We bring you a post with which to answer the question of what is a NAS. Apart from the definition, we will also try to explain in a short and simple way how a NAS works.
It is very likely that at some point you have also wondered what a NAS is, after having read it in an offer, magazine, Internet post or even in an advertisement or looking for a simple hard drive on Amazon.
What is NAS? What do those acronyms mean?
We recently made a post presenting the QNAP TS-2888X, and gave a brief definition of the concept, but today we will develop it in depth. If you have any questions, you can go to our social networks, or here below in comments and we will respond.
In addition, here on our website, it is common to see articles referring to the NAS since even Xiaomi has one.
But hey, going back to the bulk of this post, what is a NAS? Well, the acronyms refer to Network Attached Storage. Translated into Spanish it is a network storage system.
Then, and based on the definition, we can see that it is a system designed for data storage. The normal thing is that a NAS connects to our local network via Ethernet cable or WiFi, also having an Internet outlet if we wish.
It can also be connected with a USB 3.0 cable or FireWire ports. Normally a NAS is attached to a network device such as a router or a switch, to give access to different computers, but it can also be connected to a PC directly at any given time.
A NAS allows storing large amounts of data on a secure and centralized. For example, it is perfect if a team of people needs to work with common files. They will be saved on the NAS so that everyone can access (if they have administrator permissions), also controlling the changes in the versions.
The basis of the NAS are the hard drives inside, whether they are mechanical HDDs or SSDs based on flash memory. There are entry-level NAS with a couple of 3.5-inch drive bays and others with dozens of bays. In addition, many current models support SSD drives in small sticks for M.2 slots and even expansion through PCIe ports.
If you remember, at the beginning of the post we said that you had still reached the NAS through the search for a simple hard drive.
But let’s not think of a NAS and see those rooms full of metal cabinets with computers that occupy walls, those are professional servers. There are also very useful home NAS, whether they are multimedia NAS for connecting to the TV and enjoying series or movies, or for a home office.
They are great if you are looking to store a lot of data from computer games, photos and videos, college work, or simply if your work requires large amounts of storage.
It is common to see NAS in small and medium-sized companies, they are already a key part of their infrastructure, but as we say yourself, you can have one at home. Currently, NAS comes without an installation process, that is, with the software out of the box.
Another function of the NAS is as a backup to keep our data safe. The normal thing is to have the photos of our last trip on the mobile, the SD of the reflex or on the PC.
Some users use the cloud for backups, although it is not 100% reliable either. So you can mount your small NAS at home and make sure your data is protected and secure.
The NAS are managed by HTTP, that is, from the browser we use on our computer we can access the NAS control panel, although many manufacturers develop extra applications.
Once in that control panel, all the parameters can be managed. In addition, we can enable access to the NAS through the Internet, that is, we can access it no matter where in the world we are, having all the files at our disposal.
NAS makes use of RAID. This explained for “dummies” is that the NAS are capable of combining the hard drives inside. Then, by making use of RAIDs, they can improve reading and writing speed, while protecting data against the failure of any of the disks.
Something very curious about the NAS is that they live in standby, that is, they are not always on, nor do they turn off. They are just waiting for the user to make a read or write request to activate and start working.
Well now that you know what is a NAS, how it works, and that you can have one in your home without any complications, you just need to do a reflection exercise and see if in our day to day you would need a fast, simple and safe storage, or better keep pulling the USB, SD, or usual external hard drive.