Storage and backup appliance finance
Fund the capacity and the backup platform your data actually needs, spreading a large one-off hardware cost across its useful working life.
- FCA regulatedAppointed Representative, FRN 1031964
- 60+ lendersWhole-of-market panel, not one bank
- 5.0 from 19 Google reviews
- No credit checkEnquiring leaves no mark on your file
Yes. A storage array or backup appliance is funded as business IT hardware, typically on hire purchase or lease. It sits at the better end of the technology spectrum for funders because it is a serialised, rack-mounted box that stays put and has a refurbished market. Used arrays are occasionally funded through established resellers but many lenders decline them. What people underestimate is capacity licensing: much of what you pay for on a modern array is entitlement to use the software features and capacity, and none of that licence value can be recovered, so the underwriter treats it as an unsecured portion.
Who finances this
Media companies, architectural practices and engineering firms whose project data grows relentlessly, healthcare and legal businesses under retention obligations, and any firm that has just discovered its backup would take days to restore. The trigger is usually a capacity wall, a failed restore test, or a cyber insurance renewal demanding immutable backups. Managed service providers building shared storage for client workloads are frequent applicants, as are businesses bringing data back from cloud storage after a bill shock.
How lenders see it
Storage is one of the technology assets I am reasonably comfortable with. It is identifiable, it lives in a rack, and there is a working channel for refurbished arrays, so recovery is not purely theoretical. What I discount heavily is the software. On most modern platforms a large slice of the price is licensed capacity or data services, and that entitlement does not travel with the box in a recovery. I therefore look at the hardware line and treat the rest as covenant lending. I also ask about the data: an array holding regulated or client-confidential information is harder to deal with in a default because it has to be securely wiped, and that cost comes off whatever I recover.
Buying used
Yes in limited cases, though less often than servers. Refurbished arrays from a recognised reseller with support in place can be placed with a handful of funders, but the drives and the remaining support term are looked at closely.
Also in IT and technology finance
See everything we fund in IT and technology finance →
Machines we have funded
Typically £889–£5,985 to buy. Diskless 4-9 bay rackmount NAS enclosures (Synology RackStation, QNAP rackmount). Enclosure only, drives are extra.Checked 2026-10-18.
| Dell PowerStore 500T | Entry all-flash storage array |
|---|---|
| Dell PowerVault ME5 | Entry block storage array for servers |
| Dell PowerProtect DD appliances | Deduplicating backup appliances for data protection |
| HPE MSA 2060 | Entry block storage array |
| HPE StoreOnce appliances | Backup and deduplication appliances |
| HPE Alletra Storage Server | Storage server for mixed workloads |
| NetApp AFF C-Series | Capacity flash storage system |
| Synology RackStation RS4021xs+ | Rackmount network storage unit |
| Synology DS1823xs+ | Desktop network storage for offices |
| QNAP TS-h1290FX | All-flash network storage for media |
Can the backup software licences be financed with the appliance?
Yes, that is the normal way it is packaged. Backup platforms are almost always sold as hardware plus licensed software, and funders accept the combined invoice. Just expect the underwriter to weigh the licence portion as unrecoverable, which means a package that is mostly software will be judged on your trading position rather than the box.
Is a NAS too small to be worth financing?
Sometimes, yes. Below a certain value the administrative cost of an asset agreement outweighs the benefit, and a business card or unsecured facility is the simpler route. Where the NAS is part of a broader project, a server refresh, a network upgrade, folding it into the same application makes far more sense.
Our cyber insurer wants immutable backups. Does that help our case?
It gives the application a clear commercial driver, and underwriters respond well to a purchase with an external requirement behind it rather than a discretionary upgrade. It does not change the security position of the asset, but it does make the proposal easy to understand, and clarity of purpose consistently helps applications through.
What happens to our data if an agreement goes wrong?
It is a fair question and one worth raising early. In a recovery scenario a funder takes the hardware, not the data, and the drives would need to be securely wiped before any resale. In practice most funders would rather work with a business in difficulty than repossess storage, because recovery is awkward and the return is modest.
Can we expand capacity later on the same agreement?
Additional shelves and drives are usually added as a separate schedule rather than amending the original, which is cleaner for everyone. If growth is predictable, flag it when we place the first deal, as some funders will record an appetite for follow-on business that shortens the process considerably the second time.
Tell us what you need
About a minute of plain questions, and no documents to dig out.
Prime is established and profitable with clean credit. Specialist covers newer businesses and credit that needs explaining, the asset carries part of the risk, so finance is often available where an unsecured loan is not.
Illustrative only, not a quote, a flat rate is not an APR, so the APR on a given agreement will be higher. VAT and fees excluded.
Start my enquiryNo credit check, and enquiring leaves no mark on your credit file. Finance is subject to status. We are a credit broker, not a lender.
Only pricing it up?
An enquiry is a conversation, not an application. Nothing runs against your file until you tell us to go ahead.
No credit check to enquire
Your credit scoreUntouched
Conor reads every enquiry himself. We will call you within 24 business hours, and it will be the person who actually arranges the finance, not a call centre, and not a form that disappears.
A real person on your side
One adviser from your first enquiry to the money in your account. No call centres.
Your adviser
Conor HullMon to Fri, 9am–6pm
5.0 from 19 Google reviews
Thinking about storage and backup appliance finance?
A few questions, and we will tell you what the panel can do. No obligation, and no call centres.
