What is a NAS?
NAS stands for Network Attached Storage. A device that stores your data in a centralized place.
What can it do for me?
Centralized place… Why is it any better than an external hard drive from the local computer shop? A NAS is a lot more than just a fancy hard drive.
Have your own Cloud
Have you ever tried sharing data with someone in your family or colleagues using an external hard drive? It wasn’t easy, was it? Instead of moving the hard drive around, simply point them to a network location and the sharing is done.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation when you needed a file urgently, but did not have the hard drive with you? You can access your NAS from anywhere, securely. You only need internet access.
Uploading / Downloading a lot of files?
Let the NAS do the job for you. You can easily add download jobs and your NAS will work in the background leaving your computer’s resources for you or allowing you to turn your computer off without breaking that download.
Uploading is similarly easy. The NAS can sync with many providers like DropBox, OneDrive, Google Drive and so on.
Collaborate easier
Having all your data in a centralized location makes team work easier. You do not have to run around any more looking for the latest version of that document and you will always know where to find it.
Backup automatically
Has your computer ever crashed compromising that important documents? You know the frustration that comes in play in a situation like this. Let your NAS take backups of your computer and never lose one single document again.
Print from multiple computers
Do you have a printer that does not have network capabilities? Just connect it to your NAS and let it manage your printing for you.
Have your own web server
Do you want to host something for your team or family? Do you want to get into web development, but do not want to use a publicly available service? Let your NAS host you website, blog, wiki or anything you work on.
Virtual computers or containers
You need something very specific or you want to be in full control of your server? Not a problem for your NAS. You can run your own virtual computers and containers completely sealed from your NAS.
Media centre
Having heaps of photos, movies or music is great, but managing these can easily become a serious headache. The NAS can present you all your media in an easy-to-consume format. Play your movies directly on your TV (DLNA support required) or listen to your music directly using your sounds system without the need of a computer or hard drive.
Internet of Things (IoT) hub
Is your home getting smarter, but you want even more out of it? Your NAS can become your IoT hub, giving you full control over every perspective of it, no matter how deeply you want to customise the system.