Most editors are running all their footage through a single tier of storage. And paying for it either in speed (spinning HDDs that can't keep up with high-bitrate RAW) or in cost (portable SSDs that run out of space after two projects). Professional editing workflows separate storage into three tiers based on how frequently data is accessed and how fast it needs to be: hot storage for active sequences, warm storage for current projects, and cold storage for the archive. Understanding these tiers. And how NVMe caching fits a NAS into a Mac editing workflow. Is what separates a setup that works from one that is always the bottleneck.
For a full overview covering hardware, setup, and workflow planning, see our complete NAS video editing guide.
In short: Hot storage is fast and small. For what you are actively cutting. Warm storage is moderately fast and larger. For current client projects. Cold storage is slow and large. For the archive. A NAS with NVMe cache covers all three tiers in one box for most solo and small-studio workflows. The goal is to stop paying SSD prices for footage you haven't touched in six months.
Why Single-Tier Storage Fails at Scale
When you are starting out, one type of storage makes sense: a fast portable SSD for everything in progress, and cheap external HDDs for everything finished. This works until the footage volumes grow faster than the SSDs can hold, and the HDDs become too disorganised to navigate quickly.
The problem is not just speed. It is cost per TB and workflow friction. A Samsung T7 or LaCie SSD at AU$150-250 per 2TB gives you fast access but limited capacity. NAS-grade HDDs at AU$80-120 per 4TB give you capacity but not speed. Applying one across the board means either spending too much or tolerating too much lag. Professional studios solve this by using different storage technologies for different stages of a project's lifecycle. And a NAS makes this practical without requiring a dedicated IT setup.
The Three Storage Tiers. What Each One Does
The three tiers map directly to how footage moves through a production workflow:
Hot storage is where active editing happens. This needs to be fast. Fast enough to handle whatever codec you are cutting without dropping frames or causing lag. For ProRes 422 HQ 4K, that means sustained read speeds of 500 MB/s or more. For H.264 or H.265, 100-200 MB/s is usually sufficient. Hot storage is typically NVMe SSD: the fastest available, the most expensive per TB, and intentionally small because only active sequences live here.
Warm storage is where live projects and current client work sits. Footage that is being accessed regularly but not necessarily being cut every hour. SATA SSD or high-performance HDD works here. Speeds of 100-400 MB/s are adequate for most workflows. This is the middle tier: large enough to hold several concurrent projects, fast enough to not be a bottleneck during active work.
Cold storage is the archive. Completed projects, raw footage that has been delivered, footage retained for contractual purposes. Speed here is almost irrelevant; capacity and cost per TB are what matter. NAS-grade spinning HDDs (IronWolf, WD Red Pro) in a RAID array are the standard solution. They are slow relative to SSDs, but accessing archived footage is a rare enough event that the speed penalty is acceptable.
How NVMe Caching Fits a NAS Into This Architecture
A traditional NAS is a cold and warm storage device. Spinning HDDs accessed over a network or Thunderbolt connection. The throughput limitation is real: a QNAP or Synology NAS with 7200rpm IronWolf drives can sustain 200-400 MB/s over 10GbE or Thunderbolt, which is adequate for many 4K workflows but starts to strain under ProRes 4444 or high-bitrate RAW.
NVMe caching changes this by adding a fast SSD cache tier inside the NAS itself. When enabled, the NAS learns which files are accessed most frequently and keeps them in the NVMe cache. So repeated reads hit SSD speeds rather than HDD speeds. For editing workflows where you are repeatedly accessing the same timeline assets, the effective read speed from a cached NAS approaches NVMe SSD speeds, not HDD speeds.
QNAP supports NVMe caching on many of its units via M.2 NVMe slots built into the enclosure, including several Thunderbolt-equipped models designed for Mac-based creative workflows. The cache is transparent to the editing software. DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, and Premiere Pro all interact with the NAS as normal storage; the caching layer operates below the filesystem. You set it up once and it works automatically.
The practical outcome: a QNAP NAS with NVMe cache and either Thunderbolt direct-attach or 10GbE network access can function as both your hot-warm storage tier (NVMe cache for active assets) and your cold storage tier (HDD RAID for the archive) in a single box. For most solo editors and small studios, this eliminates the need for separate devices for each tier.
Proxy Workflows and NVMe Cache: The Connection Editors Miss
Many editors working with high-bitrate RAW formats (Blackmagic RAW, ARRI RAW, RED RAW) use proxy workflows. Lower-resolution versions of the footage for editing, with the full-resolution originals used only for final export. DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro all support proxy workflows natively.
NVMe cache on a NAS integrates cleanly with this workflow. The proxy files. Which are small and accessed constantly during editing. Get cached in NVMe automatically because they are the most frequently accessed data. The full-resolution originals sit on HDD storage in the same NAS, accessed only at export time. You get the editing speed of a local SSD for proxies, and the capacity of HDD RAID for originals. From the same device, without managing two separate storage systems.
For editors shooting Blackmagic RAW (BRAW). A disproportionately common format in Australian production due to the strong Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera user base. This workflow is particularly well-matched. BRAW at higher quality ratios (3:1, 5:1) generates large files that benefit from NVMe cache during playback; BRAW at compressed ratios (12:1, 8:1) is small enough to edit directly from HDD RAID without caching.
Mapping the Tiers to Your Actual Workflow
A practical mapping for a Mac-based solo editor using a QNAP NAS with Thunderbolt and NVMe cache:
- Active timeline assets (proxies, current sequence): Served from NVMe cache automatically. SSD-like speeds, no manual management.
- Current projects (footage for jobs in production, current month): On the NAS HDD RAID, accessed over Thunderbolt. 200-400 MB/s is adequate for most 4K workflows; H.264, H.265, BRAW 12:1 edit comfortably here.
- Recent archive (last 12 months, occasionally accessed): On the NAS HDD RAID, accessed on demand. No speed requirement for archived review; capacity is the priority.
- Cold archive (older than 12 months, data retention obligations): On the NAS HDD RAID or offloaded to external drives stored offsite. For footage held purely for contractual retention with no expected client access, external HDDs as a cold tier are cost-effective.
As a studio grows to two or more editors with simultaneous network access, the 10GbE tier becomes relevant. Each editor accessing the NAS over a 10GbE switch rather than direct Thunderbolt. This is the point at which network infrastructure (a 10GbE switch, 10GbE NICs in editing workstations) becomes part of the budget. For sizing help on drives and capacity, the storage capacity planning guide covers codec-by-codec requirements.
AU note on cloud cold storage: US-based NAS content frequently recommends cloud services (AWS S3, Backblaze B2) as the cold storage tier. On Australian NBN connections (typical residential upload: 17-20 Mbps), restoring 4TB of cold archive footage takes 48+ hours. Cloud cold storage is viable as an offsite backup copy. Not as a working retrieval tier. Plan your cold storage architecture accordingly.
Related reading: our NAS buyer's guide.
For a complete hardware and software overview of NAS for video editing in Australia, see our NAS for Video Editors guide.
Our File Transfer Speed Estimator calculates LAN throughput for moving video projects between hot and cold storage, and our RAID Calculator shows usable capacity for each tier's drive configuration.
Use our free NAS Sizing Wizard to get a personalised NAS recommendation.
Do I need all three storage tiers, or can I get by with one?
You can get by with one tier, and most editors do until the limitations become painful. A single tier of NAS HDD RAID works for H.264 and H.265 workflows at 4K and below. It starts to struggle with ProRes, BRAW at high quality ratios, or any workflow requiring sustained reads above 300-400 MB/s. If you are cutting ProRes 422 HQ or BRAW 3:1 directly on a HDD RAID NAS and experiencing dropped frames or sluggish scrubbing, adding NVMe cache or moving active sequences to a local SSD is the solution. For most solo editors below broadcast-level formats, a NAS with NVMe cache covers all three tiers adequately in one device.
What is NVMe caching and do I actually need it for video editing?
NVMe caching uses an NVMe SSD installed in the NAS to store frequently accessed data at SSD speeds. When you read the same files repeatedly. As you do during an edit. The NAS serves them from the NVMe cache rather than the slower HDD RAID. Whether you need it depends on your format: H.264, H.265, and BRAW at compressed ratios generally edit fine from HDD RAID via Thunderbolt or 10GbE. ProRes, BRAW at high quality ratios, and multi-stream 4K workflows benefit noticeably from NVMe cache. QNAP's Thunderbolt-equipped units support M.2 NVMe cache drives; check the specific model's specification for cache bay count and supported SSD types.
How do I decide which files go in hot versus cold storage?
With NVMe caching, you generally do not need to decide manually. The cache tier is managed automatically by the NAS based on access frequency. If you are managing tiers manually (local SSD for hot, NAS for cold), the practical rule is: anything you are actively cutting this week lives on the fastest available storage; anything you have delivered and are done with moves to cold storage. Most editors find a monthly or project-completion workflow rhythm works well: close a project, archive footage to cold storage, clear the hot tier for the next job.
Can I use cloud storage as my cold storage tier in Australia?
As a backup copy. Yes. As a working retrieval tier. No, not practically on Australian NBN connections. Uploading 4TB to Backblaze B2 or Wasabi at 17-20 Mbps upload takes 48+ hours. Restoring it takes similar time. Cloud cold storage works well as the offsite copy in a 3-2-1 strategy (three copies, two media types, one offsite), but if you need to retrieve archived footage for a client request, you need a local copy. For most AU editors, cold storage means HDD RAID on a NAS or external drives stored offsite. Not cloud-primary.
Does Synology support NVMe caching the same way QNAP does?
Synology supports NVMe SSD caching on many of its units, and the cache mechanism works similarly. The key difference for Mac-based creative workflows is Thunderbolt: QNAP offers Thunderbolt support on select models, giving direct-attach speeds comparable to a local SSD for single-editor setups. Synology does not support Thunderbolt, which means network (10GbE or 2.5GbE) is the only connection option. For editors who need direct-attach Thunderbolt speeds for high-bitrate RAW workflows, QNAP is the relevant brand. For editors on network-only access or Windows workstations, Synology's NVMe caching is equally capable.
How does a proxy workflow interact with NAS storage tiers?
In a proxy workflow, you edit using small, compressed proxy files generated from your originals. DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro all support this natively. The proxies are small enough to cache in NVMe automatically (most NAS units will cache them as frequently accessed data), while the full-resolution originals sit on HDD RAID and are only accessed at export. This gives you SSD-like editing speed from a NAS with HDD RAID bulk storage. The best of both tiers without a manual file management workflow. It is the recommended approach for BRAW, ProRes 4444, and other high-bitrate formats on a NAS-based setup.
Working out how much NAS storage your footage actually needs. By codec, hours per week, and retention period? The storage capacity planning guide covers exactly this.
Storage Capacity Planning Guide →