There are three sorts of storage you need to use together with your Mac. Exterior storage gadgets like SSDs and onerous drives can plug into your Mac and be used to again up your information or to increase your storage. There are additionally these little USB reminiscence sticks you need to use to retailer or switch information, as of late they will maintain as much as 2TB of information in your pocket.
Today cloud storage is one other fashionable resolution, because it presents a easy approach to entry your information from wherever, collaborate with groups of individuals, and it extends the quantity of storage out there in your Mac. With the appearance of dwelling working that means fewer individuals are confined to the workplace, tons are turning to cloud storage for collaboration, however there are downsides to this, not least the truth that typical cloud storage options usually are not actually appropriate for backing up (iCloud doesn’t work with Time Machine for instance). There are numerous cloud backup companies that we take a look at right here: Greatest Cloud backup for Mac.
The third sort of storage is a NAS (network-attached storage). A NAS drive is an efficient resolution if you’re searching for a shared storage resolution for a crew of individuals in an workplace, once you wish to share information and tasks between a number of workstations, or if you’re searching for a approach to preserve your Mac backed up without having to go away it plugged right into a drive.
Utilizing a NAS to retailer your information means you aren’t reliant on a very good web connection, you don’t must add your information to an exterior service, and also you don’t (typically) should pay a month-to-month subscription.
So, on this article, we spherical up one of the best NAS drives for a Mac proprietor. If you happen to’d like extra recommendation about what to search for in a very good NAS drive, comparable to the quantity of storage you’ll want and the options to search for, soar all the way down to our purchasing recommendation.
Up to date December 2024 so as to add TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus.
Greatest NAS and PCS drives for Mac 2024
Western Digital My Cloud Dwelling – Greatest general
Value When Reviewed:
$149.99 (2TB), $169.99 (4TB), $249.99 (8TB)
You’re spoilt for alternative in the case of Western Digital’s My Cloud vary, with a number of fashions out there for dwelling customers and small companies, in addition to a variety of Skilled and Professional fashions for bigger organizations.
The My Cloud Dwelling is a bit more costly than different fashions within the My Cloud vary, however is quick and supplies further options comparable to assist for the Plex Media Server software program (though that’s most likely not essential for Mac customers).
It comes with a variety of storage allocations; 8TB needs to be greater than sufficient for many houses, in addition to small places of work and self-employed customers. The slimline white-and-silver unit is neatly designed and solely measures 2in huge, so it’ll sit simply in your desk or on a shelf near your router with out taking over an excessive amount of area.
There’s additionally a bigger dual-drive mannequin, known as the My Cloud Dwelling Duo, which homes two matching drives and presents significantly extra storage. That gives RAID 1 mirroring for further information safety, however in order for you extra refined RAID options, in addition to the power to put in and take away drives your self, you’ll must step as much as the My Cloud Skilled or My Cloud Professional fashions.
Western Digital all the time does a very good job with Mac assist, and the My Cloud Dwelling isn’t any exception, with apps that deal with a variety of duties rapidly and simply. The iOS app can carry out automated backups of your pictures and movies, whereas the Mac app permits you to use Time Machine to your backups (and there are Mac and Home windows variations of the apps out there too).
There are some good touches too, comparable to the power to right-click a folder in your Mac and routinely sync the contents of that folder on to the My Cloud Dwelling. That shall be helpful for individuals who need an additional backup of their present work information or tasks along with the fundamental Time Machine backup. You may also right-click any file that’s saved on the My Cloud Dwelling and ship a obtain hyperlink to be able to rapidly share that file with pals or colleagues.
And, should you additionally use an internet backup service, comparable to Dropbox, then you may sync the contents of your Dropbox account on to the My Cloud Dwelling too. You may even again up pictures and albums from Fb on to the drive for safekeeping if you wish to.
There are a few tough edges. You may’t merely double-click the drive’s icon on the Mac desktop to be able to open the drive after which drag-and-drop to repeat folders or information on to the drive. For some cause it’s a must to open the app’s pulldown menu and consider the contents of the drive via the app as a substitute. You may’t create particular person person accounts on the Mac both, so that you’re compelled to make use of the app on an iPhone or iPad if you wish to invite another person to create their very own private folders on the My Cloud Dwelling drive. Most Mac customers could have an iPhone or iPad, after all, however we’d prefer to see the Mac app up to date to permit you full freedom to regulate the My Cloud Dwelling together with your Mac as properly.
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus – Uber-fast community/workgroup storage
Execs
Holds as much as 8 NVMe SSDs
As much as 1GBps transfers over 10Gbe
Cons
Non-fatal bugs within the interface
Value When Reviewed:
$800
The TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus is an 8-bay/slot NVMe NAS field with an 8-core Intel Core I3 CPU, 32-execution unit GPU (a part of the CPU), 16GB of DRAM, and 10Gbe ethernet connectivity.
Ports embrace 10Gbe ethernet, three 10Gbps USB ports (two Sort-A, one Sort-C), and an HDMI port for diagnostics somewhat than direct video output.
It’s 7-inch tall, by 2.25-inch huge, and 5.5-inch. It’s not significantly hefty, weighing only one pound, 10 ounces with eight SSDs put in. The eight included warmth sinks add one other 5 ounces should you want them (that is determined by how a lot visitors the fan-cooled field is subjected to).
It opens through a single thumb screw and rests on rubber ft. It’s steady regardless of its vertical orientation, however you may wish to lay it on its facet. After all, SSDs aren’t as delicate as onerous drives that usually inhabit NAS packing containers, so a tumble doubtless wouldn’t be catastrophic.
NAS/server options embrace safety, file sharing, media streaming, BitTorrent downloads, video surveillance, Docker and VM internet hosting. These all require putting in purposes from TerraMaster. There are quite a few backup options out there, and the File Supervisor permits you to add distant folders from Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Amazon S3/S3-compatibles.
The working system, TOS 6.0, isn’t fairly as refined as these provided by QNAP and Synology. I couldn’t run file supervisor or the rest whereas putting in an app, for instance.
Additionally, this system didn’t register a deleted storage pool, an added on-line vacation spot, or a brand new quantity instantly. I needed to reboot every time to get modifications to register.
Regardless of this, I discovered TOS 6 engaging, decently intuitive, straightforward to make use of, and steady. Nevertheless it might use some fine-tuning (and multi-tasking), even when not one of the points are significantly lethal.
Learn our full
Terramaster F8 SSD Plus NVMe 10Gbe NAS evaluation
Synology DiskStation DS723 – Greatest for small places of work/working from dwelling
Value When Reviewed:
Fron $450 (unpopulated)
Many individuals now depend on cloud storage, comparable to Apple’s iCloud Drive or Dropbox, for private use or working from dwelling, however Synology is likely one of the few firms that also makes standard NAS drives that present bodily storage for dwelling networks and small places of work. The most recent addition to its vary is the Diskstation DS723+, which supplies an reasonably priced and easy-to-use storage system that may be additional expanded sooner or later if required.
The compact drive enclosure measures simply 166mm excessive, 106mm huge and 223mm deep, so it’s straightforward to arrange in your desk or any handy shelf. There are two bays for onerous drives on the entrance, together with two small slots for SSD drives which are positioned on the underside of the unit. Superior customers who wish to configure their very own system can purchase the DS723+ as an empty enclosure (unpopulated) for round £575/$450 after which present their very own alternative of HD or SSD drives. Or, should you’re searching for a easy, all-in-one storage system then a few of Synology’s specialist sellers additionally promote the DS723+ with drive models already put in (populated). The worth for ‘populated’ drives will clearly depend upon the quantity of storage you require, however the 8TB mannequin that Synology offered for our evaluation ought to value round $800/£850. Costs do differ broadly on-line, although, so it’s undoubtedly price purchasing round to search out one of the best value (the beginning value quoted above will rise relying on the storage choices.)
There’s a Gigabit Ethernet port on the again of the for connecting to your own home or workplace community, however the DS723+ additionally has two growth ports that let you improve to 10 Gigabit Ethernet if required, and even to attach some further drive bays so to add much more storage sooner or later. Synology’s manuals might look a bit daunting for individuals who haven’t used a NAS drive earlier than – there’s a 50-page PDF only for the preliminary set-up course of, and one other 80-page handbook masking all of the options offered by Synology’s DSM software program (Diskstation Supervisor). Nonetheless, you don’t should memorise all that data right away, as there are fast and simple apps for iOS, Android, Mac and PC that may provide help to with the set-up course of, and we had no bother in any respect connecting the DS723+ to our workplace community after which utilizing the apps to attach our Mac and iPhone to the drive.
Synology Beestation – Good for rookies
Value When Reviewed:
$219
The widespread use of cloud storage companies comparable to iCloud and Google Drive signifies that NAS drives aren’t as fashionable as they was once, and Synology is likely one of the few firms nonetheless making NAS drives that cater to the SOHO market (small workplace/dwelling workplace) with its DiskStation vary. In actual fact, Synology is increasing its product vary with the introduction of the BeeStation.
These apps present loads of helpful options, together with the power to routinely add pictures and movies out of your cell gadgets onto the BeeStation. You may share information with pals, household or colleagues, and sync particular folders in your Mac with the BeeStation. Nonetheless, these apps is usually a bit tough to make use of – they have a tendency to throw quite a lot of settings and knowledge onto the display screen, and the Assist information on Synology’s web site use quite a lot of techno-jargon that is perhaps complicated for much less skilled customers. Mac customers, as an illustration, will discover that directions for utilizing the BeeStation with Time Machine are hidden inside a somewhat convoluted Assist file about ‘local access’ settings.
So it could take a little bit work to get the BeeStation correctly arrange, however its capability to supply each on-line storage for cell gadgets and a NAS drive to your dwelling or workplace community makes it a really versatile back-up system for dwelling and small enterprise customers.
Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Extremely – The fast and simple possibility
Value When Reviewed:
From $150.99 (unpopulated) to $1,299.99 (28TB)
Western Digital’s My Cloud Dwelling drive supplies a fast and simple possibility for dwelling customers who aren’t aware of NAS drives and networking know-how. In actual fact, the corporate doesn’t even name it a ‘NAS drive’, choosing the extra user-friendly ‘personal cloud’ label as a substitute. (If you happen to really feel a bit extra snug with jargon comparable to NAS and RAID, you may wish to step as much as WD’s ‘expert’ vary with the My Cloud EX2 Extremely as a substitute.)
The EX2 Extremely is a no-compromises NAS drive with further options and customisation choices, whereas remaining reasonably priced sufficient for dwelling customers or self-employed individuals, comparable to photographers or designers, who want a extremely dependable backup drive for necessary work information.
It’s a ‘two-bay’ drive that holds two separate onerous drives, and means that you can take away the highest panel so you may take away the drives for repairs or including extra storage sooner or later. You should buy the EX2 Extremely with a pair of drives pre-installed, with a variety of costs relying on the storage you choose.
WD contains its high-performance Pink Drives and 1GB of reminiscence to assist the EX2 Extremely multi-task when totally different individuals are utilizing the drive on the community on the identical time. There’s a Gigabit Ethernet port for connecting to your community, and the EX2 Extremely additionally has two USB ports that let you join an exterior USB drive for extra storage.
Alternatively, you might have the choice of shopping for the EX2 Extremely ‘unpopulated’ – with no drives in any respect – after which offering your individual drives to fit your specific wants. That is the most suitable choice should you assume you may wish to add further storage sooner or later, and set up is very easy: the highest panel merely pops open on the press of a button to disclose the inner drive bays.
Utilizing two separate onerous drives additionally means the EX2 Extremely can work as a ‘RAID’ drive, with both RAID 0 – which improves efficiency by splitting information throughout each drives (known as ‘striping’) – or RAID 1 ‘mirroring’, which makes separate copies of your information on every drive for further reliability. If you would like much more safeguards to your necessary information, there’s additionally an choice to again up information from the EX2 Extremely on to an exterior onerous drive related to one in every of its USB ports.
Regardless of all these further options, organising the EX2 Extremely remains to be very simple, because the drive helps Time Machine for routinely backing up information out of your Mac. There’s additionally a My Cloud app for iOS/iPadOS and Android that means that you can again up and share information utilizing non-Apple gadgets as properly.
The app supplies distant entry to the drive over the web, and there’s an internet browser interface additionally out there for Macs and PCs, which permits extra superior customers to configure RAID settings and options such because the FTP server – and even to make use of it as an ‘iTunes Server’ for streaming music throughout your community.
It’s price trying out the modifications made by the
My Cloud OS 5 software program replace, nevertheless; this provides a number of new options, however reduces compatibility with some net companies.
Buffalo LinkStation 220D – Versatile & reasonably priced
Value When Reviewed:
From $119.99
Buffalo’s LinkStation 220D is a flexible and reasonably priced NAS drive that’s appropriate for each dwelling and enterprise customers. However, as we’ve seen with Buffalo prior to now, its merchandise typically lack the easy ease of use that Mac and iOS customers take as a right.
The LinkStation 220D is a dual-bay NAS drive that homes two separate onerous drives. You should buy it ‘unpopulated’ – with no drives in any respect – after which present the drives that you simply wish to use for your self. Alternatively, you should buy it with 2TB, 4TB or 8TB.
There’s additionally a dearer mannequin known as the 220DR that’s designed to be used with Western Digital’s high-speed Pink drives, however the usual 220D mannequin that we evaluation right here needs to be completely sufficient for many houses and small companies.
The twin-bay setup additionally means you need to use the LinkStation as a RAID drive, supporting both RAID 0 for optimum efficiency, or RAID 1 for optimum information safety (storing separate copies of your information on each drives). Future upgrades are easy as properly, as you may rapidly take away the entrance panel of the LinkStation and pull out the drives by their handles, with no screws or instruments required. There’s additionally a USB port on the again of the LinkStation that can be utilized to make further backups to an exterior USB drive for further security.
Getting began is kind of simple, because the 4TB LinkStation that we examined routinely confirmed up on our workplace community as soon as we related it to our router with an Ethernet cable. That allowed us to easily drag-and-drop information onto the LinkStation for fast backups, however issues get a bit extra difficult once you begin to transfer past the fundamentals. The LinkStation does work with Time Machine so to again up your Macs over the community, however organising Time Machine and a ‘shared folder’ to your backups proved somewhat difficult.
Buffalo’s NAS Navigator app for Macs means that you can view the LinkStation in your community and shows primary data, comparable to its IP deal with. Nonetheless, utilizing some other options requires you to open up an internet browser to be able to view the LinkStation’s net interface.
This does embrace a wide range of helpful options, together with Time Machine assist, distant ‘web access’ for once you’re away from dwelling or the workplace, BitTorrent downloads, and the power to make use of the LinkStation as an iTunes server for streaming your music throughout the community. However this browser interface could be very difficult and gained’t be straightforward for non-technical customers to grasp – and Buffalo’s 125-page jargon-heavy PDF handbook doesn’t actually make life any simpler.
And neither do Buffalo’s cell apps. Buffalo supplies two separate apps for iOS gadgets: Smartphone Navigator for primary setup, and WebAccess to supply entry to your information through Wi-Fi once you’re out and about.
These apps are getting on a bit, and a few customers have complained that they’re unreliable. In actual fact, the apps appeared to run on our workplace iPhone and iPad with none issues, however they’re nonetheless fairly difficult and unhelpful for individuals who aren’t aware of NAS drives and networking know-how.
So whereas the LinkStation is an efficient possibility for extra skilled dwelling or enterprise customers who already know a bit about NAS drives, it’s most likely not the most suitable choice for first-time customers who’re nonetheless studying the ropes.
NAS drive options to search for
Listed below are some important options you must look out for when choosing a NAS drive to your Mac.
Time Machine assist
One of many nice unsung options of macOS is Time Machine, the software program that sits inside your System Preferences panel and quietly performs an automated backup of your complete contents of your Mac’s onerous disk each hour, on the hour.
If you happen to by chance delete a file you may return and take a look at all of the earlier variations of that file that you simply backed up prior to now. And in case your Mac begins behaving oddly and also you assume you might need been contaminated by malware, you may simply reboot your Mac and use Time Machine to revive your complete macOS to an earlier, untarnished state.
However, after all, to be able to use Time Machine you do must have an exterior onerous drive related to your Mac that may retailer all of your outdated backups. Onerous drives are fairly low-cost as of late, however as all of us begin to personal increasingly more desktop computer systems, laptops and cell gadgets, it begins to change into each costly and somewhat impractical to purchase a separate backup drive for each single system in our dwelling or workplace. The reply to this downside is a NAS drive.
Most NAS drives are ‘Mac-compatible’ – however not all of them are what we would name ‘Mac-friendly’. As an illustration, not all NAS drives will let you use Time Machine to make backups over the community, so assist for Time Machine is a key characteristic that you must test on when interested by shopping for a NAS drive to be used with a number of Macs.
Person accounts and sharing
One other necessary characteristic is the power to create particular person person accounts, so that every individual in your house or workplace can have their very own non-public space on the NAS drive for storing their private information. And, on the identical time, it’s additionally helpful to create ‘shares’, that are like public folders that may be shared by everybody – maybe for storing music or pictures for the entire household.
Most NAS drives will let you do that, however typically you want a little bit of community know-how to determine how every drive handles this course of (and a few drives, comparable to Apple’s now-discontinued Time Capsule, simply ignore this facet of issues altogether and concentrate on the fundamental process of dealing with Time Machine backups).
Cellular system assist
And, after all, you’ll additionally wish to test that your new NAS drive supplies an app to your iPhone or iPad. Most of us now have a tendency to make use of iCloud for backing up pictures, movies and different information from our cell gadgets, however it can provide you further peace of thoughts to know that you simply’ve received a spare backup in your NAS drive in case something goes mistaken.
A very good NAS drive may even allow you to share your pictures and movies with different individuals by streaming them to cell gadgets over your community, or presumably even present a distant entry possibility that means that you can retrieve information over the web once you’re away from dwelling (a characteristic that producers usually check with as a ‘personal cloud’).
File streaming
Many individuals additionally use their NAS drive as a sort of central media server for his or her dwelling, maybe streaming music and movies to a video games console that’s related to their TV within the entrance room. Mac customers ought to test to see if a NAS drive can stream information to an Apple TV, or act as an ‘iTunes server’, storing your iTunes/Music library on the NAS drive in order that it could possibly stream music to each Mac or iOS system on the community.
How a lot storage do I would like?
That’s one thing you’ll must determine for your self, however it’s price mentioning that some NAS drives are extra versatile on this level than others.
A few of the cheaper NAS drives are bought with a built-in onerous drive – typically at the least 2TB – however the onerous drive is mounted and might’t get replaced as soon as it’s full (though the NAS drive might have a USB port that allows you to join a standard USB onerous drive to be able to add some further storage). That is the best possibility, favored by most dwelling customers and small companies, because it means you may simply unpack the NAS drive and join it to your router to get began.
The unpopulated possibility
Nonetheless, many NAS drives are bought ‘unpopulated’ – with none inner onerous drives already put in – and easily present two or extra empty drive bays into which you insert your individual alternative of onerous drives. This selection is dearer, however it means that you can customise the NAS by shopping for your individual onerous to be able to present as a lot storage as you want. And, should you run out of cupboard space, you may simply take out the outdated drives and insert new, bigger drives sooner or later.
The sort of NAS drive typically additionally presents a variety of ‘RAID’ choices – this stands for “redundant array of independent disks” – which use a number of onerous drives to supply further efficiency and information safety.
