2025 self-built NAS private cloud VS public cloud: cost, security, and speed are compared, and you will know how to choose after reading it
Previous Self-built NAS Private Cloud vs. Public Cloud Storage, Cost, Security, and Performance Competition! (A must-see for homes/businesses) some people reported that what they said was empty words and did not speak in numbers. Well, this provides a comparison of the data :
1. Give a conclusion first: 3 sentences to choose the right route
- data is larger than 10 TB, and the average annual growth rate is ≥30%, and self-built NAS is more economical.
- "0 tolerance" for privacy, compliance, and ransomware, NAS private cloud is the only solution;
- team collaborates in different places, has a small bandwidth, and does not have a dedicated operation and maintenance, so buying a public cloud directly is the most worry-free.
below is a table of 6 core differences, scored item by item (out of 5 ★), so that you can understand at a glance.
Comparison of the two and six dimensions of hard-core
| dimensions | build your own NAS private cloud | public cloud (AWS/Alibaba/Tencent) | Differential Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1) Initial Cost | ★★★☆☆ Disposable hardware 0.8–12,000 yuan (4×4 TB, including UPS and 10,000 gigabit switching) | ★★★★★ starts at 0 yuan and is billed as you go | the cash flow pressure in the early stage of the public cloud was ≈0; NAS is a one-time scam. |
| (2) Five-year total cost of ownership (TCO) 20 TB scenario | ★★★★☆ About 15,000 yuan (electricity + hard disk depreciation) | ★☆☆☆☆ about 42,000 yuan (0.12 yuan/GB/month) | the larger the capacity, the cheaper the NAS; Public cloud price increases linearly. |
| (3) Sequential read/write performance | ★★★★★ Intranet 1000–600 MB/s | ★★☆☆☆ Restricted to public online uplink 20–100 Mbps | local 4K editing and AI training material library, and the NAS is in the cloud. |
| (4) Privacy & Compliance | ★★★★★ Data is local, and the key is held by yourself | ★★☆☆☆ Trust cloud vendor + audit report | healthcare, law firms, and IC design, compliance requirements directly pass the public cloud. |
| (5) Off-site disaster recovery | ★★☆☆☆ Requires self-built secondary backup or off-site NAS | ★★★★★ Multi-AZ/Cross-Region Replication with an SLA of 99.95 % | public cloud comes with 3 copies; NAS requires additional hard disk + computer room. |
| (6) Operation and maintenance threshold | ★★☆☆☆ Need to understand RAID, ZFS, SSL, DDNS | ★★★★★ Console 5 minutes out of the box | a small team without IT part-timers, NAS failures equal "data evaporation." |
3. Typical scenes are seated
- home audio-visual + PT download
Conclusion: NAS > public cloud
Reason: 4K original disk 50–80 Mbps bit rate, only the intranet can broadcast smoothly; Cloud disk traffic fees are more expensive than hard disks. - SME Finance + OA Backup
Conclusion: NAS > public cloud
Reason: Financial data needs to be stored for 10 years, and the 10-year rent of public cloud = 15 times the hard disk price; NAS+ offline cooling standby is the most cost-effective. - cross-provincial design team of 20 people
conclusion: Reasons for the >NAS
of public cloud: 30 Mbps uplink bandwidth is a bottleneck, and multiple people pulling 3 GB PSD at the same time will crash; S3+CDN accelerates more steadily around the world. - Individual developer/blogger
Conclusion: Reasons for public cloud >NAS
: HTTPS certificates, snapshots, global Anycast, cloud vendors are well-equipped with one click; NAS also has to toss DDNS+ filing.
4. The simplest "white box" solution for self-built NAS in 2025
Hardware:
- N100 Quad-core small host (≈850 yuan, 6 W standby)
- 16 GB DDR4 (≈260 yuan)
- 4× 4 TB CoolWolf NAS disk (≈1 600 yuan ×4)
- UPS 650 VA (≈280 yuan)
system:
Feiniu OS + ZFS RAID-Z1 (3+1)
→ 12 TB available, 550 MB/s sequential write, 18 W standby power consumption, and ≈ 400 yuan for 5 years of electricity.
Feiniu OS + ZFS RAID-Z1 (3+1)
→ 12 TB available, 550 MB/s sequential write, 18 W standby power consumption, and ≈ 400 yuan for 5 years of electricity.
deployment takes 30 minutes, the WebGUI is equipped with SMB, NFS, Docker, and Nextcloud with one click, and the mobile phone external network access comes with WireGuard penetration.
5. Public Cloud 2025 Price Check (Object Storage)
| Manufacturer | standard storage | low-frequency storage | archive direct reading | outflow flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a certain OSS | 0.12 RMB/GB/month | 0.08 yuan | 0.033 RMB | 0.50 RMB/GB |
| a certain news COS | 0.118 yuan/GB/month | 0.08 yuan | 0.03 yuan | 0.50 RMB/GB |
| an AWS China S3 | 0.14 yuan/GB/month | 0.09 RMB | 0.033 yuan | 0.53 yuan/GB |
Note: Every 1 TB of monthly storage + 1 reading per month, the cost ≈ 120 yuan; Similarly, the hard drive only spreads 30 yuan depreciation + 4 yuan electricity bill at home.
6. Summary in one sentence
"The larger and more sensitive the data, the more fragrant the self-built NAS private cloud; The more dispersed the team is, the less O&M there is, and the more troublesome the public cloud. "
2025 hard drive prices have fallen back to pre-2020 levels, which is a good time to buy dip group NAS. But if you can't even tell the difference between RAID 5 and RAID-Z, buy a public cloud first and learn slowly - you only have one data, don't practice with it.
2025 hard drive prices have fallen back to pre-2020 levels, which is a good time to buy dip group NAS. But if you can't even tell the difference between RAID 5 and RAID-Z, buy a public cloud first and learn slowly - you only have one data, don't practice with it.
Read More
Comment List