What Is Considered The Biggest Network Attached Storage for Home Storage?

AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 11:08

Saw a deal for sums Seagate portable externals for 22 TB but then realised a NAS might be a better option for me if I want to get even more insane storage.. Basically as much as I can get like 300TB+

So what network attached storage is the biggest for non commercial usage?

Or at least the biggest and best value seen on ozbargain?

I am just starting my NAS research cycle so this is going to be fun.

I already know where to source my storage and that is from east digital.. Have a few hdds already now just need to find the perfect NAS.

So what do you all use or wish you used?

How high can the bays go?

I guess I want to provision less than 400 watts total for this also thinking about my power limitations.

Computing NAS

Comments

  • askbargain on 31/05/2025 - 11:10
    +10

    Is this a serious post

    • AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 11:23
      -3

      Yes if you have any knowledge on NAS or home storage aka data hoarder territory I would like to hear it be it using a cheap desktop to hoard storage or a NAS or multiple externals.

      I want to increase my desktop pc storage capacity immensely.

      I will be sourcing hard drives from East digital once I find a pretty large size NAS that is ozbargain value.

      • pscac001 on 31/05/2025 - 17:28
        +9

        "Guys I'm totally serious about getting 300TB of storage! or maybe a budget 4 bay NAS"

  • 30year old Camry on 31/05/2025 - 11:29
    +1

    Interested to know what data you're storing?

    • McMaferMur on 31/05/2025 - 11:58
      +1

      Linux iso.

    • AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 12:07
      -1

      Everything is the simplest answer.

      But I have started doing obs recordings of my own desktop and 4k resolution game play.

      I already backup a lot to YouTube live as private videos since YouTube keeps all videos forever unlike twitch which deletes vods after some time.

      It's mainly just for my own personal stuff kind of like a way back machine project I'm doing but for my own personal usage.

      Some of the recordings I have done in the past using nvidia recording feature have reached 1TB when I tested recording my desktop for 48 hours.

      I'm doing a project to play test something to do with local recording. But thats not the main cause.

      I just want to also download my entire steam library onto mechanical hard drive storage (yes I understand the trade offs of ssd vs mechanical but ssd is still too expensive atm.

      Not just steam but all my blizzard stuff from games to custom maps to custom mods to private servers.

      My epic library and my ea library.

      Mostly I just enjoy looking at file Explorer transferring large files around its some weird geeky thing of mine.

      But yeah that's just some of what I want to do. There is plenty more but I would be here typing forever.

      I just know I will need about 500TB by the end of it for what I really want to do but just starting with 300TB now then learning and getting bigger later.

      • AustriaBargain on 31/05/2025 - 17:54
        +2

        Oh, you're doing it for streaming. You must be monetised by now if you're needing a setup like this. Your game libraries, if you upgrade to faster NBN this year then you won't really need to store them, just download them when you want to get into a certain game. Plus you'll want that faster upload speed because why even keep all that old footage if you're not going to be regularly uploading videos made from it. You say you download YouTube streams. But why aren't you recording those streams locally instead, you are using OBS yeah?

      • sidesw1pe on 31/05/2025 - 18:20

        unlike twitch which deletes vods after some time

        they call videos "vods" on Twitch?

  • SBOB on 31/05/2025 - 11:36

    Basically as much as I can get like 300TB+

    Unless you're actually planning editing large amounts of raw video footage (ie about to kick off a very successful onlyfans) that seems like an insanely large amounts of storage to aim for, especially if youre coming from currently not even having a NAS.

    • AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 12:08

      No raw video editing but I will be storing some video local recordings of my desktop just to look at.

      • SBOB on 31/05/2025 - 12:20

        Worked out how many hours of 4k footage 300+tb is?
        It's still an entirely crazy data storage requirement for starting out (let alone the actual cost of that much storage plus some level of additional redundancy or backup)

  • apsilon on 31/05/2025 - 11:57

    Depends entirely on your budget.

    • McMaferMur on 31/05/2025 - 11:58

      Sky iis yoir limit.

    • AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 12:09
      -2

      Not looking for high end gear just going to get the cheap east digital $/TB mechanical hard drives and put them in anything that works.. Speed is not even the biggest issue honestly this will just be a fun passion project as a bit of a Tech geek nerd.

      • apsilon on 31/05/2025 - 13:01
        +1

        So which is it? The biggest you can get or the cheapest? Two different things. For 300tb+ I think you'll need to look at a SMB solution at least as I don't think any of the desktop units have more than 12 bays which isn't enough for 300tb so you'll need to look at rack mount. The smallest of those used to be 16 bay (I've been out if it for several years now so not certain) so you'll need to use 24tb drives which I think are currently the largest you can get and fully populate it to break 300tb with any redundancy. You're likely looking at over $30k as a starting point depending on other features required and you're still far from the biggest you can get.

  • McMaferMur on 31/05/2025 - 12:02
    +1

    The question doesnt make sense.
    Nas is a hardware. Not counted by terra bytes. That is hard disk, that you put intside the nas. You can ask what nas that has the most number of bay in the world? Probably answer is the rack system.
    Then, how many TB is the biggest hdd in the world? Probably 1,000 TB exists. Then get x of those hdd (x = the bays)

    • AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 12:14
      -2

      I'm just trying to find the cheapest nas at different Bay sizes really.

      So cheapest 8 bay, cheapest 10 bay then 12 16 20 etc then comparing the $/bay cost etc and seeing which one to go from there.

      I think on east digital the best $/TB is usually about 12-16 TB.

      Then once I get some market research on prices I can use the two to figure out how much space i want to go for right now which honestly is just as much as I can fit on my shelf or desk etc and obviously to consider the 1600 watt limit I have provisioned for my total pc home office setup.

      Then I can do whatever I want from game design to asset creation to local recording to installing my entire game library and maybe even collecting emulators and roms to etc custom mods maps packs dlc etc which I have been resisting to install due to storage requirements.

      I'm one of those data hoarder power user people just haven't looked into it until now mainly because bored but I finally have some energy and time to do it.

  • Bruceflix on 31/05/2025 - 12:11

    Fractal Design Define 7 XL can make a pretty big NAS

    • AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 12:15
      -2

      Yeah I'm thinking if a big desktop might be more cost efficient than a nas if there is no big enough nas.

      • Bruceflix on 31/05/2025 - 12:31

        NAS means Network attached storage. It defines a role, not specific hardware. So I don't know wtf you are on about.

        • AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 14:34

          I'm just looking for extra storage for my desktop pc.

          Right now thinking about 2-4 bays or drives anything really cheap just going to be used for cold storage mostly but a bit of games and some gameplay recordings that's really it and any other mods etc.

          What's the ghetto af Nas for this use case scenario.. Don't need anything to expensive now I can always upgrade I guess if I run into any bottlenecks.

          • rumblytangara on 31/05/2025 - 19:47
            +3

            @AlienC: The problem with this thread is that you're munging a bunch of disparate ideas and terminology together. You seem to think that a "NAS" is a dedicated hardware box with "NAS" written on it- it really isn't. A NAS is just a type of storage that you can access over a network share- it can be specialised hardware, repurposed hardware, or even virtualised hardware.

            Then you are talking about 2-4 bay bits of hardware and 300TB+ at the same time- how does that even work?

            And on top of it, you talk about 400W limitations for power. Hard drives only take about 5W, so what are you talking about? You could run a 20W PC with 30 hard drives attached and keep it under 400W, but that would be a total mess of expansion controller cards and cabling.

            The 'ghetto af Nas' is a cheapo (free or close to free) unused PC with a fair bit of internal space and a bunch of hard drives rammed into it. You can mount them properly if you get a big enough minitower case, otherwise you can literally glue and tape the hard drives into the casing.

            Then you run one of a handful of Open Source NAS OSes on it. All you really pay for in this case is the bare hard drives.

            • AlienC on 01/06/2025 - 14:57
              -1

              @rumblytangara: Exhaustion energy debt multi tasking and time poor and sleep deprivation might be taking into it

              I'm a bit too many hands not enough chefs maybe atm

  • 7ekn00 on 31/05/2025 - 12:45

    Node 804 case + AMD 5600G + mobo + RAM + PSU + 8x SATA Riser Card ~ $700

    Add drives, install OS of chose, configure storage as preferred (Pool / RAID / ZFS / etc) …

    That case is mATX (smallish) and holds 8 drives, if wanting more, look for a Fractal Design 7 XL which will hold up to 18 x 3.5in drives …

    If wanting more than 18 drive bays, you are talking rack mounts, which are far more expensive, but can run up to 48 bays …

    From there, you can build your own Backblaze Storage Pod v6.0 which will hold 60 drives …
    (took me about 3 hours to build once I had the parts)

    • AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 14:30

      I just remembered the longevity of the drives so if I was looking for the opposite end and just the cheapest nas for say 2-4 bays what would be the best options

      • 7ekn00 on 31/05/2025 - 15:39

        If that's the case, why not just add 2-4 drives to your PC … why bother with cheap NASes that are slow and limited configurability?

        There are plenty of cheap chinese 2-4 bay devices if you want to try them (ICYBox, Terramaster, Maiyunda, Beelink, GMKTec, etc) …

        • AlienC on 01/06/2025 - 14:55

          This is also an option I am honestly thinking of doing I just lost all my motherboard cables and power supply cables and I hate fiddling with my internal of the pc.

          I honestly have to research or post another thread some day to ask how many more drives my pc can take.. It currently only has 1 nvme stick and 2 sata ssd. I know it has another nvme slot but not sure what the realistic maximum on HDD and ssd it can take on top of the 2 it already has.

          I'll check my pc later and come back here with the motherboard model details and maybe we can sort it out

          • 7ekn00 on 01/06/2025 - 15:34

            @AlienC:

            and I hate fiddling with my internal of the pc.

            Then just get some cheap crappy USB unit like this … will be slow and annoying, but so will any cheap NAS …

          • rumblytangara on 01/06/2025 - 17:33
            +2

            @AlienC:

            post another thread some day to ask how many more drives my pc can take..

            This is not something you ask on the internet.

            This is something you answer for yourself by opening your case up and counting spare SATA ports and empty drive bays.

            If you can't do this, you should not even be thinking about building your own NAS from spare hardware.

    • congo on 03/06/2025 - 22:27

      How does a mobo hold 18 hard disk drives?
      Would you be using some kind of PCIE X16 Adapter Card ?

      • 7ekn00 on 03/06/2025 - 22:40

        8x SATA Riser Card

        x2 or go for SAS with SAS to SATA cables or go for 16 x SATA riser cards, etc etc

        Have a look at the "Parts" list in the "BackBlaze Storage Pod v6.0" link - it lists the most efficient way of expanding SATA ports ;)

  • Blargman2001 on 31/05/2025 - 13:30

    Don't forget if you're spending $10-20k on storage, mechanical HDDs don't last forever so you're looking at replacing all those drives again in about 3-5 years.

    • AlienC on 31/05/2025 - 14:28

      Good reminder.

      That's why I guess I'm going for just the cheapest $ per terabyte option and cheapest nas options.

      What's the budget nas these days maybe even for 2-4 bays

      • p1 ama on 31/05/2025 - 19:40

        What's the budget nas these days maybe even for 2-4 bays

        Huh? Are you looking for a 300TB+ storage solution (which would be very much an enterprise level solution - this is more data than even some major companies), or are you looking for budget 2-4 bay NAS solutions?

        FWIW, I used to work pretty closely with the data architecture team within a major (think ASX50) listed company. The off-site storage solution they contracted was for 500TB. Gives you some context as to how ridiculous 300TB+ for a home user is.

        • AlienC on 01/06/2025 - 14:52
          -1

          Realistically 20-30TB for the immediate start

          But looking to expand to 60-80TB by the end of it or maximum.

          300TB was if I wanted to try another project or fool around thing for fun but short term needs is roughly 25TB long term needs 70TB and depending on how much nvidia raw 4k recordings I want to store that number could go higher.

      • Blargman2001 on 31/05/2025 - 22:10

        East Digital are all refurbished drives too. They aren't going to last very long if they get heavy use.

        • AlienC on 01/06/2025 - 14:52

          Good call forgot to factor this in

  • Nutrino on 31/05/2025 - 15:01
    +1

    you cant afford it.

    • AlienC on 01/06/2025 - 14:48
      -1

      Do you take after pay? :)

  • joka on 31/05/2025 - 17:25

    And what type of RAID are you planning to use? You realise 300TB of drives doesn’t equate to 300TB of storage if you’re using it with RAID right? And if you are using them as just a bunch of discs configuration then you should probably look to get the equivalent in size as a backup?

    • AlienC on 01/06/2025 - 14:50
      -3

      I'm just going simple raw storage no backup.

      If I get data loss so be it I'm ready and prepared for the loss.

      It's nothing that important really just for fun and games and wasting time.

      It's not anything work or business related or life changing if I lose it just games and nvidia local recordings and big mods and 4k assets and video files :)

      • rumblytangara on 01/06/2025 - 17:51
        +3

        You are confusing backups with redundancy. There is the cliche "RAID is not backups" which is a 101 level of knowledge.

        You really need to do a bit of reading or get some sleep in. Your terminology in this thread is all over the shop. And in tech, boring things like terminology matters.

  • p1 ama on 31/05/2025 - 19:39
    +1

    Well there's really no limit to the "biggest" NAS that you can possibly buy - in terms of an "off the shelf" solution, Synology (and the like) have 8 bay models, which with modern 22TB drives would give you 22 x 6 = 132TB of storage, assuming 2 parity drives (e.g. a RAIDZ2 type of setup).

    If you're building your own PC, then you can easily get perhaps 24-32 drives if you're able to find a case that can house that much. The limit will really be PCIe bandwidth - a pretty standard HBA will support 8 drives, so if you can fit 3 HBAs, you'll be able to get 24 drives (which is doable with most consumer motherboards that have 3+ PCIe slots). This is the way I'd go if I needed 300TB+ storage.

    But to be honest, you're reaching a volume where the hardware choices are pretty inconsequential - you'll need a way of keeping all of those drives cool, the actual physical space to house them, backups, redundancy…etc. You're asking about "home" solutions, but you're storing an enterprise amount of data - you either need to spend the time to learn the ropes (spend time on technical forums, read up on NAS operating systems, ZFS…etc.), or you'll need to hire IT consultants to do all of this work for you.

    • joka on 31/05/2025 - 20:10
      +4

      I don’t think he’s reached that far into his research

      • Blargman2001 on 31/05/2025 - 22:08
        +1

        OP might be thinking twice about dropping half the price of a new a car in storage every couple of years just to keep it running.

        • AlienC on 01/06/2025 - 14:47
          -3

          We shall see hehe

          I do have a physical limit on how much I can do to fill the drives in a day so I have to figure that out and then calculate how much drives I need accordingly ;)

          I think I should start small at maybe 4/6/8 bay drive maximum after having had an extra minutes thought on it. Who knows tomorrow that might be 4 bays only since hard drive prices have gone up a bit since I last checked on them.

          But I can definitely fill let's say 20-30TB easily within a month if I started on this project today.

          I'm hoping my nbn fttp scheduled upgrade is still happening within a few months then I can research what maximum speed plans I can get on this premise and then see how much I can download and transfer realistically not theoretically in a day and then do more calculations then come back to this thread and many others I made and go from there :)

          When you have nothing to do your mind goes places :s

  • 2esc on 01/06/2025 - 10:04

    Why do people need huge storage at home? Family photos and a few scans of important documents is all i keep on hard drives.

    • rumblytangara on 01/06/2025 - 10:22
      +1

      Because not everyone trusts cloud storage (especially anyone who works in IT), or they need faster performance than what cloud storage can provide.

    • AlienC on 01/06/2025 - 14:43
      -4

      I'm not people.

      I am super bored with my time I have started experimenting randomly with my pc like how many Chrome tabs I can have open and active at a time to what does it really take to overload 64gb of ram to what benchmark score can I get with crap cooler and settings at various voltage levels and frequencies to installing a million notification stuff and monitoring software etc to see the effect on task bar and performance to mass encoding to multiple obs scene and widgets to 5 monitor setup to the list goes on.. Let's just say I waste most of my time on my pc trying to see how far it can go

      And that wasnt even talking about in games and other stuff :)

      Right now the random thought of the month is seeing how much extra storage I can add to my pc without harming performance and well how much I realistically need and can utilise in 3-5 years or whenever the hard drive dies..

      Yes my gaming pc is my science experiment and I am a mad German scientist getting bored at home mein fraulein

  • Grunntt on 01/06/2025 - 11:48

    You ask for NAS recommendations but then describe your use case which is basically JBOD.

    Just grab one of these Seagate.
    Probably a bit pricey to start with but in the long run……

    Do I need to add /s or ;o) ?

    • AlienC on 01/06/2025 - 14:37
      -2

      I'll add it to the list :)

      I'm indecisive on whether to go full prepper download the whole internet on my nas or just have one for my humble steam library and home work files :)

    • congo on 03/06/2025 - 22:31

      a bit pricey? :-P

  • jugsy on 02/06/2025 - 12:00
    +1

    This is going to be really expensive, it would be better to scope how much you actually need rather than just "as much storage as possible", as that's only going to be limited by budget which you havent told us.

    If you do it right it's gonna cost a lot to get over 300TB
    If you do it wrong it's gonna be a lot of maintenance and money wasted

  • Gros21 on 08/06/2025 - 20:56

    Ok 45 drives makes a storeinatore.

    They do a xl model with 60 drives.

    Presuming you want Nas drives Seagate makes 24tb drives so 1440TB

    That's raw storage likely will have some boot/cashe drives also. Then add redundancy.

    But if you are needing 300tb+ why on earth do U sound like you have zero idea.

    • AlienC on 08/06/2025 - 22:28

      haha because i have no idea

      i did some extra quick maths and I think for the time being I will only need 3-4 drives ranging from 12 to 16 terabytes as that seems to be the sweetspot for $/TB

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