Best SSD for the QNAP TS-264
By Devin Chua · Data checked by Owen Nakamura · Updated The 2 bays of the QNAP TS-264 take 2.5-inch SATA SSDs as well as hard drives, but over 2 × 2.5GbE, expandable via the PCIe slot it rarely pays: the network caps throughput long before the drive does, and SSDs cost a multiple per TB. An all-SSD TS-264 makes sense for silence in a living space, or for the many small parallel reads of virtual-machine storage — not for a file-and-backup NAS.
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SATA SSDs for the TS-264, live from Amazon.ca
What sets the TS-264 apart
Two bays, but the kit of a bigger machine: two NVMe slots, two 2.5-gigabit ports and a PCIe slot. With only two drives, RAID 1 is the one sensible choice, which halves the capacity no matter how large the drives are.
When SSDs make sense in the TS-264
A SATA SSD reads about 550 MB/s, a good NAS drive 200 to 280 — but the TS-264's 2 × 2.5GbE, expandable via the PCIe slot only carries part of that anyway, and per terabyte the SSD costs several times more. For file storage, backups and media on the TS-264, hard drives are the sensible choice by every measure.
Two cases flip it. Silence: if the TS-264 lives in a living room or bedroom, an all-SSD build is the only thing that truly quiets it. And many small parallel reads — virtual- machine storage, a busy photo database — where the SSD's access times, not its data rate, are what you are buying. On a lighter box like the TS-264, that second case is rarer than it sounds.
The QNAP drive policy on the TS-264
unrestrictedOpen. QNAP locks no drives; the compatibility list is guidance.
The TS-264 at a glance
| Bays | 2 × 3.5-inch SATA and 2.5-inch SATA SSD |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Celeron N5095 (4 cores) |
| Memory | 8 GB, DDR4 SO-DIMM, no ECC (2 slots) 16 GB official; 32 GB is reported in forums but not endorsed. |
| M.2 NVMe | 2 slots 2 × M.2 2280 NVMe (PCIe 3.0 x1), freely populated |
| Network | 2 × 2.5GbE, expandable via the PCIe slot |
| Operating system | QTS 5.2 or QuTS hero (ZFS) |
| RAID types | Single, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1 |
Keep calculating
To see how much capacity is left after parity, the TS-264 capacity calculator is preset to its 2 bays and RAID types. For the TS-264, the wider basics of choosing a drive are in the buying guides, where we also explain why CMR rather than SMR is mandatory in any RAID array.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put third-party drives in the TS-264?
Yes. QNAP locks no drive brand on the TS-264 — its compatibility list is guidance, not a gate — so any CMR NAS drive works.
Which drives fit the TS-264?
The TS-264 takes any 3.5-inch SATA and 2.5-inch SATA SSD drive; use a CMR NAS family rated for 24/7 duty such as IronWolf, WD Red Plus or Toshiba N300. On its 2 × 2.5GbE, expandable via the PCIe slot, a standard CMR drive is already fast enough for the TS-264.
How much capacity is usable in the TS-264?
In the TS-264, 2 × 8 TB in RAID 1 gives about 7.28 TiB usable and survives 1 drive failing; the balance is parity.
Can the TS-264 run Plex with hardware transcoding?
Yes. The TS-264's Intel Celeron N5095 (4 cores) includes Intel Quick Sync, which hardware-transcodes Plex including 4K HEVC, so it handles several streams at once without loading the CPU.
Is a Pro drive worth it in the TS-264?
Marginal. The TS-264's 2 × 2.5GbE, expandable via the PCIe slot sits right where a standard CMR drive already saturates the link, so a Pro drive mainly buys warranty, not speed.
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)