When I first started using a NAS as my DIY NVR, it was more of an experiment than anything else. I originally purchased the NAS for backing up all our devices and for media serving duties. But I soon realised it could also serve as an NVR. With QNAP now including 8 NVR channels for free in their new QVR Pro NVR app, I have been very happy with my QNAP NAS in my DIY NAS NVR setup.
If you are interested in a similar setup, here are my 2023 picks for a multi-purpose low-power all-in-one DIY NAS NVR.
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Best NAS for Home Surveillance – 2023 Recommendations Summary & Comparison
| NAS | Best for how many cameras | NVR Channels | RAM | Ethernet | Latest Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best 2-bay NAS NVR | |||||
| Synology DS220j | Upto 4 IP Cameras | 2 free / 12 max | 512 MB | 1x 1 GbE | |
| QNAP TS-251D 4GB | Upto 8 IP Cameras | 8 free / 16 max | 4 GB / 2 GB | 1x 1 GbE | |
| QNAP TS-253D 4GB | Upto 16 IP Cameras | 8 free / 16 max | 4 GB | 2x 2.5 GbE | |
| Best 4-bay NAS NVR | |||||
| Synology DS420j | Upto 4 IP Cameras | 2 free / 16 max | 1 GB | 1 GbE | |
| QNAP TS-453D | Upto 8 IP Cameras | 8 free / 24 max | 8 GB / 4 GB | 2x 2.5 GbE | |
| QNAP TS-453BT3 | Upto 40 IP Cameras | 8 free / 40 max | 8 GB | 2x 2.5 GbE, 1x 10 GbE | |
| Best 8-bay NAS NVR | |||||
| QNAP TS-873A 8GB | Upto 60 IP Cameras | 8 free / 60 max | 8 GB | 2x 2.5 GbE | |
| QNAP TVS-872XT i5 16GB | Upto 64 IP Cameras | 8 free / 64 max | 16 GB | 2x 2.5 GbE, 1x 10 GbE | |
How does a NAS do surveillance?
A NAS is basically a computer that runs a custom Linux operating system created by the manufacturer (Synology, QNAP, Asus etc.). Most manufacturers offer various apps that can be installed on their devices to add or extend its abilities. These apps are usually called ‘stations’.
Examples of such ‘stations’ apps include Photo stations, Video stations, Backup stations and Surveillance Stations. In my opinion, the best surveillance station apps are the ones from QNAP and Synology.
QNAP has recently launched QVR Pro, a very capable alternative to its own Surveillance Station app. The main attraction of QVR Pro is that it comes with 8 free IP camera channels (or licences) whereas QNAP Surveillance Station and Synology Surveillance Station are limited to 2 or 4 free channels. I have explored the differences between QNAP QVR Pro and QNAP in detail here.
Choosing the right NAS NVR
The modern household is a tech-heavy environment. Every family member probably has at least a smartphone, and probably a laptop. Sharing media and documents across the home is a challenge without a central media server. This is where a NAS typically comes into the picture.
Providing redundant RAID storage, a NAS can serve up documents, stream music and movies to any device through the DLNA standard. But the NAS can do so much more. I use mine as a VPN server to securely connect from outside the home and access my home automation system, turn on lights, turn up the heating, check out my security cameras and more.
Almost every NAS sold today has a surveillance camera feature, but only two companies have the software that can really pull it off – QNAP and Synology. They are broadly comparable, and both support advance motion deteciton and so I consider them to be equally good. However QNAP models that can run QVR Pro come with 8 free IP camera licences which sometimes make them a better deal. I have considered this aspect in my recommendations.
To ensure you can record a decent number of IP cameras, and still have enough headroom for typical NAS duties, I suggest the following:
| NAS NVR Must-haves | NAS NVR Nice to haves |
|---|---|
| Basic Motion detection | Advanced motion detection - tripwire / dwell / linger / missing object / new object/ face detection |
| Motion Detection Email alerts | Push notifications |
| At least one high speed port (USB 3.0 / eSATA / Thunderbolt) | Automated scheduled backups to an external drive |
| Live view of at least 4 channels simultaneously | 24/7 Live view of all channels on external monitors through HDMI ports |
| Synchronous playback of at least 4 channels simultaneously | Synchronous playback of all channels on external monitors through HDMI ports |
| Event timeline markers | Intelligent video analysis to search for events |
Best 2-Bay NAS for Home Surveillance
Best Budget 2-bay NAS: Synology DS-220j
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- Quad Core 1.4 GHz, 512MB RAM
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet port
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
- Max. 12 IP Cameras
- Synology Surveillance Station
- 2 free IP camera licences
- DLNA, Hardware encryption
- Software transcoding only
- 2 years warranty
- Good performance
- Advanced motion detection reduces false alerts
- Very low power consumption
- Drives not hot-swappable
- No HDMI, Software-based transcoding only
- Drive bays not slot-loading, no front USB port
Synology is well-known for its high-quality hardware and very intuitive OS called DSM. The Synology X20j series is the starter option in its NAS family and range from 1-bay to 4-bay models.
The DS220j can serve as your file server, stream media across the home, automatically backup your devices, set up your own private cloud for file-sharing and monitor your IP cameras as well.
This NAS looks very similar to its predecessor, the DS218j. But one big upgrade is the new quad-core processor, which improves performance substantially.
While the 512MB RAM may not sound like much, bear in mind that these NAS boxes are basically extremely energy efficient Linux PCs. Linux doesn’t need as much RAM as Windows and so 512MB RAM is good enough for recording up to 12 IP cameras at 1080p and 10fps using the built-in Surveillance Station app.
Only 2 free IP camera channels are included though, and extra channels cost around $50 each. So factor this into the total cost of ownership. Also the limited RAM and processor allow only for software-based media transcoding at 720p.
Best Overall 2-bay NAS: QNAP TS-251D
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- Quad Core Intel J4025, 2/4 GB RAM
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet port
- 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1, 3 x USB 2.0
- Max. 16 IP Cameras
- QVR Pro with 8 free channels
- Advanced motion detection
- Hardware encryption, Hot-swappable slot loading HDDs
- DLNA, Hardware Transcoding, Virtualization
- HDMI 2.0, PCIe slot
- 2 years warranty
- Strong Intel CPU
- Advanced motion detection reduces false alerts
- Hot-swappable slot loading HDDs, Front USB 3.2 port
- 4K transcoding to 1080p
- HDMI port lets you connect NAS to a TV
- Ethernet link aggregation not possible without adding a network card
- HDMI output of QVR Pro requires 4 GB RAM upgrade
Moving into QNAP’s Home and SOHO product offerings, the TS-251D improves upon the popular TS-251+ model. If you want a powerful Intel chip in your NAS, the x51 series are the go-to QNAP models.
The aging quad-core Celeron J1900 processor of the TS-251+ has been replaced by the dual-core Celeron J4005 (J4025 in some countries). You may think having 2 cores less would handicap the NAS. But actually the J4005/J4025 are much faster than the outgoing J1900. Also the new processors have the Intel HD Graphics 600 on-board which offloads certain tasks from the CPU.
The 4 GB RAM gives your NAS more headroom and performance when running intensive tasks like 4K UHD transcoding or using QVR Pro with the maximum of 16 IP camera channels. There is a 2 GB RAM model also but it won’t run QVR Pro and may also be a limiting factor if you want to run multiple applications.
The TS-251D also supports virtualization, so you can run virtual machines. This is great for running different operating systems on your NAS, such as testing/development on Linux or Android.
There is only 1 Gigabit ethernet port, so link aggregation/failover for network connections is not possible out of the box. But there is a PCIe slot allows you to extend the NAS capabilities by adding 10GbE support, SSD caching, or even a wireless card.
You can run Plex Media Server on this NAS and it supports hardware-accelerated transcoding up to 1080p. But bear in mind that only the QNAP apps work over the HDMI port. If you need 4K/1080p transcoding, consider the QNAP TVS-872XT.
Moving on to the NVR features of this NAS, you get 8 free IP camera channels using the included QVR Pro NVR app. If you want to go to the maximum 16 channels supported by this NAS, an extra 8-camera license pack is available for purchase.
QNAP has recently launched the QVR Elite app which offers 2 IP camera channels for free. However this product is subscription-based which I don’t recommend.
Now that QVR Pro supports the advanced motion detection of Hikvision and Dahua cameras, I don’t really need Blue Iris anymore for tying into my home automation system! Super low power consumption of just 15W under load makes this the ideal DIY NAS NVR.
You can live view your IP cameras over the HDMI 2.0 port, unfortunately this feature works only if you upgrade the NAS to 8 GB RAM.
Best High-end 2-bay NAS: QNAP TS-253D 4GB
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- Quad Core with 4 GB DDR4 RAM
- 2x 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen1, 3x USB 2.0
- Max. 16 IP Cameras
- QVR Pro with 8 free channels
- Advanced motion detection
- Hardware encryption, Hot-swappable slot loading HDDs
- DLNA, 4K Transcoding, Virtualization
- HDMI 2.0, PCIe slot
- 2 years warranty
- Strong performance, ethernet link aggregation/failover supported
- Advanced motion detection reduces false alerts
- Hot-swappable slot loading HDDs, Front USB 3.2 Gen 1 port
- 4K USD transcoding to 1080p
- HDMI port lets you watch IP cameras on a TV
- HDMI output of QVR Pro requires 4 GB RAM upgrade
If you would like a beefier CPU and more than one Ethernet port, the QNAP TS-253D is the best 2-bay NAS for the enthusiast.
Multiple Ethernet ports enable link aggregation to double network bandwidth, failover for redundnacy, and the freedom to assign different ports to VMs or the QVR surveillance software.
However you will still need an additional 4 GB RAM upgrade to enable HDMI output of the QVR Pro NVR app.
Best 4-Bay NAS for Home Surveillance
Best Budget 4-bay NAS: Synology DS420j
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- Quad Core 1.4 GHz with 1GB DDR4 RAM
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet
- 2 x USB 3.0 ports
- Max. 16 IP Cameras (2 free licences)
- Advanced motion detection
- Hardware encryption
- DLNA, Transcoding
- 2 years warranty
- Good performance
- Supports up to 16 IP cameras at 1080p
- Advanced motion detection reduces false alerts
- No hot-swappable HDDs, no front USB port
- No HDMI, ethernet link aggregation/failover supported
- No hardware transcoding
The DS420j is the 4-bay version of the DS220j we saw above. But it does have twice the RAM at 1GB. This lets the DS420j manage up to 16 IP cameras at 1080p instead of the DS220j’s 12, and up to 3 times more frames per second.
Why is this NAS the budget king of 4-bay NAS NVRs? Because you can get advanced motion detection alerts from Hikvision and Dahua cameras, which is possible only on Synology at this price.
If you want the same feature on QNAP, you need a NAS that has at least 4GB RAM so that it can run QVR Pro.
Best Overall 4-bay NAS: QNAP TS-453D 4/8GB
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- Dual Core 2.0 GHz Intel Celeron with 4/8GB DDR4 RAM
- 2x 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet
- 2x USB 3.2Gen1, 2x USB 2.0
- Max. 24 IP Cameras
- QVR Pro with 8 free channels
- Advanced motion detection
- Hardware encryption, Hot-swappable HDDs
- DLNA, 4K Transcoding, Virtualization
- 2 years warranty
- Strong performance, 2.5 GbE aggregation/failover
- Advanced motion detection reduces false alerts
- Hot-swappable HDDs, SSD support, HDMI, Front USB 3.2 Gen 1 port
- HDMI output of QVR Pro NVR software requires 8 GB RAM version
The QNAP TS-453D is the new best value-for-money 4-bay NAS you can get right now. The 4 GB RAM version should be sufficient for most users but if you want to output surveillance cameras over HDMI, go for the 8 GB RAM version.
It supports M.2 NVMe 2280 SSD slots that you can use for SSD cache acceleration. Basically the SSD acts as a cache to speed up data transfer from the NAS to your networked devices.
This NAS has an Intel Celeron CPU that allows for virtualization. Using the multiple 2.5 Gigabit Eternet ports, you can assign different VMs to different ports for maximum bandwidth.
Best High-end 4-bay NAS: QNAP TS-453BT3
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- Quad Core 1.5 GHz with 8 GB DDR3L RAM
- 2x Gigabit & 1x 10G Ethernet
- 5 x USB 3.0, 2 x Thunderbolt
- Max. 40 IP Cameras
- QVR Pro with 8 free channels
- Advanced motion detection
- Hardware encryption, Hot-swappable HDDs
- DLNA, 4K Transcoding, Virtualization
- 2 years warranty
- Strong performance, 10GbE failover supported
- Two 4K capable HDMI ports
- Advanced motion detection reduces false alerts
- Hot-swappable slot loading HDDs, Front USB 3.0 port, LCD screen
- HDMI ports are 1.4b versions and limited to 30fps
Just like the TS-253A, the TS-453A has been replaced by newer models. But the 453 family is quite large comprising of the TS-453B, the TS-453Be, the TS-453BT3 and the TS-453Bmini. The T3 in the model name represents the 2x Thunderbolt 3 ports on this NAS.
Thunderbolt support is a must-have for creative professionals and video editors, so that’s the target audience here. However it is also useful for high speed data transfer which is great for surveillance data access purposes.
Best 8-Bay NAS for Home Surveillance
Best Overall 8-bay NAS: QNAP TS-873A 8GB
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- Quad Core AMD with 8 GB DDR3L RAM
- 4x Gigabit Ethernet
- 4 x USB 3.0 ports
- Max. 24 IP Cameras
- QVR Pro with 8 free channels
- Advanced motion detection
- Hardware encryption, Hot-swappable HDDs, PCIe
- DLNA, 4K Transcoding, Virtualization
- 2 years warranty
- Strong performance, ethernet failover supported
- Advanced motion detection reduces false alerts
- Hot-swappable slot loading HDDs, Front USB 3.0 port, LCD screen
- HDMI ports are optional
The TS-873A replaces the TVS-873 from last year. It uses a fast and powerful AMD processor with on-board Radeon graphics. This makes the NAS particularly suited to multimedia and surveillance duties.
Even though the NAS is aimed at small businesses, the multimedia features are what makes this NAS box shine. On offer are optional HDMI output, audio in and audio out which can be very useful for surveillance applications, and powerful hardware to keep everything chugging along nicely.
Best High-end 8-bay NAS: QNAP TVS-872XT-i5
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- Hexa-Core Intel Core i5 with 16GB DDR4 RAM
- 2x 1Gbps, 1x 10Gbps Ethernet
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1, 4x 3.2 Gen2, 2x Thunderbolt, HDMI 2.0
- Max. 36 IP Cameras
- QVR Pro with 8 free channels
- Advanced motion detection
- Hardware encryption, Hot-swappable HDDs, PCIe
- DLNA, 4K Transcoding, Virtualization
- 2 years warranty
- Excellent performance, DDR4 RAM, and SSD support
- Advanced motion detection reduces false alerts
- Hot-swappable HDDs, Front USB port, LCD screen
- Only 1 HDMI port
If you want the ultimate backup server, media server, and DIY NAS NVR, don’t look any further. The TVS-872XT is at the top end of the market but that’s because you get the latest hardware technology together with enterprise level software features.
There is 1 HDMI port which can support 4K at 30fps. You can add up to 36 IP cameras in QVR Pro or 72 IP cameras in the standard Surveillance Station app.
Conclusion
So there you have it, these are my recommendations to build the best DIY NAS NVR in 2023. Leave your thoughts below!
Daniel–do you have any thoughts on the QNAP TS-253A vs the 253B? Several websites are positioning the 253B and the latest version of the 253A.
I think the 253B will eventually replace the 253A, although at the moment both are available to purchase.
Hardware differences: Apart from the updated processor(J3455 vs. N3160), the 253B also has the newer USB Type-C connector on the front. The 253B has an 8GB RAM variant. There’s an SD card slot and one extra USB 3.0 port on the 253-B. It can also be upgraded to a 10 Gigabit LAN port via a PCIe expansion card, which you cant do on the 253A. The front OLED display now shows you system information and has 2 capacitive touch buttons also.
Software-wise, they are the same except for a voice assistant that makes system announcements.
Personally I don’t care for USB Type-C or any of the updates the 253B has, so I would have still bought the 253A IF it was cheaper.
Question… Any thoughts on WD’s integration with Milestone Arcus? I have used Milestone previously, and like it, but really trying to figure out what I am going to use next (my previous setup was on a Win7 machine which doesn’t hold up with Win patches). Milestone is not the cheapest, but it is pretty decent.
Thanks!
Hey! Thank you very much! You really helped me out. Take care!
You’re welcome Alex!