Buyer’s guide
NAS appliances 2025
The Network
Buy the right NAS drive and you can not only save on monthly storage subscription costs but roll out new features, too. Dave Mitchell explains what to look for
Practical buying and strategic advice for IT managers and decision makers
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any SMBs facing a storage crisis have turned to the cloud, but as the monthly bills keep rolling in some are finding these services are an increasingly expensive solution. Network-attached storage (NAS) appliances can be a far more cost-effective option as although their initial outlay will be much higher, ongoing costs are negligible.
NAS appliances can also be a much better choice than a purpose-built server. There’s no need to worry about the additional costs of an operating system and client access licences as NAS systems are supplied with a business-class OS, can serve as many users as you want without paying extra – and come with free business apps including backup, replication and much more.
The benefits of NAS are manifold: they’re easy to deploy, simple to manage and their storage capacity can be swiftly expanded in step with demand. Keeping primary storage on premises means it won’t be impacted by cloud provider or internet outages, performance will be significantly faster than the cloud and data security is easier to maintain as you have total control over all access.