Adding a specialized storage system or cloud storage system can help businesses and enterprise environments boost their productivity. In these instances, a Network-Attached Storage (NAS) becomes a great fit. It creates a storage space that everyone in the network can access but requires little maintenance once set up. If you’re also looking for a centralized storage system, check out what a NAS device is and how it works.
What is a NAS Device?
To be precise, a NAS device is a personalized cloud storage system for the working professional or business. It provides an easy way to store, manage, and share files across a LAN (local area network). This storage system is practical and ideal for businesses and professional spaces with multiple employees. NAS devices are also being used for data backups, media streaming, security cameras, virtualization, etc, to access files across a network.
NAS devices can provide faster, secure, and reliable storage services to all employees and end-users via cloud servers or directly through a network. Of course, the access authorization should be there to limit daily logins and control who has access to what.
What is a NAS used for?
In most cases, small to mid-sized businesses use NAS servers for more affordable and scalable storage options than the standard storage system. NAS storage is easily accessible and manageable using the authorized credentials. It thus helps employees or end-users better read and write the stored data seamlessly. These days, even high-volume businesses prefer to set up a NAS device for low-cost, scalable storage to fulfil their requirements.
How Can You Access a NAS Device
NAS (Network-Attached Storage) devices can be accessed easily through a connected network across multiple devices like computers, mobile phones, web browsers, and even remote authorization. However, there are three primary ways to access NAS data as follows:
- Via Computer Directly: For most cases and business owners or employees, the regular practice has the set of computers/laptops connected to a NAS device under a LAN. Therefore, multiple users or employees can easily access the stored data and share it whenever necessary. It usually eliminates the traditional way of accessing data when numerous computers are connected.
- Via a Network: You can also connect NAS devices to a local network for business or professional work purposes using an ethernet cable or Wi-Fi. NAS devices are configured for access via admin permissions under the LAN.
- Via Cloud: The cloud storage system using the WAN (Wide Area Network) can be the third preferred method to access and manage stored data. For example, cloud services like Azure, Amazon Web Services, iCloud, etc., are network-attached storage solutions that allow access to apps or services.
Key Components of a NAS Device:
Though storing hard copies of data can be crucial in several ways, setting up a NAS storage system can quickly expand the capabilities and flexibility options for an organization to grow at a low cost.
- Storage Drives: NAS devices are configured with multiple hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs) to set up a storage system. Sometimes, it can be used with RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) for higher performance, data redundancy, and data read/write speed.
- Operating System (OS): You’ll require an operating system (OS) to run a NAS device optimized and designed for file accessing, sharing, network management, CRM, ERP, productivity tools, cloud integration, security purposes, and more.
- Processor & RAM: To handle file sharing, data transfer, and other functions, you’ll need a CPU and memory for the NAS device that can run the operating system smoothly.
- Network Interface: As we’ve already mentioned, NAS devices are connected to a local network via wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi, allowing users to access the stored data from anywhere via account credentials.
Benefits of using NAS for Data Storing
A NAS (Network-Attached Storage) unit is always helpful in minimizing the overall cost of storing and managing data. Additionally, you can operate the NAS data remotely and do not always require IT professionals to maintain the storage servers physically. The best part is that NAS devices are scalable, and taking auto data backup is seamless.
1. Lower Cost Options
The configuration and maintenance of the NAS system are cost-effective and straightforward compared to other storage options. However, you can choose NAS hard disk drives, which have lower speed than faster SSDs, for a budget setup. If you need higher storage with scalability and centralization, NAS is the go-to solution.
2. Easy to Use
No matter whether you’re running a small business or a mid-sized business, operating a NAS system is simple and doesn’t always require a technician team or IT professionals to maintain. Just set it up once and use it effortlessly unless any technical fault occurs. It requires minimal maintenance, and the lightweight software will help you in operating the storage system.
3. Ease of Data Backup
Data backup should always be on time and automated to avoid any kind of data loss. Your NAS device unit will also perform easy data backups at a scheduled time, depending on what preferences you have configured. It requires minimum system resources to back up the stored data, which will be accessed whenever needed using the connected network.
4. Upgradability
Ever want additional yet expandable storage for your business or professional purposes? The NAS system will allow you to quickly expand additional storage options in the form of hard disk drives or SSDs without worrying much. You don’t need any expert to perform the storage expansion, resulting in low expenses and quicker actions.
How Does a NAS Device Work?
We have already mentioned that users will need admin credentials to get authorized access to the NAS system. It maintains privacy and security for everyone. Business owners or employers can even set user-specific login access to configure the data access permission accordingly. By doing so, NAS device users can choose to read and write data securely to another device or storage location.
As always, the NAS device will be connected to the local network via ethernet or Wi-Fi connection and offers multiple functionalities for performance improvements and security protocols. The latest-generation NAS hard drives come with built-in dedicated computing processing functions for firmware, storage health monitoring, and more features. As a result, you don’t have to go through technical aspects as a user in most cases.
You’ll only have to plug and play the NAS device into the central system or computer to let it read/write the data to connected systems or devices. This process is faster than other networking devices. Based on the storage size, file sizes, and your local network speed, data transfer and accessibility will be like a charm. Performing complex tasks or sharing large files won’t break a sweat to DAS (Direct-attached storage) from NAS.
Things to Consider When Choosing a NAS
Although you can use any hard disk drive as the primary storage option for a NAS system, commonly known as a NAS hard drive, it’s always better to consider other aspects. NAS hard drives are cost-effective and easy to set up, resulting in faster actions and optimized performance for a personal or low-scale business.
However, if you’re keeping scalability and performance in mind, a couple of things should be noted down while choosing a NAS device for your business growth.
- Storage Capacity: Consider how much storage capacity you’ll need initially to start the journey. Depending on your storage expectations, you’ll need to purchase hard disk drives and other peripherals to connect to a NAS system. But don’t worry. You can easily upgrade or scale the storage capacity of your NAS.
- Form Factor: There are different form factors available for physical storage drives or hard drives for NAS. Choose the specific form factor for your NAS that can easily fit or be moved to the working space, whether it is in an office or home. If you already have an existing data centre rack, choose a form factor for the hard drive wisely.
- Performance: Most users prefer NAS systems to take auto data backups primarily for their work. But if you wish to use your NAS system to share files across connected devices and manage the stored data whenever necessary, consider a quality hard drive. You should also get NAS features that can offer faster performance and better user experience.
- Connectivity: Connectivity is an integral part of the NAS hard drives, depending on how well the storage devices are working. If your local network connection is slow or ping latency is higher, you may have difficulties with data backups or transfers during huge workloads. Ensure that there is enough connection speed in both wired and wireless modes so that you don’t have to depend on a single connectivity mode. We recommend you use an Ethernet cable for a stable and high-capacity connection for your business.
- Reliability: Keep in mind that your NAS system will be dependent on the health of connected storage devices. If your storage devices are corrupted or don’t work at the optimal speed, there will be no benefit in using a NAS system. As NAS devices come with built-in tools for health monitoring and health notification, you should use these to investigate hardware performance or integrity.
Wrapping It All
In conclusion, a NAS device is quite a powerful and centralized way to manage & share data across multiple devices under a connected network. It usually helps employees or users access files from anywhere for work and enables collaboration.
NAS hard drives are scalable and reliable enough for their cost-effectiveness. No matter whether you use it for personal activities or business needs, NAS systems can provide you with an efficient way to access data, backup automation, and manage operational tools in a centralized format.
