port that can install higher-speed network adapters. The unit also features two USB 3.0 ports and four USB 2.0 ports.

TerraMaster supports link aggregation for its built-in ports to enable greater throughput than a 1 GbE port can provide. The link aggregation feature ensures the appliance can maintain network connectivity even if one port fails. In addition, reliability can be achieved through an optional redundant power supply and by combining two units into an active/passive cluster.

NAS buying considerations

Users should consider several factors when evaluating NAS devices.

Type of usage

Not all NAS appliances are suitable for enterprise use, as many are designed specifically for consumers or small businesses. Similarly, some systems are designed more for media streaming or for use with surveillance cameras than for general use. Consider your specific needs when selecting an appliance. A small business NAS may be fine for a remote or branch office, but it's probably not appropriate for an enterprise data center.

Capacity

You can get a basic idea of the amount of storage space NAS systems provide by counting the number of drive bays. Consider other factors, however. For example, some appliances place limits on single drive capacity, meaning you can only install drives up to a certain size. Likewise, some vendors may only allow you to install their own brand of drives, which may limit your options.

Some appliances contain additional storage options. For example, many appliances contain M.2 slots that can accommodate NVMe drives. These slots are rarely included in the drive bay count. While some NAS appliances enable use of M.2 drives as raw storage, others treat the M.2 drives as a storage cache.

Some manufacturers may also reserve some of their drive bays for data caching. If a NAS appliance is designed primarily to work with HDD storage, the manufacturer may intend for a small number of drive bays to be used as an SSD cache. For example, there are NAS appliances with 18 3.5-inch drive bays for general-purpose storage that include six additional 2.5-inch bays for cache storage. Cache storage isn't usually included in an appliance's usable capacity. Reserving drive bays for cache storage reduces the number of bays that could be used for normal data storage.

Performance

In some ways, NAS performance is like PC performance. Faster processors and large amounts of memory generally equate to better overall performance. It's important to ensure the appliance can use ECC memory, which helps to reduce data integrity errors.

CPU and memory resources aren't the only factors that affect an appliance's performance. The types of disks supported also play a big role. SSDs are faster than HDDs, but there's more to it than that. Some NAS appliances use SSDs to cache reads/writes to improve overall performance. From a performance standpoint, it's important to spread the cache across multiple SSDs because it enables the NAS to benefit from the combined performance of all the cache drives.

Connectivity

Network connectivity plays a huge role in overall NAS performance. Often, it's network connectivity -- not the NAS itself -- that limits overall performance. Simply put, a slow network connection can become a major bottleneck that limits appliance performance.

Nearly any NAS includes GbE ports. In some cases, these ports can be aggregated to enable them to collectively act as a multi-GbE port. However, it's usually better to use true high-speed connectivity rather than create a fast link out of several slow links. Having one or more 10 GbE ports is a good starting point, but some appliances support even faster links.

Nearly every NAS appliance contains USB ports. These ports can sometimes connect a keyboard and mouse, but they usually attach external storage.

Form factor

Most enterprise-grade appliances are designed to be rackmounted and adhere to 1U, 2U, 3U or 4U standards. Some NAS appliances aren't meant for rack use, however. Even so, most rack manufacturers offer rackmounted shelves that can accommodate non-rackmountable hardware. That hardware must not exceed the rack's dimensions or the shelf's rated weight capacity.

Ease of use

NAS appliances use a built-in OS and a collection of integrated management tools. These resources are almost always proprietary, and some vendors' OSes and management tools are easier to use than others. Ensure the appliance isn't excessively difficult to set up, manage and maintain.

Security

NAS appliances almost always contain sensitive data. At a minimum, use a strong encryption algorithm, such as 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard, to prevent data leakage if NAS drives are stolen. Also, look for other basic security standards, such as HTTPS and multifactor authentication.

Reliability

NAS reliability often depends on how NAS disks are configured, using, for example, RAID 5, RAID 6 and hot spares.

Other factors that improve overall NAS reliability include the use of redundant hardware, such as redundant power supplies and network ports. Some NAS appliances also replicate data from one appliance to another to enable the secondary appliance to take over if the primary appliance fails. If you are replicating data between appliances, ensure a dedicated, high-speed connection exists between the two appliances. Otherwise, replication traffic reduces the network bandwidth available for general-purpose traffic.

Remote access

Most enterprise NAS appliances support remote management by way of an HTTPS interface. This typically means reserving one of the appliance's network adapters for management use and connecting it to your management network. This approach prevents management traffic from adversely affecting performance. It also improves security, since you aren't mixing management traffic and storage traffic on the same network.

Drive compatibility

Before you select a NAS appliance, check what types of drives it supports. Specifically, consider the following:

• Form factor, such as 2.5-inch, 3.5-inch and M.2.
• Type, such as SATA and SAS.
• Media type, such as SSD and HDD.

Beyond that, consider capacity limits and support requirements. Some vendors only enable drives with a certain capacity, such as 10 TB or smaller. Similarly, a vendor may only support certain makes or models of drives. You might, for instance, be required to use Western Digital drives or risk voiding the appliance's warranty.

Cost

The cost of NAS devices is usually far less than the cost of the disks that are installed in the appliance -- most NAS appliances do not include disks. Additionally, it is sometimes possible to upgrade a NAS device with additional memory, faster networking or a high-speed cache. Factor such upgrades into the price, along with any required licenses.

Editor's note: This article was updated in December 2024 to provide new information on the products and improve the reader experience.

Brien Posey is a former 22-time Microsoft MVP and a commercial astronaut candidate. In his more than 30 years in IT, he has served as a lead network engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense and a network administrator for some of the largest insurance companies in America.