NAS for Video Editing — The Complete Guide

If you are a video editor still working from a stack of external drives, this is your exit ramp. This guide covers everything — what to buy, how to connect it, how to set it up in DaVinci, Premiere, or Final Cut Pro, and how to plan for footage growth and remote collaboration. AU pricing and NBN realities included throughout.

Start Here

Not sure if your network can handle the transfer speeds you need? Check with the Transfer Speed Estimator

Choose Your Hardware

Size your RAID before you buy
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Open RAID Calculator

Set It Up

Plan Your Workflow

Frequently Asked Questions

For 4K ProRes or RAW workflows, yes. 1GbE tops out around 100-110 MB/s which is not enough for high-bitrate codecs. 2.5GbE works for compressed 4K (H.264/H.265). 10GbE is recommended if you are editing ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes RAW, or BRAW. Use the Transfer Speed Estimator to check your specific codec and drive configuration.

With a fast enough connection (2.5GbE minimum, 10GbE for RAW), you can edit directly from the NAS. This is called direct-attached or network-attached editing. DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro all support it. The bottleneck is usually the network, not the NAS.

QNAP's Thunderbolt-enabled NAS units (TVS-h874T, TS-464T) are the only consumer NAS options with Thunderbolt ports, which matters for FCP workflows on Mac. Synology does not offer Thunderbolt. If you are on 10GbE, Synology DS925+ and QNAP TS-464 are both strong options.

Significantly. NBN 100/20 gives you roughly 2.5 MB/s upload. Enough for proxy files but not for full-res footage. NBN 250/25 or business-grade connections (with symmetric speeds) are much better for remote access workflows. The Transfer Speed Estimator has NBN presets built in.