Does it matter what type of hard drive you use in a NAS? Here's what you need to consider

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Network-attached storage (NAS) has become home servers, but the question remains: what drives should you use in one? Drives for home use and those designed for server use come in all shapes and sizes, from 3.5-inch mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) to ultra-fast M.2 NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs). Any of these can store data, so they should all be compatible with a NAS, right? As long as the drive's interface matches that of the NAS slot you want to use, you're fine, but should you spend more on NAS-grade storage drives?




Which drives can I use in a NAS?

Terramaster-F2-423-Bay-Open

This depends on the NAS itself. Most cases from brands like Synology and TerraMaster, or a system you build yourself, will provide SATA ports for 3.5″ HDDs or 2.5″ HDDs and SSDs. Some turnkey models have M.2 slots that can be used for NVMe drives to free up fast storage for the pool or improve performance through caching. When building a DIY NAS with modern motherboards, M.2 slots are almost always provided for SATA and NVMe drives. Always check your NAS case or PC hardware documentation for more details.


As long as the drives you have (or want to buy) are compatible with the available ports and slots on the NAS, you're good to go. The operating system will recognize and manage the drives like any other drive, and you can store data in a configured pool. The reason many, including myself, often recommend drives designed for use in servers or NAS is because of the way storage works in such a device. Running drives in a NAS isn't a problem in and of itself, but using some drives in a RAID can result in more wear and tear than the manufacturer intended, especially when running 24/7 with countless other bays occupied.


Consumer drives are not designed for heavier workloads, nor are they built to run multiple units side by side. This can lead to vibration issues, especially with 3.5″ mechanical drives. Firmware and durability are other concerns, as the drives themselves are not built for RAID and NAS. Combining the two with heavier workloads from multiple user accounts and clients could lead to easier drive failures. However, these drives are cheaper than their NAS equivalents, and no drive is immune to failure. There may be times when consumer drives last longer than NAS drives in the same enclosure.

TerraMaster and Asustor NAS

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Are NAS drives better?


If you plan to use your NAS to store sensitive data, be it business or personal files, consider NAS-certified drives. These drives are designed for continuous use, while consumer-grade drives are designed for periodic cycling. NAS drives are more reliable and often have better error correction features and can handle the higher workloads of a NAS and RAID configuration. They should also be able to handle reads and writes more efficiently with multiple connections. Chances are your NAS will be accessed by multiple clients, which can put additional strain on the hardware.


While no drive lasts forever, drives designed for use in NAS and servers usually have additional features that make them better suited for long-term storage. They have improved firmware that protects the drive from vibration and other notable improvements over “standard” drives. However, as long as they're up and running and you don't have any issues with your storage pool, you won't notice a difference unless you're putting a lot of strain on the NAS. Finally, more expensive drives designed for servers can come with longer warranties, so you can count on a year or two of extra coverage.

SMR vs. CMR: Which is better for NAS?

A WD Blue hard drive on a PC


Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) and Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) are two storage technologies used to store data on rotating platters in a hard drive. CRM uses concentric circles (or tracks) to store data, which are segmented into sectors. Everything is recorded linearly, with each sector being written and read independently, allowing certain sectors to be rewritten without affecting other sectors on the drive. SMR is a newer technology that takes the same approach with concentric circles, but instead overlaps the tracks to increase storage capacity, but along with reliability, performance also suffers.


SMR drives can be significantly cheaper than CMR, but I recommend only choosing CMR if possible. Ultimately, almost any drive will work in a NAS. Some questions to consider are how reliable you want the NAS to be, how many drives you will be using, and how frequently you will be checking SMART reports and other statistics to help prevent potential drive failures.

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