The My Cloud is very similar to the My Cloud EX2 above with one exception: it's a single-bay NAS server. Read the full review of the WD My Cloud EX2. It also has a very user-friendly personal cloud features for you to access and share data on the go. While it doesn't offer as many features as the Synology above, the server is very easy to use and will make a great backup server for both Windows and Macs. The My Cloud EX2 is a dual-bay NAS server from WD and is one of the most affordable among dual-bay servers on the market costing just $390 (£366, AUS$400) for 4TB (6TB and 8TB servers also exist). Read the full review of the Synology DS214se. It's just as good value in the UK and Australia - it's available from various resellers with different amounts of storage, but you'll find it disk-less from around £120 or AU$180. At the current price of just $160 (diskless) or $340 (4TB included), it's quite a steal. It also comes with Data Replicator software for backing up your Windows computer. The server can house two internal hard drives to offer up to 4TB of protected storage space (in RAID 1) and it supports Time Machine natively. It runs DSM 5.0, and is designed as a budget NAS server for a small home. Thanks to the DiskStation Manger (DSM) operating system, Synology NAS servers are easily the best on the market in terms of performance, functionality, and reliability. When it comes to NAS server, Synology has been the most well-known vendor. They are listed in review order with the latest review on top.

On this list are the top five NAS servers that are affordable and will make a great backup server for a home.

Apart from acting as a backup destination, a NAS server can also work as a streaming server, file sharing server, and even a personal cloud server, as well as many other functions you can't find in external hard drives. But if you have multiple computers, it's actually more economical to get a network attached storage (NAS) device that can take care of the entire network at the same time.Ī NAS server is similar to an external hard drive but instead of connecting to a computer using a peripheral connection (USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt, etc.), it connects to your router (or switch) using a network cable and makes the storage space available to every computer on the network. If you have a single computer at home, getting one of these great external drives will get the job done. I can't stress enough how important it is to have backups of your data.

Best nas for home offsite backup