Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

Now that we’re entering the Black Friday period (because it’s not just a day anymore), it’s time we spoke about all this network-attached storage (NAS) coverage you’re seeing. If you’ve never considered buying an enclosure to set up your own home server for file storage, security, media consumption, and more, you may not understand why you may want to buy one.

We’re rounding up the best Black Friday NAS deals as they roll in, and there are a few enclosures on sale right now, but we’re holding out for Nov. 26 when Black Friday really takes off for when the best-selling NAS servers like the Synology DiskStation DS220+ are discounted.

While a NAS server isn’t quite like a laptop or desktop PC, the initial setup and management processes are similar in more ways than not. Most modern NAS enclosures we cover here on Windows Central come with powerful operating systems that allow you to interact with them like you would Windows 11 or your favorite flavor of Linux.

I’ve been using NAS for the better part of a decade and frequently review new enclosures as they launch right here, but why should you consider buying one this Black Friday?

Set up your own Plex media server

If you have numerous music albums, movies, TV shows, photos, and more, and need somewhere to store it all locally without relying on external services, you’ll want to consider a NAS and Plex Media Server. Plex is a media streaming platform that can be installed on most modern enclosures, including many that are on sale for Black Friday.

With Plex set up and ready to go, it’s then possible to stream all your favorite content to smartphones, tablets, PCs, and even TVs using official apps. I’ve saved countless hundreds over the years on music subscriptions. Just make sure you go for an Intel-powered NAS if you have 4K content and need to transcode it to various devices.

Also, Plex Pass is currently on sale for $89 until Nov. 29!

QNAP TS-451D2-4G | $50 off

The QNAP TS-451D2 is one of the company’s best enclosures for the home and office, offering excellent value. This server has four drive bays, an Intel Celeron J4025 CPU, and 4GB of DDR4 RAM. If you want to run anything from a file server to a Plex Media Server, this is a great system.

$459 at Best Buy

Save money on cloud storage subscriptions

Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and other cloud storage solutions require a subscription if you want to store countless terabytes of data. By setting up your own NAS for file storage, you can access content from wherever you may be with a net connection like you would OneDrive or Drive, but without the monthly or annual subscription.

Put this together with a Spotify subscription and you could be saving a considerable sum of money each month. The best part is you can have multiple accounts on the same NAS, meaning not only can you save with your own devices and subscriptions, but also family members and friends.

Set up your own website

Since a NAS is effectively a server that can also be connected to the outside world, you can even install a few tools onto an enclosure and start building and/or hosting a website. This can be handy if you want to create a family portal that has a calendar and other useful features for the household or run a small blog without paying out for external web hosting.

Back up your PC

It’s important to back up important files (or the OS in its entirety) from your PC on a regular basis. I know it’s difficult for us all to remember to set up and continue to back up systems, but with a NAS you can configure the whole process to run automatically. I’ve gone into some detail about how to back up Windows 10 to a Synology NAS, for instance.

Why NOW is the best time to buy a NAS

That’s but a small insight into what a NAS can do for you. If you’re looking to buy one for the first time, you can get started with an affordable server that costs less than $100. These are great for just starting out, when on a tight budget, or need something for education in a dorm.

You can easily spend thousands on a server and hard drives, which is why Black Friday and other promotions are the best times to buy a NAS and everything else you require. We only cover discounts that are worth checking out, weeding out all those enclosures that are either not really discounted by much or aren’t worth considering.