Keep both your budget and your desired storage capacity in mind as you shop. Though purchasing a NAS device can save you a significant amount of money in the long run compared to cloud storage, it’s still an up-front investment. Storage capacity also must balance with budget. Typically, the more bays a device has for disks, the more storage capacity it offers.

You’ll first want to consider how much storage you need, depending on how many people will be storing or accessing data, if you want to stream a lot of media, and whether you need business-level file storage or just enough for personal use. NAS devices encompass a broad array of sizes. NAS devices, though they cost a bit more at the outset, offer longer-term savings by avoiding monthly storage payments. NAS users aren’t just working with your average Google Drive storage amount-they typically need much, much more capacity. That’s one of the reasons small businesses, self-employed individuals, and smart home owners still use them despite the proliferation of the cloud. Though they have a point, NAS devices are still often much cheaper than cloud storage packages. Some technology and storage experts believe that NAS is on the way out the door-it’s less relevant because the cloud also provides remote access from any location with an Internet connection. One common use of NAS devices is for Random Array of Independent Disks (RAID), a method of backing up data to the next disk over if the original disk fails. NAS devices are often used for their data backup capabilities. Households that share a lot of media or documents can benefit from a NAS device. NAS devices are most useful for small businesses that need to store and share files and personal users who want to store or stream data in their home. Some NAS devices enable remote access, which functions similarly to cloud storage: users in a different location can still connect to the network and access the files stored on the device. Network-attached storage ( NAS) allows users to access files stored on a NAS device from multiple other devices that are on the same computer network as the NAS.

Best nas for home media streaming