Best NAS for Proxmox in 2026: Run VMs on Your NAS

Running Proxmox on a NAS gives you the best of both worlds: hot-swap drive bays for bulk storage and a Type 1 hypervisor for VMs, containers, and passthrough — all in a compact, low-power chassis that runs 24/7 in a closet. But not every NAS can do it. The difference between a NAS that runs Proxmox and one that doesn’t comes down to four things: BIOS accessibility, CPU virtualization extensions, RAM capacity, and Linux driver support for the onboard NICs.

Most NAS devices are designed to run one proprietary operating system. Synology locks the BIOS entirely. Some QNAP models boot from an internal DOM that complicates alternative OS installs. And almost every NAS ships with 4-8 GB of RAM — enough for the stock OS, nowhere near enough for a hypervisor running multiple VMs.

This guide covers three NAS devices that actually work for bare-metal Proxmox, explains why Synology doesn’t, and tells you when a mini PC is the smarter choice. We’re focusing on what matters for virtualization: UEFI access, VT-x/VT-d support, Intel NIC driver compatibility, RAM ceilings, and storage controller passthrough.

Our Pick: TerraMaster F4-424 Pro

The TerraMaster F4-424 Pro is the only NAS that ships ready for Proxmox out of the box. 32 GB DDR5, an 8-core i3-N305 with full VT-x/VT-d, accessible UEFI, and Intel NICs that the Proxmox installer detects without any driver fuss. At $860, it’s a turnkey Proxmox node in a 4-bay NAS chassis.

Specs: Intel Core i3-N305 (8C/8T, 3.8 GHz) · 32 GB DDR5-4800 · 4x 3.5”/2.5” SATA + 2x M.2 NVMe · 2x 2.5GbE (Intel i226-V) · HDMI

Idle Power: ~24W · Price: ~$860

BIOS and Boot Process

Connect a monitor to the HDMI port, plug in a USB keyboard, and press Del or F2 during POST. You get a standard AMI UEFI setup screen — boot order, secure boot toggle, virtualization settings, everything you’d expect from a standard PC motherboard. Flash the Proxmox ISO to a USB drive with Balena Etcher, set USB as the first boot device, and the installer launches without issues.

TerraMaster is the only NAS brand that openly acknowledges alternative OS installs. Their community forum has official threads covering Proxmox and TrueNAS installation, and wiping TOS for Proxmox does not void your hardware warranty. That matters when you’re spending $860.

CPU and Virtualization

The i3-N305’s eight Efficient cores at up to 3.8 GHz give you genuine headroom for multiple VMs. In Proxmox terms: run a TrueNAS VM for storage management (2 cores, 4 GB RAM), a Docker LXC container for your self-hosted stack (2 cores, 8 GB RAM), a Home Assistant OS VM (2 cores, 2 GB RAM), and a Windows VM for occasional use (2 cores, 8 GB RAM) — and you still have cores and RAM to spare. Try that on a quad-core N5095 with 16 GB.

VT-x (hardware virtualization) and VT-d (directed I/O for PCIe passthrough) are both present and enabled by default in the BIOS. VT-d is what lets you pass a USB controller, NIC, or — with caveats — the SATA controller directly to a VM. IOMMU grouping is functional, though the SATA controller and other onboard devices may share an IOMMU group, requiring an ACS override patch for clean passthrough in some configurations.

Network and Drivers

The dual Intel i226-V 2.5GbE NICs use the igc driver, which is included in the mainline Linux kernel and ships with every Proxmox ISO since version 7. No driver downloads, no DKMS compilation, no Realtek headaches. The Proxmox installer detects both NICs automatically, and you can configure bonding or a management + VM traffic split during setup.

This is a meaningful differentiator. Realtek NICs (common on budget NAS devices and some ASUSTOR models) use the r8169 driver, which works but has a history of performance issues, wake-on-LAN bugs, and occasional stability problems under heavy VM network traffic. Intel NICs are the standard Proxmox recommendation for a reason.

Storage for Proxmox

Install Proxmox to one of the two M.2 NVMe slots — this keeps the OS off your data drives and provides fast VM storage. The four SATA bays handle bulk storage via ZFS or a passed-through TrueNAS VM. A common setup: Proxmox on a 256 GB NVMe, a second NVMe for VM disks, and four HDDs in RAIDZ1 for data.

SATA controller passthrough to a TrueNAS VM has mixed results on the F4-424 Pro. The JMicron SATA controller may share an IOMMU group with other devices. Some users report clean passthrough; others need the ACS override patch or use virtio disk passthrough instead of full controller passthrough. Test your specific unit before committing to this architecture.

The Trade-offs

The 32 GB is soldered — you cannot upgrade beyond it. For a single Proxmox node running 3-5 VMs and containers, 32 GB is comfortable. For a heavily loaded hypervisor with 8+ VMs, you’ll hit the ceiling. There’s no PCIe slot, which means no 10GbE add-in card, no HBA for additional drives, and no GPU passthrough. And at ~24W idle, it draws more than the QNAP or ASUSTOR.

If you’re already running Docker on a NAS and want to level up to Proxmox, see our best NAS for Docker guide — the F4-424 Pro tops that list too.

Best Value: QNAP TS-464

The QNAP TS-464 gives you a Proxmox-capable NAS with a PCIe expansion slot for ~$649 — ~$211 less than the TerraMaster. The trade-off is half the cores and half the RAM ceiling, but for a 2-3 VM Proxmox setup, the TS-464 delivers where it matters: accessible BIOS, Intel NICs, and VT-d.

Specs: Intel Celeron N5095 (4C/4T, 2.9 GHz) · 8 GB DDR4 (max 16 GB) · 4x 3.5”/2.5” SATA + 2x M.2 NVMe · 2x 2.5GbE (Intel i225-V) · PCIe Gen 3 x2

Idle Power: ~19W · Price: ~$649 (8 GB model)

BIOS Access and Boot

Connect HDMI and a USB keyboard, then press Del or F2 during boot. The QNAP BIOS is a standard AMI UEFI interface — you can change boot order, enable/disable secure boot, and configure virtualization settings. One QNAP-specific consideration: the TS-464 has a DOM (Disk on Module) — a small flash chip that stores QTS. The DOM occupies an internal boot slot and can interfere with Proxmox boot order.

The cleanest approach: remove the DOM entirely (it’s a small M.2-style module on the motherboard, accessible by opening the chassis), install Proxmox to an M.2 NVMe SSD, and set NVMe as the first boot device. Alternatively, leave the DOM in place and manually set the NVMe as boot priority in BIOS — but some users report the QNAP firmware resetting boot order after power loss.

CPU and Virtualization

The N5095 has four cores and four threads with VT-x and VT-d support. It handles Proxmox itself plus 2-3 lightweight VMs: a Docker LXC (1-2 cores, 4-6 GB RAM), a pihole/DNS VM (1 core, 512 MB), and perhaps a small utility VM. Don’t expect to run Windows VMs alongside Linux — four cores aren’t enough for mixed heavy workloads.

VT-d and IOMMU work, enabling PCIe passthrough. This is where the TS-464’s PCIe Gen 3 x2 slot becomes valuable: you can install a 10GbE NIC and pass it directly to a VM, or add a SATA HBA for dedicated storage controller passthrough to a TrueNAS VM. No other NAS in this guide offers PCIe expansion.

Network and Drivers

Same story as the TerraMaster: dual Intel i225-V 2.5GbE NICs using the igc driver. Proxmox detects them automatically. Bond them for redundancy or split them into management and VM traffic networks. The PCIe slot means you can add a dedicated VM network NIC separately from the management interface — a proper Proxmox network architecture that’s impossible on the TerraMaster.

Storage Considerations

Install Proxmox to an M.2 NVMe, use the second M.2 for VM storage, and put the four SATA bays into a ZFS pool managed by Proxmox directly or passed through to a TrueNAS VM. The SATA controller passthrough situation is similar to the TerraMaster — IOMMU grouping may require workarounds.

The Trade-offs

16 GB max RAM is the hard ceiling. Proxmox uses 1-2 GB, leaving 14 GB for VMs and containers. That’s 2-3 VMs at best. Buy the 4 GB model and install your own 16 GB SO-DIMM (the 8 GB model has soldered RAM). And once you wipe the DOM for Proxmox, QTS is gone — you’ll need a full QTS reinstall via USB recovery if you ever want to go back.

For more on the TS-464’s capabilities beyond Proxmox, see our best 4-bay NAS roundup.

Budget Option: ASUSTOR AS5402T

The ASUSTOR AS5402T proves you can run Proxmox on a NAS for $407. The same Intel N5105 CPU and i225-V NICs as the QNAP TS-464, plus four M.2 NVMe slots that create an interesting all-flash Proxmox storage topology. The 2-bay limit keeps it in budget/lab territory.

Specs: Intel Celeron N5105 (4C/4T, 2.0 GHz base) · 4 GB DDR4 (max 16 GB) · 2x 3.5”/2.5” SATA + 4x M.2 NVMe · 2x 2.5GbE (Intel i225-V) · HDMI

Idle Power: ~15W · Price: ~$407

BIOS Access and Boot

HDMI output plus USB keyboard gets you into the UEFI setup. The AS5402T uses a standard AMI BIOS — boot order, secure boot, and virtualization toggles are all accessible. Flash the Proxmox ISO to USB, set USB boot priority, and the installer runs cleanly. Users on the Proxmox forums have confirmed successful bare-metal installs on the AS5402T with Proxmox 8.

Unlike QNAP, there’s no DOM to deal with. ASUSTOR boots from an internal flash partition, but it doesn’t interfere with Proxmox boot from NVMe or SATA. Install Proxmox to one of the four M.2 slots and you’re set.

The All-Flash Angle

Four M.2 NVMe slots in a 2-bay NAS is unusual, and it creates an interesting Proxmox use case: install Proxmox on one NVMe, create a ZFS mirror on two more NVMe drives for VM storage, and use the fourth for a fast scratch/cache pool. The two SATA bays hold bulk data HDDs. This gives you all-flash VM performance at a fraction of the cost of an enterprise SSD array.

Known Issues

Fan management breaks under Proxmox. ASUSTOR’s ADM controls the fans through a proprietary IPMI-like interface that doesn’t expose standard Linux fan control. Under Proxmox, fans run at a fixed speed (often full blast) unless you write custom scripts using i2c-tools to control the fan controller directly. Multiple Proxmox forum users have documented this issue and shared workaround scripts, but it’s not a clean solution.

4 GB base RAM is inadequate. Upgrade to 16 GB immediately — Proxmox with a single VM on 4 GB will swap constantly. Budget an extra $25-30 for a 16 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM on top of the $407 purchase price.

ASUSTOR considers this unsupported use. You won’t lose your hardware warranty (most likely), but ASUSTOR support won’t help you troubleshoot Proxmox. You’re relying on community resources.

The Trade-offs

Only 2 HDD bays limits bulk storage to a single mirror or two individual drives. The 16 GB RAM ceiling is the same as the QNAP, and the N5105 gives you the same 2-3 VM capacity. No PCIe slot means no expansion path for 10GbE or an HBA. But at $407 + $30 for RAM, a $400 Proxmox NAS node with all-flash VM storage is hard to argue against for a home lab.

Why Not Synology for Proxmox?

Synology is the most recommended NAS brand for a reason — DSM is excellent, the app ecosystem is mature, and reliability is outstanding. But for Proxmox, Synology is a non-starter. Here’s why:

Locked bootloader. Synology NAS devices use a proprietary boot process that loads DSM from an internal flash partition. There is no UEFI/BIOS setup screen accessible during boot. You cannot press Del, F2, F12, or any other key to access boot settings, change boot order, or boot from a USB drive. The hardware is designed to run DSM and nothing else.

No HDMI output. Most Synology models (including the popular DS923+ and DS1522+) have no video output at all. Even if you could access the BIOS, you’d have no display to see it on. Some older models had HDMI, but the boot process was still locked.

Proprietary hardware integration. Synology’s kernel includes proprietary modules for fan control, LED management, disk detection, and power management that don’t exist in the mainline Linux kernel. Even if you somehow booted Proxmox, fans wouldn’t spin, LEDs wouldn’t indicate drive status, and power management would be unpredictable.

The alternative: Synology VMM. Synology offers Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) as a DSM package, which runs KVM-based VMs on top of DSM. It works for 1-2 lightweight VMs on models with enough RAM (DS923+ with 32 GB ECC, for example). But VMM is not Proxmox — there’s no LXC, no PCIe passthrough, no cluster support, and limited resource management. It’s a NAS feature, not a hypervisor platform.

If you want a Synology for NAS duties and Proxmox for virtualization, the proper architecture is a separate Proxmox server (mini PC or dedicated hardware) mounting Synology shares via NFS or iSCSI. See our TerraMaster vs. Synology comparison for a deeper look at the NAS OS trade-offs.

When a Mini PC Is Better Than a NAS for Proxmox

A NAS chassis makes sense for Proxmox when you need hot-swap drive bays, a compact form factor, and want to consolidate storage + compute into one device. But for pure virtualization, a mini PC often wins. Here’s when to skip the NAS:

You need more than 32 GB RAM. The TerraMaster tops out at 32 GB soldered. Mini PCs with Intel N100/N305 or AMD Ryzen 5 support 64-96 GB in standard SO-DIMM slots. More RAM means more VMs, and 64 GB is where Proxmox really stretches its legs.

You need PCIe passthrough flexibility. NAS devices have zero or one PCIe slot. Mini PCs with desktop-class chipsets offer multiple PCIe lanes — enough to pass through a GPU for Plex transcoding or AI workloads, a 10GbE NIC, and an HBA simultaneously.

You don’t need 4+ drive bays. If your VMs run on NVMe storage and bulk data lives on a separate NAS, a mini PC with one or two M.2 slots is cheaper, faster, and simpler.

Cost per core is lower. A mini PC with an Intel N100 (4C/4T), 16 GB RAM, and a 256 GB NVMe runs about ~$150-200. Equivalent NAS hardware costs ~$407-700 — and most of that premium pays for the drive bays, not the compute.

Standard BIOS with guaranteed compatibility. Mini PCs use standard desktop BIOSes with full documentation. No DOM removal, no fan management scripts, no IOMMU group surprises. Proxmox installs like it does on any PC.

For mini PC Proxmox recommendations, see our best mini PC for Proxmox guide. The ideal home lab setup for many people is a Proxmox mini PC for compute + a NAS for storage, connected via 10GbE or 2.5GbE NFS.

How to Choose: Buying Criteria

UEFI/BIOS Accessibility

This is the first gate. If you can’t access the BIOS to change boot order and enable VT-d, Proxmox is dead in the water. Every NAS in this guide exposes a standard AMI UEFI via HDMI + USB keyboard. Synology does not. Before buying any NAS for Proxmox, search “[model name] BIOS access” and verify someone has posted screenshots of the UEFI setup screen.

CPU Virtualization Extensions (VT-x and VT-d)

VT-x is Intel’s hardware virtualization extension. Every Intel NAS CPU since 2015 supports it. Without VT-x, Proxmox falls back to software emulation — unusably slow for any real workload.

VT-d (Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O) enables PCIe passthrough — passing a physical device (NIC, USB controller, SATA controller, GPU) directly to a VM with near-native performance. VT-d is essential for:

• Passing the SATA controller to a TrueNAS VM for direct disk access
• Passing a 10GbE NIC to a specific VM
• Passing a USB controller to a Home Assistant VM for Zigbee/Z-Wave sticks

The i3-N305, N5095, and N5105 all support VT-d. Verify it’s enabled in BIOS — some NAS devices ship with VT-d disabled by default.

RAM: 32 GB Minimum Recommended

Proxmox memory allocation is straightforward: each VM gets dedicated RAM that’s unavailable to other VMs or the host. There’s no overcommit by default (you can enable memory ballooning, but it’s unreliable for production).

On 16 GB, you can run Proxmox + 2-3 small VMs with no headroom. On 32 GB, you get Proxmox + a TrueNAS VM + a Docker LXC + 2-3 additional VMs comfortably. This is why the TerraMaster’s 32 GB out of the box matters — the QNAP and ASUSTOR max out at 16 GB, which limits you to a starter Proxmox setup.

Intel NICs vs. Realtek

Proxmox runs on a Debian kernel. Intel NICs (i225-V, i226-V) use the igc driver, which is actively maintained in the mainline kernel, battle-tested in data center deployments, and the default recommendation from the Proxmox team. They work out of the box with the Proxmox ISO — no additional drivers needed.

Realtek NICs (RTL8125, RTL8156) use the r8169 driver. It works, but has a longer history of bugs: inconsistent wake-on-LAN, occasional TX hangs under heavy traffic, and performance that degrades under sustained VM network load. If you’re choosing between two otherwise identical NAS devices and one has Intel NICs, always pick Intel.

All three NAS devices in this guide use Intel NICs.

Storage Controller Passthrough

For users who want to run TrueNAS as a VM managing the physical drives, SATA controller passthrough is the holy grail — it gives TrueNAS direct, bare-metal access to the disks. In practice, NAS SATA controllers often share an IOMMU group with other devices (USB, audio, management controllers), making clean passthrough complicated.

Options when passthrough is blocked:

1. ACS override patch — forces IOMMU group separation. Works but has theoretical security implications.
2. Virtio disk passthrough — pass individual disks (not the controller) to the VM via virtio-scsi. TrueNAS sees them as virtual disks. ZFS works fine; SMART data is accessible via passthrough.
3. Direct Proxmox ZFS — skip TrueNAS entirely and let Proxmox manage the drives natively. Simplest option, but you lose TrueNAS’s snapshot and replication features.

Bottom Line

The TerraMaster F4-424 Pro at $860 is the best NAS for Proxmox. 32 GB DDR5, an 8-core i3-N305 with VT-d, accessible UEFI, Intel NICs, and a manufacturer that doesn’t punish you for installing an alternative OS. It’s ready for Proxmox out of the box — no RAM upgrade, no driver hunting, no DOM removal. Run a TrueNAS VM, a Docker LXC, Home Assistant, and more with headroom to spare.

For a Proxmox NAS with a PCIe expansion slot at a lower price, the QNAP TS-464 at ~$649 gives you Intel NICs, accessible BIOS, and VT-d in a 4-bay chassis with room for a 10GbE card. Upgrade to 16 GB RAM and expect 2-3 VMs — enough for a focused Proxmox setup.

For the cheapest entry point, the ASUSTOR AS5402T at $407 gets you Proxmox-capable hardware with four M.2 NVMe slots for all-flash VM storage. Budget $30 for a RAM upgrade and be prepared to script your own fan management.

Skip Synology entirely for Proxmox — the locked bootloader is a hard blocker. And if your primary goal is virtualization rather than NAS storage, a mini PC for Proxmox will give you more cores, more RAM, and more PCIe lanes for less money. The sweet spot for many home labs: a Proxmox mini PC for compute, a NAS for storage, connected over your network.