Best NAS for Under $249

Best NAS You Can Buy Right Now (Mid-2025) for Under $249 As personal data storage needs continue to grow in 2025, more users are seeking cost-effective alternatives to cloud services and monthly subscription platforms. Whether you’re backing up years of photos, hosting your own video library, or managing light business data locally, a dedicated NAS […]

Best NAS for $500

Best NAS You Can Buy Right Now (Mid-2025) for Under $499 As of mid-2025, the sub-$499 NAS market is more competitive than ever, with several brands offering systems that deliver strong hardware, dedicated operating systems, and multiple drive bays within a modest budget. For home users, prosumers, and small teams looking to centralize data, manage […]

Best NAS for Under $249 in 2025

Best NAS You Can Buy Right Now (Mid-2025) for Under $249 As personal data storage needs continue to grow in 2025, more users are seeking cost-effective alternatives to cloud services and monthly subscription platforms. Whether you’re backing up years of photos, hosting your own video library, or managing light business data locally, a dedicated NAS […]

Aoostar WTR Max NAS Review

Aoostar WTR Max NAS Review The Aoostar WTR Max is a compact, AMD-powered NAS platform aimed at advanced users seeking a balance between high-density storage and compute capabilities. Designed as a substantial upgrade over the earlier WTR Pro model, it offers support for up to eleven total drives, including six SATA bays and five M.2 […]

QNAP NAS Port Reference Guide (2025 Edition)

QNAP NAS Port Reference Guide (2025 Edition)

For users looking to secure and configure their QNAP NAS correctly, understanding the many system and application ports is crucial. Below is a consolidated and sorted list of known ports used by QNAP services, apps, and protocols as of 2025. This guide is ideal for users setting up firewalls, VPN tunnels, or remote access via […]

Week 26 Tech Roundup – Compact NAS Launches, microSD Express Speeds, NAND Forecasts, and Synology’s Global Release

Week 26 Tech Roundup – Compact NAS Launches, microSD Express Speeds, NAND Forecasts, and Synology’s Global Release

https://nascompares.com/podcasts/weekly/week26-2025.wav This week in storage and networking technology, we’re seeing a strong trend toward energy-efficient NAS hardware, ultra-fast removable storage, and growing demand for high-endurance NAND solutions in industrial sectors. Meanwhile, Synology’s long-anticipated DS1525+ NAS has officially launched for global users, marking a notable expansion in AMD-powered NAS offerings. Here’s your detailed breakdown of the […]

45Drives HL8 NAS Case Review

45Drives HL8 8-Bay MITX NAS Case Review The 45Drives HL8 is an 8-bay desktop NAS chassis developed for users who want professional-grade storage hardware without committing to the rigid ecosystems of traditional NAS vendors. Designed and manufactured in North America, the HL8 is available in several configurations, with this review focusing specifically on the chassis, […]

Synology DS1825+ vs DS1821+ NAS

Synology DS1825+ vs DS1821+ NAS Comparison – Get It Right, FIRST TIME! When Synology releases a new NAS in its “Plus” lineup, users often expect a blend of practical improvements, long-term support, and a reasonable upgrade path from the previous generation. The Synology DS1825+ arrives in 2025 as the official successor to the 2020/2021-released DS1821+, […]

Aoostar WTR Max NAS Review – NAS Perfection?

Aoostar WTR Max NAS Review The Aoostar WTR Max is a compact, AMD-powered NAS platform aimed at advanced users seeking a balance between high-density storage and compute capabilities. Designed as a substantial upgrade over the earlier WTR Pro model, it offers support for up to eleven total drives, including six SATA bays and five M.2 […]

Synology NAS vs EVERYONE ELSE – Which Is Best?

If Not Synology? Which Other NAS Brand Should You Choose? It’s an odd question, but with Synology arguably making some rather higher business and enterprise decisions in recent years, there have been increasing queries about who would fill the void if they moved onwards and upwards. As Synology holds such a powerful position in the […]

Synology vs Terramaster NAS – Which Should You Buy?

Synology VS Terramaster NAS Drives in 2025 – Which One Deserves Your Data? Synology and TerraMaster are two well-established brands in the network-attached storage (NAS) industry, each targeting a range of users from home enthusiasts to small and medium-sized businesses. Synology, a Taiwanese company with over two decades in the field, is widely recognized for […]

NEW UniFi NAS – What Comes Next in 2025/2026? ZFS, NVMe, More Racks

UniFi New NAS Rumours – Everything We Know UPDATE 09/25 – UniFi just launched 4 MORE new products into the UNAS lineup. Below are links to the reviews of the new systems, alongside where you can buy them. Be aware, UniFi are kind of famous for running out of stock at launch, so if you […]

Synology Hard Drives and SSDs VS Everyone Else – PRICE, PERFORMANCE and SUPPORT

Synology Hard Drives and SSD Comparison with Seagate/WD/Toshiba and More – Deal Breaker? In recent years, Synology has steadily moved toward a more vertically integrated hardware ecosystem, and the arrival of the 2025 generation of NAS systems marks a significant escalation in that approach. With a much stricter verification process for compatible storage media—covering both […]

Orico Cyberdata Vault NAS (Early) Review

Does the Orico Cyberdata Vault CF56 and CF56 Pro Deserve Your Data? IMPORTANT – This is a review of two early prototypes of the Orico Cyberdata Vault NAS devices that will be launching on crowdfunding in July, and likely will see improvement and optimization as time and development continue. I provide this rolling/dynamic review as […]

NEW UniFi NAS – What Comes Next in 2025/2026?

UniFi New NAS Rumours – Everything We Know Duing the UniFi World Conference event (the UWC 2025 expo event that took place in several places around the world over a week in May) the brand took the opportunity to share a huge amount of information about their roadmap for hardware and software in 2025 (and […]

How I Added Plex Media Server to the UNAS Pro with a $50 Raspberry Pi 5 Upgrade

How I Added Plex Media Server to the UNAS Pro with a $50 Raspberry Pi 5 Upgrade

Although many NAS systems now come with built-in multimedia support and Plex compatibility, some devices—such as the UniFi UNAS Pro—do not currently offer native Plex Media Server installation. This limitation can be frustrating for users who want to stream their personal movie libraries across their home network or while travelling. However, there is a simple […]