Best 4-Bay NAS of 2022/2023

[@cmpalmer]

Would love a guide to picking a first PLEX NAS in 2023. I'm convinced that I need transcoding, M.2 support, 2.5GBE, RAID. But many of the high end ones that would check these boxes seem to have features and software that I just don't need (ie. security camera support, etc). Really hard to decide if I should spend the money for features I don't need to get the hardware that I do.

[@bluebobx]

If you're hardware obsessed then I'm going to point at - because I wanted good hardware too - the "Value" choice here. I bought the Asustor LockerStor Gen 2 (AS6704) based on the good reviews here and haven't regretted it. Config I've got is 16gb memory (not a fun upgrade), 4 6tb IronWolf HDDs, 4 Samsung 980 1tb SSDs. HDDs are in raid 5 with an SSD cache, 3 SSDs in raid 5 for time machine for various Mac's. Mine's in a bedroom, so I'm also happy it's pretty quiet (and you can schedule times when the front panel goes dark). I miss SHR and DSM from my Synology , but ADM does the job I need it to. Plex, I started out using the Asustor package but moved to Plex's own - that's not a big overhead to do, and it works pretty well (no complaints from other members of the household). So kudos to Asustor, and to NAScompares for the recommendation.

Thx for the Video. I am looking into a NAS to save my youtube channel work and I think now I am a littel closer to a decision.

[@ZirbMonkey]

Really Appreciate this Channel! This has been my resource for building my PLEX NAS with a QNAP 464. As a never before NAS user, I got everything set up and working in a week of building. Your how-to videos with QNAP have been invaluable. Learning RAID structure, IP settings, and software ecosystem fixed a lot of my stress and troubleshooting. Thank you, and Cheers!

[@georgelett8317]

Can't wait for your QNAP TVS-HX74 reviews and breakdown, happy holidays Robbie.

[@garynagle3093]

Great top nas video. The QNAP ts464 sure looks like the one to get.

[@paulz4632]

Awesome to hear you calling out how 10Gbe is needed on anything other than the budget Nas's. I agree the Asustor Nas's are great value and there OS never fails not in 5 years have i had a clients Austor Nas Fail, where qnap and synology contantly require reboots every month to fix software issues. The only failure of Asustor is they dont have a Qmagie version for there photo manager.

[@ASUSTOR_YT]

Thank you for your support! We hear you loud and clear, AI is particularly difficult but we're working as hard was we can to find a way to implement it.

[@tobid9288]

As always a very good video! I only miss the hint that QNAP does not support something like SHR which is a real downside for me.

[@BenBen-eu5wx]

New to NAS. I’m just looking to back up family photos and videos. This still the best one out there overall or which is best for this now? Thank you!

[@marcinpazdro2579]

I've just finished setting up my TS-464. I purchased it already one week ego (i.e. before you have realised your video). The purchase was heavily impacted by your previous positive reviews, so I'm glad to see that it has ended up as the best all-rounder. I wanted to have both a back-up storage and a drive for video editing. So I fitted it with both some 3.5 drives, but also to 1TB SSDs. BlackMagic Drive Test gives me about 650 Mb/s write and 1050 read, which is more than enough for DaVinci 4K editing (the other component of the set-up are QNAP Thunderbird adapter, QNAP switch (the simplest one) and QNAP 2 port 10Gb/s ethernet card. For some other prospective user of similar set-up I rather recommend going for one port 10 Gb/s card (2 ports is fitted with fun which is very noisy) and some other fan-less Thunderbolt adapter (QNAP's 10 Gb has a fan - this one a surprise for me - which is unpleasantly high-pitched. Otherwise, extremely good KZbin channel on which I spent well to much time ( :) ). Thanks for doing this great job.

[@BrianThomas]

I really love your videos. Question: Do you have any videos that you talk about jut nas enclosures without the OS?

[@daveg4417]

I bought the Asustor AS6407T NAS recently. To me it was the best deal. I have it filled with two 1TB NVMe in RAID-1 and three 16TB HD in RAID-5. I also bumped it up to 8GB memory. The only thing I don't like about it is that the CPU runs at 60C idle.

[@XtianApi]

Hey, thanks! So between, not software polish, but software that would make an IT professional happy, I hear qnap is the way to go? Someone who wants the most raid info, etc. Thank you

[@km3481]

Great video. Wish I could afford the high end qnap, that one looks really nice...

[@SocialWorkProfessor]

Man that TS-464 is really something! She's a beauty! Talk about future proof! Again, experiencing QNAP envy. 🙂

[@km3481]

Go for it! You won't be disappointed...

[@SocialWorkProfessor]

@@km3481Nah. Too much time and money to migrate. I'm locked into Synology at this point. But, if I was buying my first NAS...

[@Tri-Technology]

@@SocialWorkProfessor That's my situation right now. I would like to go for synology, but the hardware makes it so hard for me to decide against QNAP..

[@SocialWorkProfessor]

@@Tri-Technology I understand that software is their strength, but they're just falling so far behind in the hardware that it's not enough.

[@PoppaCYS]

I'm so torn. I have a Synology 1512+ and 1813+ and I am considering upgrading to something that can transcode for plex. The newer Synology NASes are poor at transcoding but Synology DSM is great. QNAP and Asustor have much better hardware, but I've read their OS aren't anywhere close to DSM. I may wait to see what Synology has to offer for 2024.

[@SimpTote]

Nice. I've had my eye on that Gen2 Lockerstor. Might even get the 6 bay one. We shall see~

[@ASUSTOR_YT]

Feel free to ask questions if needed!

[@CarlosMartinez-mn4no]

I was looking to buy a QNAP TS-462-2G, but I see that you don't have any videos in which you talk about it. Is it a bad NAS? (Sorry for my poor English, I have to use Google translate)

[@АндрейИвшин-ф4г]

Спасибо за полезное видео и ваш труд!

[@kev2020-z9s]

what nas are the worst for not update the firmware to patch security problems. can you make a video rating them.

[@zalkindi]

Hi, the best NAS channel on KZbin. I'm hoping you can find the time to advise me please. I am looking to replace my ancient DROBO 5D (Firewire) with a NAS. I use it predomoinantly for 4K video editing on Davinci Resolve, photo editing on Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop on MAC. I am leaning towards the QNAP TS-664 or 464, or Sinology DS923+. The QNAP is attractive because of SHR but the QNAP beats it in everything else. Plex streaming is not essential for me since I can use my MacBook Pro to run it. I hope you can give me advice. Many thanks.

[@Lucaemar]

Hmm in my region the ts464 and asustor gen2 are the same price and I dont know which one to go for... Near identical specs, one looks better, the other has a little screen

[@marcopolo6668]

I'm still at a loss which model to replace my QNAP 469 pro, now 10 years old but doesn't want to install anything and I'm fed up with their support...I was all set for the Synology 923+ (interface looks great) until I read about the GPU (or lack of)...I want NVR, Webserver (mysql, php), Streaming...any suggestions?

[@engihabit]

Hi folks, If I have 5 h.d 2.5’ and I want them accessible through internet what is your suggestions 🙏

[@Solderwire]

I hope terra master spec the black case for the f4-423, i would get one, but i don't like the silver look..very 70's

[@silver33]

I don't know if you've ever talk about it on your channel. What UPS would you recommend a QNAP NAS? I don't know if you ever do testing on those. Thanks.

[@km3481]

I have a rackmount APC 1500, it is overkill but my power is very bad sometimes. It went off just a while ago, because the power jumped/dropped and it took care of it. Really need a UPS for raid systems and ssd tier/pool/cache. Hooked up to my 453E to shut it down after so long...

[@DrDGr2]

Noice! What would be your recommendations for a lower cost , 4-5 bays NAS that would be used only to backup (off site) my 1821? Thank YOU

[@chriscardwell3495]

Use old Synology Units the - 918+ and 916+ with hard drives passed down from the 1821 as your storage requirements increased . . . works for me ! The 1821 is my working volume (currently with 5 hard drives)

[@ojw629]

I am thinking of getting this 464 as my first ever attempt to do a NAS. My main goals would have photo/video and file backup with some good quality features that make it enjoyable to access. I might also dabble into video surveillance use. My question is what m.2 drives, memory, and 10g plus m.2 expansions do you recommend. And how would you configure the 4 m.2 drives? I want to build it right the first time and not have to worry about upgrading anything in the future.

[@ojw629]

Also use as plex/Emby server

[@km3481]

I went with all WD Red for my 453E, 4 WD red 4TB plus drives in raid 10 and 2 WD red nvme in raid 1 and they work perfect together. Went with QTier and so far it works perfectly, my one touch backups now take 1/4 the time. The 453E has 8gb of ddr 4 memory which is all I will ever need, so this device needed no extra dollars to make it usable. Upgraded the network to 2.5 gbe for just a few hundred dollars and loving the performance.

[@MarkConstable]

Can any of these NAS systems allow booting a custom linux OS (like Proxmox/Debian) from the internal drives and not just from USB?

[@robertw1880]

am unsure why not the TS-664, which looks virtually identical except 2 more bays. (i'm from way back i time when 1.6 _meg_ hard drives were a big deal and RLL was hot, like 40+ yrs ago) do enjoy your vid's, very informative

[@robertw1880]

@@actualwafflesenjoyer thank you. watched a _bunch_ more vids, found 6 bay ones reviewed, getting a TS-664 arriving this week w/ 6 8T drives.

[@urgeeks7892]

guys i am thinking of bying 431k (the cheapest) igot 2 questions. ill only use to backup large videos and photos, from the my external ssd to the front usb 3.2 gen1 port, will it reach 500mb/s from that usb? i never gonna use any vm or even connect from pc to make any work, ill just just back up and maybe take files with same way, the external ssd. i also planning to expand it with 4 bay jbod. ill start with 4 16tb and then the other 4 16tb. can i create such a large storage pool 16x8 raid 5 or 6, or create the 4 hdd on the at raid5 and the other 4 on the jbod other pool raid5 too

[@evelbsstudio]

I am stuck between the asustor 4 Bay or the terramaster 6 bay, I have noticed that the terramaster are been hit with randsomware again according to there forum at the beginning of this yer so that's putting me off, I am needing to portforward ports for a personal cloud etc. I do have 2 way ips on my router so hope that helps but still stuck on what to get

[@Bluenoteguitar]

TS-464 doesnt support BTRFS.... complete deal breaker for me, shame looks like a nice NAS apart from that

[@ColbyWanShinobi]

I bought a F4-423 a few days ago and was disappointed to find out that the unit will only boot their proprietary NAS software with their proprietary RAM installed. Buyer beware.

[@km3481]

Thanks for sharing! I had no idea that was the case.

[@thomaskatt4450]

awesome, I'd be curious on your thoughts on the best current 2 bays, I'm a very BASIC home user who just gets by on a couple of big 16TB raid 1's in a DS220 which is basically all I need, and I suspect that's probably like 90% of the home market

[@XtianApi]

Idk what the deal is, but these are all priced within a very small margin except the big beast.

[@jnagarya519]

The fixed limit on RAM is the death-knell of the 453E. And it costs more than the 453D.

[@km3481]

Fair points, but the Intel CPU in this NAS is a neat little Celeron that could, 8 GB for my uses anyways (containers, remote users, surveillance) is more than enough. The nice idea behind the device is that you buy it and your done really and will work perfectly out of the box. At certain times the 464 was actually less than the 453E, so agree the price point needs to come down. Robbie did a solid video, so I agree with his picks (although as time goes on Synology is really getting hard for me to promote because the 923- is obsolete out of the box and only useable if you purchase add ons). I really like the 453E, but the price being sooo close to the 464 makes it harder to justify, as time goes on it should be at a better price point. Although to be honest, I wish I went with the full intel cpu in the higher end QNAP line. The performance to have on tap, would be real sweet.

[@jnagarya519]

@@km3481 I have the 253D, bought in November -- and still figuring out how to get the "Volumes" -- the original word for which was "partition" -- set up as I want OUTSIDE "Multimedia". And since the 253E was released the price of the 253D INCREASED. I have a RAID USB box, and setting up directories and folders on that is the same as setting them up on any hard drive. Perhaps NASs are trying to do too many things. I am looking at the 464 -- at least it has provision for sufficient RAM headroom. And may actually do 4K, and without the addition of yet more software.

[@OldNorsebrewery]

is there any that I can install truenas scale on?

[@richiecantrell9928]

Looking for advice. Great video. Should I be scared to buy Qnap due to rware? I’d want NAS to be connected to internet bc I’d be accessing remotely via iPhone regularly. How can I insure it would be secure?…anybody?

[@km3481]

I think if you talk to users who actually own QNAP (as well as other brands for that matter for their respective thoughts), with reasonable security QNAP is really as good as any other NAS. I have a friend that had a Synology and went to QNAP because he travels internationally and he wanted a high level of features for remote access. He never had any issues with it. He has watched movies via plex in Asia, or watch a show via Sonarr/Plex in Hawaii, or access work items in Austria. There a lot of people that say they never would have a QNAP because of xyz, but they never owned one so they are going off opinions of others or to protect their loyalty to some brand. If you are going to use the wide array of possibilities out there in NAS, QNAP is the only way to go really. If you just want basic file serving, some plex, and some remote access the Asustor or Terramaster are frankly decent options as well for the price imho. Heck Synology would be a reasonable choice for the price imho, if they didn't screw everybody with really crappy hardware that you can cripple with one drive, the price/value whatever point for the Synology brand makes no sense to me anyways (it is obsolete out of the box and requires yet more money to make it useful). The only way to be sure with any of these NAS's is to get a really decent hardware security appliance/firewall and learn how it ticks, and review the logs. I look at mine weekly to see if anything is suspicious. That is the only way to be certain really with any NAS in any network environment exposed to internet land. A good firewall will also warn you if a critical attack happened or botnets are running around your network or where the bad actors are that are trying to break in and with what... I locked my network down to a level that I'm personally comfortable with. To each his own. Good luck!

[@Leopold3131]

One of the main issues is Synology defaults to more secure settings while QNAP has had some less secure settings as default. IMO, both NAS can achieve good security. But with QNAP, you just need to double check your security settings. I own Synology for the software side of things. But don’t be afraid of QNAP’s security. You can button down security no problem.

[@richiecantrell9928]

@@km3481 Thank you. I’ve been pretty confused about what to buy as my first NAS. I plan to access it regularly via iPhone remotely (cellular & wifi if avail) from outside of home. I shoot 4k on my iPhone so I ASSUME transcoding could be of importance. Nervous Synology’s could be bottlenecked not having hardware transcoding. I wish the Synology 923+ had a diff processor. ..The Qnaps seem to offer more hardware that includes transcoding BUT I read / watch so much about ransware attacks w Qnap that it makes nervous about Qnap. I can’t seem to zero in on a best choice. I wish someone could make me feel either : safe about Qnap security (how to set it up so it’s safe) ..OR ..that Synology would not have problems streaming 4k to iPhones (not have it graphics chip). …Decisions Decisions

[@richiecantrell9928]

@@Leopold3131 Thank you. I appreciate it. Same reply. I’ve been pretty confused about what to buy as my first NAS. I plan to access it regularly via iPhone remotely (cellular & wifi if avail) from outside of home. I shoot 4k on my iPhone so I ASSUME transcoding could be of importance. Nervous Synology’s could be bottlenecked not having hardware transcoding. I wish the Synology 923+ had a diff processor. ..The Qnaps seem to offer more hardware that includes transcoding BUT I read / watch so much about ransware attacks w Qnap that it makes nervous about Qnap. I can’t seem to zero in on a best choice. I wish someone could make me feel either : safe about Qnap security (how to set it up so it’s safe) ..OR ..that Synology would not have problems streaming 4k to iPhones (not have it graphics chip). …Decisions Decisions

[@km3481]

@@richiecantrell9928 If you have experience with a nas you can certainly go with that brand. The new 923- is a really dumb purchase, you can never set it up optimally on any modern network for decent performance. One 10gbe port you have to buy extra, still leaves you with 2 1gbe to do nothing with. If you get a old 920, you still have crap ports that have no room for performance. Again, it may be plenty for your needs, but you are locked in 1999 tech just like the new 923-, which isn't bad, it's just a total ripoff. So prosumer (or a decent network setup) in the new Synology land is done. To put this in perspective, how many people do you know that had ransom, fishing, or other compromises on windows? I know a ton, including major corporations. There are plenty of security setup videos for your qnap. If you think you will use all the features of QNAP, get one and make sure you understand the security setup. If not either Terramaster or Asustor are fine choices for the scenarios you describe. QNAP is likely overkill, it does the most of any NAS. Great if you use some of it.

[@coolstuff_.]

Cool

[@Darkn3ssF4ll]

Is the audio and video off for anyone else? i've tried on phone and a couple computers and it's just weirding me out haha.

[@Noodles.FreeUkraine]

Quite appalling to see you recommend and celebrate "Nazis". At least, that's what KZbin's automatic subtitles are telling me. 😂