NAS, self-hosting and homelabs — tested, not theorized

Resources

Recommended Resources

Hand-picked NAS hardware, cloud backup services and self-hosted software we recommend — with honest notes on each.

ASUSTOR

ASUSTOR

Intel-based NAS units, often good for media and transcoding.

NAS Hardware
QNAP

QNAP

Feature-packed NAS hardware for power users. Keep firmware updated.

NAS Hardware
Synology

Synology

The most polished NAS software (DSM). Check CPU + drive rules before buying.

NAS Hardware
UGreen NAS

UGreen NAS

Modern Intel x86 NAS with Quick Sync transcoding and strong value.

NAS Hardware
pCloud

pCloud

Consumer cloud storage with lifetime plans; handy secondary copy.

Cloud Backup Services
Wasabi

Wasabi

Flat per-TB pricing with no egress fees (90-day minimum retention).

Cloud Backup Services
IDrive

IDrive

Cheap first-year pricing and native Synology/QNAP apps for easy NAS backup.

Cloud Backup Services
Backblaze B2

Backblaze B2

S3-compatible object storage (~$6/TB/mo). Best all-round offsite backup for a NAS.

Cloud Backup Services