Network storage: four NAS empty housings for self-assembly in the test Practical aspects Connections Performance Individual meetings Conclusion Test table Article in c’t 1 / 2021 read The data storage in the LAN is not only useful for centrally stored files and PC backups: it can also act as a media server for music and videos Deliver to the smart TV. If you want to break away from Google, the NAS with software extensions (apps from the manufacturer’s repositories) can also be used as a cloud server for contacts, appointments and notes that can be accessed from the Internet. The central backup of photos and videos from family smartphones via app is no longer a bonus.

You will find an overview of the functions of common NAS operating systems in another article. This is about the hardware equipment and performance of inexpensive NAS empty housings with two storage spaces for self-installation of hard drives or SSDs. We brought four of them into the laboratory: Netgear ReadyNAS 212, QNAP TS – 220, Synology DS 220 j and Western Digital (WD) My Cloud EX2 Ultra. The TerraMaster F2 – 210 is also in the 150 – Euro price range. An Asustor AS 5202 T for around 300 Euro gives an outlook on the added value that a slightly larger investment will buy.

We equipped each of the empty housings with two NAS hard drives Seagate ST 4000 VN 008 of 4 terabytes each. This is the capacity you get most of the bang for your buck right now. In the RAID-1 configuration (mirroring, protects against hard disk defects), there is also a net capacity of 4 terabytes. The devices also support configurations for twice the memory size, but you should avoid that.

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