Want to set up your first NAS? These Black Friday deals make it easy!
Black Friday is here, and that means now is the time to stock up on additional hard drives and make the switch to a new NAS enclosure. With plenty of deals already available and more going live every day, this is the best time of the year to upgrade your home server.
Black Friday NAS deals:
We haven't seen as many new NAS enclosures launching as previous years, and there's a good reason for that. The global semiconductor shortage has affected the NAS category as well, with brands like Synology choosing to limit the introduction of new models. That said, most of the late 2020 launches will get exciting discounts, so that's something to look ahead to Black Friday draws close. In the meantime, we're rounding up a list of NAS enclosures that you should take a look at during Black Friday.
Where to find the best Black Friday NAS dealsLike most years, you'll have to go to Amazon and Newegg for the best NAS enclosure deals. But if last year was any indication, the best-selling models will go out of stock in under a day, so if you've made up your mind on what enclosure you're getting, you should act fast. Here's a rundown of the storefronts:
- Amazon: All the best NAS enclosures and hard drive deals will be live on Amazon
- Best Buy: Limited selection here, but a decent list of starter NAS with built-in drives
- Newegg: You'll find most consumer NAS enclosures, along with business-focused models
- B&H: If it's sold out on Amazon, you have a pretty good chance of finding it at B&H
This 4-bay NAS enclosure ticks all the right boxes. The Intel Celeron J4025 chipset ensures it handles day-to-day tasks more than adequately, you get 4GB of RAM installed out of the box, and for connectivity, there's an HDMI port at the back along with two Gigabit Ethernet ports and three USB 3.0 ports. In short, this is a fantastic solution for a high-end Plex media server.
WD Red Plus 4TB NAS Hard Drive (save $42)
This WD Red Plus 4TB HDD hits the sweet spot for your storage needs, and the drive itself is one of the best around for NAS enclosures. It has a 180TB/year endurance, three-year warranty as standard, and is designed to work in a NAS system, with custom software that offers vibration resistance. This is one of the best deals for NAS hard drives, so don't miss out.
Black Friday NAS deals: NAS enclosuresThe best home NAS launches from last year continue to be a stellar choice in 2021 - particularly the DiskStation DS1520+, a high-end server that handles everything from Plex media streaming in 4K to backing up your connected phones and so much more with ease.
There are a few things to consider when you're buying a NAS enclosure. First is the number of drive bays. Most budget models come with a single or two drive bays, and mid-range models have four or more drive bays. If this is the first time you're buying a NAS, my recommendation would be to go with a single or two-bay NAS enclosure.
A key factor to consider when buying a NAS is storage. Most NAS enclosures don't come with built-in storage, so you will have to buy hard drives. There are several hard drives custom-built for use in NAS systems, and these are designed to run 24/7 and offer vibration resistance and can last several years.
My go-to choice in this category is Seagate's IronWolf series; I have over 40TB of storage in the form of IronWolf and IronWolf Pro drives, and they have been rock-solid for over three years. WD's Red Plus is also a good alternative, as is the Red Pro series. Make sure you don't buy drives with SMR tech - always go for NAS hard drives with CMR, as these drives have better long-term reliability.
If you don't want to buy a traditional hard drive and instead slot in SSDs, you can do that just as well. Most NAS enclosures have drive bays for 3.5-inch hard drives, but you can just as easily mount a 2.5-inch SSD in these bays. One point to note is that M.2 SSDs aren't usable on most enclosures, so you will have to get SATA SSDs. Samsung leads the market here with its Evo 870 and QVO 870 SSDs, and you can also find great alternatives from Western Digital, SK Hynix, and others. SSDs usually get marked down by a significant amount during the holiday season, so be sure to take a look at the deals that will go live in the coming days.