What is a Network Attached Storage (NAS) Device?
Network Attached Storage devices are also known as NAS devices and NAS drives.
They are mainly used to backup your files to a central external hard drive so if you have multiple PC's the files can still be accessed directly instead of having multiple copies of each file stored on each PC.
This prevents you from getting into document synchronization hell.
But NAS drives are so much more than an external hard drive; it is where you and your family can share files like pictures, music, documents etc.
The flexibility of some of these NAS devices have the ability to increase storage capacity by adding additional hard drives as well as decrease the risk of losing all your precious files if the hard drive in the NAS device fails.
These are available on the market now but can come at a price though.
Personally I use a single drive solution and use online backup to store my valuable pics and documents but that's not to say the option is not there for individuals and businesses to pay a bit more to get RAID capable Network Attached Storage Devices.
More and more small to medium sized businesses are buying these instead of buying expensive servers and having to configure them as file servers.
Some NAS devices are capable of being print servers as well but the majority of them need to be connected directly to the printer, so please ensure you read the tech specs first before buying.
For those individuals or businesses that need a bit more from a standard NAS drive there are ones that have more features and richer functionality.
Some are capable of joining AD domains, some are capable of streaming films to DNLA compliant devices, therefore capable of wirelessly streaming your films to devices like PS3 and Xbox's.
They are mainly used to backup your files to a central external hard drive so if you have multiple PC's the files can still be accessed directly instead of having multiple copies of each file stored on each PC.
This prevents you from getting into document synchronization hell.
But NAS drives are so much more than an external hard drive; it is where you and your family can share files like pictures, music, documents etc.
The flexibility of some of these NAS devices have the ability to increase storage capacity by adding additional hard drives as well as decrease the risk of losing all your precious files if the hard drive in the NAS device fails.
These are available on the market now but can come at a price though.
Personally I use a single drive solution and use online backup to store my valuable pics and documents but that's not to say the option is not there for individuals and businesses to pay a bit more to get RAID capable Network Attached Storage Devices.
More and more small to medium sized businesses are buying these instead of buying expensive servers and having to configure them as file servers.
Some NAS devices are capable of being print servers as well but the majority of them need to be connected directly to the printer, so please ensure you read the tech specs first before buying.
For those individuals or businesses that need a bit more from a standard NAS drive there are ones that have more features and richer functionality.
Some are capable of joining AD domains, some are capable of streaming films to DNLA compliant devices, therefore capable of wirelessly streaming your films to devices like PS3 and Xbox's.
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