What can I run on a NAS?

Why capability matters more than bays

Bay count decides how much storage you can fit; it says nothing about what the box can do. A cheap four-bay ARM unit holds plenty of drives yet cannot run a virtual machine, hardware-transcode 4K, or host a heavy Docker stack. A two-bay Intel box does all three. So if you are buying a NAS for what it enables rather than raw capacity, start from the app you care about and work back to the hardware — which is exactly what this matrix is for.

The ARM vs Intel fork

This is the one distinction that shapes everything. Intel and AMD (x86) models run a full container platform, host virtual machines, and — on Intel chips with Quick Sync — hardware-transcode 4K video. ARM models (UGREEN’s DH line, QNAP’s TS-233) are cheaper, quieter and lower-power, but they cannot virtualize, cannot hardware-transcode, and run Docker only in a limited way — QNAP’s ARM box has no Container Station at all. Neither is “better”: ARM is right for storage, backups and direct-play media; Intel is right for a machine that doubles as a home server. Getting this wrong is the most expensive NAS mistake, because you cannot upgrade a CPU.

The RAM lever

After the CPU, memory decides how much you can stack. Light apps — Pi-hole, Vaultwarden, Home Assistant — run in a few hundred megabytes. But Immich’s machine-learning search wants 8 GB, a Minecraft world wants 4 GB to itself, and a virtual machine wants 16 GB of system RAM so it has a real slice without starving the NAS. Many entry models ship with 2–4 GB, so the question is not just what they ship with but how far you can upgrade — a model with SO-DIMM slots you can fill beats one with soldered memory the moment you get ambitious. Where a row below needs more RAM to run an app well, its model page links straight to the compatible modules.

Frequently asked questions