NAS systems for home keep getting cheaper and cheaper; I recently bought a Zyxel unit with 2 2TB disks running Raid 1 for just over $150 altogether. This is less than I spent for my previous, one-drive 1TB NAS device.
The flavor of Linux that these boxes run can usually be enhanced with something like optware/entware, but even with extra apps there can be issues with backing up from one company’s NAS to another company’s NAS, which makes having redundant systems at home difficult unless you buy all your systems from the same company at the same time.
This is definitely a concern, especially with apps that interact with the cloud. My solution is to not run any such apps, and to use my router to keep any NAS ports closed to the outside network. I don’t think that would stop a determined, knowledgeable hacker from breaking into my home system.
