How I made my prebuilt NAS run faster without spending much money

Network-attached storage (NAS) often has finite resources without much wiggle room to upgrade internal parts. This is especially so with prebuilt enclosures from brands such as Synology and Asustor. That said, there are some ways you can improve the performance of the NAS without spending too much money. Before switching to a mostly DIY home lab setup, I made the most of my NAS enclosures through a few different ways, getting as much from each model as possible before outright replacing them.