Black Friday is when the array grows. Drives are the one category where a real Black Friday price changes your $/TB enough to matter, so that is where this list starts.
Everything here is hardware we already recommend: shuckable externals, NAS-rated disks, the UPS we tell everyone to put in front of their array, and the Plex boxes on both ends. Prices are early-October snapshots, so check the live price on Amazon before you buy. Where there is a “watch” target, that is the price worth waiting for. We will update this page as prices move through Cyber Monday.
All your terabytes are belong to us. Let’s make them cheaper.
Bulk Storage
WD Elements 20TB
This is the shucking pick. It is usually the lowest $/TB at 20TB, and there is a NAS-class drive inside the enclosure. Check the warranty implications before you crack it open.
Price note: $549.99 (~$27.50/TB) as of early October; verify live on Amazon. Watch for: $20–25/TB ($400–500).
Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB
Buy this one when you want a NAS-rated drive with a full warranty and no shucking. It costs more per TB, but you get vibration tolerance built for multi-bay arrays.
Price note: ~$720 as of early October; verify live on Amazon.
Power
CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
Our UPS pick. It is pure sine wave and gives you enough runtime for a NAS and a router to shut down cleanly. A power blip during a parity rebuild costs more than this does. Full breakdown in APC vs CyberPower.
Price note: ~$240 as of early October; verify live on Amazon.
NVMe And Cache
Crucial T705 4TB
PCIe 5.0 speed for a download scratch disk or a fast pool. Overkill for most people, exactly right for some.
Price note: verify live on Amazon.
Teamgroup T-FORCE G50 4TB
The sensible 4TB NVMe for a scratch disk or an app pool.
Price note: verify live on Amazon. Watch for: $350–400.
Teamgroup MP33 1TB
A cheap boot or app drive for a mini PC or a NAS cache.
Price note: ~$58 as of early October; verify live on Amazon.
WD SN850 1TB (With Heatsink)
A fast Gen4 drive with the heatsink already fitted. Check the seller and shipping before you buy; this listing is not always sold by Amazon directly.
Price note: verify live on Amazon.
Plex Host And NAS
Beelink Mini S12 Pro
Our best budget Plex server. It is small and low-power, and the Intel iGPU handles hardware transcoding.
Price note: verify live on Amazon.
Synology DS225+i
Our beginner NAS. A two-bay box you can set up in an afternoon and fill with the drives above.
Price note: ~$310 as of early October; verify live on Amazon.
Plex Clients
Nvidia Shield TV Proi
Our best Plex client. It direct-plays nearly anything, so your server does not have to transcode.
Price note: verify live on Amazon.
Fire TV Stick 4K Max
The budget client, and fine for most 4K libraries. It routinely gets a Black Friday discount.
Price note: verify live on Amazon.
Usenet: Newshosting
If you are filling new drives, this is where it starts. Newshosting’s partner offer is 70% off plus 3 free months, with unlimited speeds, 100 connections, an included newsreader with search, a free VPN account and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Claim the Newshosting 70% Off Deali
Comparing providers? See our best Usenet deals breakdown.
Also Worth Watching
- Sabrent USB SATA dock: for testing shucked drives and running badblocks before they go in the array. Buy at $8–10 or less. Check Amazon price
- Sabrent M.2 to PCIe adapter: adds NVMe to a box without a spare slot. Check Amazon price
- Lexar SL500 2TB portable: offsite or sneakernet copies for your 3-2-1 backups. Check Amazon price
- Fire TV Cube (3rd gen): ~$90; we would still pick the Stick 4K Max for most setups. Check Amazon price
- ACEMAGIC M5 Mini PC: wipe the OS before you use it. The Beelink is still our pick. Check Amazon price
- APC SMT1500C: ~$829; the premium UPS step-up if you want APC’s management stack. Check Amazon price
What To Wait For
| Product | Buy at or below |
|---|---|
| WD Elements 20TB | $20–25/TB ($400–500) |
| Teamgroup T-FORCE G50 4TB | $350–400 |
| Sabrent USB SATA dock | $8–10 |
Run the $/TB math on every drive deal. A “40% off” sticker on a small drive is often still worse than the big external at full price.
Bottom Line
Buy drives first, because that is where Black Friday pays off. Put a UPS in front of the array before you add a single disk. Then sort out the Plex box. Check back through Cyber Monday; we will update the targets as prices move.