Best NAS Drives for Home

A NAS, or network-attached storage, is a small server that shares storage with every device in your home and protects your data with redundancy. It's overkill for some, essential for others.

What a NAS does

A NAS puts your files on a device all your computers, phones, and TVs can access, and it can mirror data across multiple drives so a single drive failure doesn't lose anything.

Who needs one

• Families with lots of photos, videos, and files
• People who want a private cloud instead of subscriptions
• Anyone running a home media server

What to look for

• At least two drive bays for redundancy
• Enough capacity for your current data plus growth
• A user-friendly setup if you're new to networking

The honest take

For a single person who stores everything in the cloud, a NAS is usually unnecessary. For a household with shared media and a desire to ditch cloud subscriptions, it's a worthwhile investment.

Buy a two-bay NAS if you want shared, redundant home storage. Otherwise, a simple external drive and cloud storage cover most people's needs.