The more money you spend, the more capable the pre-built NAS is.

Why would you want to? There are several commercial items available, ranging from simple single-disk units targeted at home networks to veritable behemoths, supporting as many as a dozen drives in a single rack. If you intend to share files (videos and music) across your LAN, you're pretty much on your own as far as adequate hardware is concerned, but I suspect that everything I say below is applicable to the most extreme usage. Also, my intended use is currently just a way to conveniently store incremental backups and the occasional restore point for all of my machines. Note: This article deals expressly within the realm of a trusted networking environment where you don't have to worry about local intruders (your kids and their friends), idiot users (your spouse and your friends), and your LAN is not exposed in any way to external access (the internet). It's a pain, and I have to baby-sit the process. Sure, an occasional backup to DVD is probably warranted, but not every backup. I'm also tired of burning DVD's (I've probably spent thousands of dollars on blank media).

I don't want to have to think about it beyond the initial setup. Yeah, you can buy pre-built devices the size of a hardcover book, but what fun is that? The reason I'm building one is that I need to automate backups of four systems in my house. You can use one solely as an automatic backup device, share videos and music across the LAN, or even stream content to a HTPC. Possible uses for a NAS device are as varied as the myriad of choices of hardware made to support it. Network Attached Storage - otherwise referred to as NAS - is probably the best way to add storage that is generally available across your LAN.

Best nas for home use 2013