Many businesses rely on digital media (photographers, designers, and real estate agents come to mind). Needing photos and videos leads to the headache of handling portable storage devices. A nice solution is network-attached storage (NAS).
So, why is it good for a business to go the NAS route? Network-attached storage gives all networked computers access to storage in one centralized location.
The Current Situation
Many creative occupations require working with large file sizes. Storing a large, unedited video file or photoshoot files in one place is challenging. A typical MacBook offers only 256 GB of storage (and one project can take up 50 GB), so files go on portable storage.
In some studios, all you see is stacks of external storage drives and thumb drives or SD cards lying about. Tracking down a previous project or design involves sorting through many storage options. It’s annoying and time consuming.
Relying on external storage is also risky. These devices are prone to failure if the plug-in mechanism is damaged or the device is dropped. External hard drives can also get damaged by static electricity, overheating, or water. They’re easy to lose, too!
A Better Solution
Think of NAS as a small, low-powered computer you attach to your network. The NAS will live on your network with its own Internet Protocol address. It can handle audio, video, websites, text files, documents, and unstructured data.
Since it’s meant for storage and file serving, the NAS is a high-performing storage solution. Users can access the files they need via a standard wired or wireless connection, or from remote locations, as the NAS remains switched on. At the same time, the NAS can handle the demands of more than one user simultaneously. In an ad agency, one user might be screening a product video while someone else is backing up their computer.
A NAS storage solution is a low-cost way to consolidate storage. It’s also fairly easy to expand capacity with more or larger disks. Many different vendors offer NAS systems. You might select a NAS pre-populated with its storage disk or a diskless NAS that lets you add storage media.
Added NAS Advantages
For larger businesses, an array of NAS devices can do even more than storage. NAS can be an archive backup or be used in disaster recovery. Some NASs can support email, multimedia files, databases, or printing jobs, as well. In smaller businesses or home offices, a desktop NAS solution should suffice.
One more advantage of NAS? Most devices can set up a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) configuration. This lets you store data on many disks to increase performance and provide fault tolerance.
A NAS system is a little like giving your organization a private cloud. Offering safe, reliable data backup and digital media storage, this solution is becoming more popular with enterprises and small businesses alike. With a NAS, your users no longer need to worry about out-of-sync data, reliability, or accessibility issues. The NAS can offer peace of mind while extending business collaboration and providing competitive advantage.
Your external storage devices aren’t invincible. Don’t risk losing your important digital media files. Set up a network attached storage for cleaner, safer convenience.
Our experts are happy to help your business identify the best NAS for your needs and set it up on your network. Give us a call at (515)422-1995.
