The best NAS for Surveillance recording in Canada
By Devin Chua · Data checked by Owen Nakamura · Updated The best NAS for Surveillance recording in Canada is the DXP4800 Plus — scales to many cameras; surveillance drives, on its Intel Pentium Gold 8505 (5 cores, 6 threads) with 8–64 GB of RAM. The full ranking below shows which other models keep up and which fall short.
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Top picks for Surveillance recording
What Surveillance recording actually needs
A network video recorder using the vendor's own app (Synology Surveillance Station, QNAP QVR, UGREEN, TerraMaster). These run natively on almost any NAS; what scales is camera count, retention, and using surveillance-tuned drives for the constant write load.
Unlike the Docker apps, this uses the vendor's own NVR software — Synology Surveillance Station, QNAP QVR, UGREEN's app, TerraMaster's — which runs natively on almost any of these NAS boxes, ARM included. The real requirements are elsewhere: enough licences for your camera count (Synology includes two), the storage to hold your retention window (cameras record 24/7), and surveillance-tuned drives built for that constant write load. For AI object detection specifically, that is a different tool — see Frigate.
Every NAS ranked for Surveillance recording
Click a model for its full breakdown; “· add RAM” flags one that needs a memory upgrade first.
| NAS model | Runs? | Performance | What it needs on this model |
|---|---|---|---|
| DXP4800 Plus | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| DXP6800 Pro | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| DS925+ | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| DS923+ | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| DS1525+ | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| DXP2800 | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| DXP4800 | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| TS-464 | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| TS-264 | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| F4-425 | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| F2-425 | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| DS423+ | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| DS224+ | Yes | good | Scales to many cameras; surveillance drives |
| DH4300 Plus | Yes | fair | A few cameras; use surveillance drives |
| DH2300 | Yes | fair | A few cameras; use surveillance drives |
| TS-233 | Yes | fair | A few cameras; use surveillance drives |
Picked a box? Size cameras, retention & drives ›
Frequently asked questions
What is the best NAS for surveillance in Canada?
For native NVR recording, almost any NAS works via the vendor's app (Synology Surveillance Station, QNAP QVR, UGREEN, TerraMaster) — even ARM boxes for a few cameras. Choose by camera count and licences (Synology includes two), and pair it with surveillance-tuned drives. For AI detection, look at Frigate on an Intel box instead.
What drives should a surveillance NAS use?
Surveillance-tuned drives — WD Purple or Seagate SkyHawk — built for many simultaneous 24/7 write streams. Ordinary NAS drives work but handle the sustained multi-camera write load less gracefully, which is why NVR software vendors specify surveillance drives.
How much storage does a surveillance NAS need?
It is driven by camera count × bitrate × retention days, and cameras record continuously, so capacity adds up fast. Use the surveillance builder to estimate it, and size generously — more cameras or a longer retention window both push the requirement up quickly.
Do I need a powerful NAS for security cameras?
Not for native recording — the vendor NVR apps are light and run on entry and even ARM boxes for a handful of cameras. Power only matters if you want AI object detection (Frigate), which needs an Intel iGPU and a Coral TPU. For plain recording, prioritise camera licences and drive capacity.
Read more
Devin Chua works out which drives, RAM and NVMe cache fit which NAS model at nasdrives.ca, and what the RAID choice means for usable capacity, checked against what is in stock on Amazon.ca.
Data checked by Owen Nakamura, Technical editor (data checking)