IF YOU’RE LIKE ME then you probably have an expanding library of music, photos and videos that need to be stored somewhere manageable – maybe on some kind of device. While CDs and DVDs make great long-term storage systems, there comes a time when you don’t have enough space on a DVD or on your hard drive to store everything.<\/p>\n
Some of you, in a fit of innovation, may have chosen to connect an external hard drive to your computer to supplement the internal hard drive. But in the small business environment, or in a house with many computers, even that can prove restrictive.<\/p>\n
One answer is “Network attached storage” (NAS). It’s a mini super computer that harnesses the memory of a network rather than a hard drive or two. Very simply, an NAS device is a hard drive or a collection of hard drives put together in a box that looks a lot like an external hard drive. The difference is that instead of connecting through your computer’s USB port, this device sits on the network.<\/p>\n
It’s therefore possible for any users on the network to store their files on the drive without any specific computer being on. Some even use the WiFi network to connect to other computers, almost completely eliminating the need for cables.<\/p>\n
At the high end of the market, many design houses use that sort of storage to put the massive files they work with on the network. For companies where a large number of people work on the same project, having information centrally stored ensures that no one person controls access to the project’s files.<\/p>\n