Articles & explainers
The concepts behind a good NAS build - what the specs mean and how to choose with confidence.
How to choose a NAS hard drive
A plain-English walkthrough of everything that matters when picking drives for a NAS: CMR vs SMR, capacity, class, reliability and warranty.
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NAS hard drive prices nearly doubled - the data (Q3 2026)
NAS hard drive prices sat flat for a year, then roughly doubled per terabyte as the AI datacenter buildout swallowed hard-drive supply. Here's the $/TB trend, when it turned, consumer vs enterprise, and how to time a buy.
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How often do NAS hard drives actually go on sale?
We measured it from daily price history: consumer NAS drives go on sale several times more often than enterprise drives, though the discount is about the same size when it happens. Here's the data, by tier and by model.
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RAID and how many drives you need
A clear explainer of RAID levels for a NAS - what each one costs you in drives, how much protection it gives, and how many disks to buy.
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SSD vs HDD for a NAS
When to use hard drives vs SSDs in a NAS - bulk storage, cache, and all-flash setups explained.
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How long do NAS drives last?
What annualized failure rate (AFR) really means, how long NAS hard drives typically last, and how to plan for failures.
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Shucking external drives for a NAS
What drive shucking is, the risks (CMR/SMR, warranty, the 3.3V pin), and whether it's worth it for a NAS.
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SMR drives hiding in NAS lines
Manufacturers have quietly shipped SMR drives into NAS and desktop lines. Why it wrecks RAID rebuilds, which current models are SMR, and how to avoid them.
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IT-mode HBAs for ZFS, TrueNAS and Unraid
Which SAS HBA to buy for a ZFS, TrueNAS or Unraid build: IT vs IR mode, the LSI chipset generations (SAS2008 to SAS3416), every common card and OEM rebrand, and what to buy for HDDs, SSDs and big pools.
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How to crossflash any LSI SAS HBA to IT mode
Flash a cheap RAID-mode SAS card to plain IT firmware for ZFS and TrueNAS: identify your chipset (SAS2008 / 2308 / 3008), pick the right tool and firmware, and follow the per-card steps for the M1015, H310, H200, H220, N2215 and H330.
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SAS cables, connectors and expanders for a NAS
How to actually wire an HBA to your drives: SFF-8087 vs SFF-8643 connectors, forward vs reverse breakout cables, port math, and when you need a SAS expander (Intel RES2SV240 / RES3TV360) instead of a bigger card.
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