There is a data explosion underway. Every day, we produce tons and tons of content – be it documents, images, videos and so on. However, storing all of that data safely is a major concern. While many of us have moved more and more of our lives into the mysterious realm of “the cloud”, local storage is something that is still perceived to be safe and secure.
And for good reasons, of course. While the benefits of cloud storage are well known, a NAS is an efficient and convenient way of being able to access all your files on any of your computing devices, without handing over your personal data to a third party such as cloud storage company.
So What is a NAS?
A Network Attached Storage (NAS) straddles the line between a local hard drive and cloud storage, and gives you the benefits of both. A NAS is an intelligent storage device connected to your home or office network. You can store all your family and colleagues’ files on the NAS, from important documents to precious photos, music and video collections. By using a web browser or mobile apps, you can access files and use various services provided by the NAS via the Internet.
A NAS gives you the security of physically owning the drive on which your data is stored, while also having the convenience of being able to access that data from anywhere. It can also be shared with multiple users, in lieu of a more powerful server. NAS devices are perfect for small businesses, as well as consumers with multiple computers. If you own a desktop PC, laptop and tablet and want to access all your content — whether important office documents or movie files for streaming — on each device, then you may be an ideal candidate for a NAS.
NAS for Businesses
Businesses with 50 or fewer employees need to store ever-increasing amount of data. They also require affordable solutions to back up data, share files, and collaborate on a single file at the same time. However, very few have the luxury of dedicated IT support.
Many begin by storing files on a traditional server, but when backup, or collaboration issues arise, the server is quickly rendered inadequate. Others choose public cloud storage, which is convenient for collaboration but raises concerns about control of the data and costly subscription fees. NAS can simplify your work and solve the above issues. Most of all, it’s easy to use and cost-effective. Let’s take a look at what else NAS can do for your home.
NAS for Home
How many photos and videos do you take each day? Is your phone or laptop running out of space? Our constant challenge is that the number of our digital files keeps going up and they are scattered across different devices and services. To consolidate these files into one safe place, you need a secure and centralized storage solution.
The major drawbacks of storing files on the public cloud are letting someone else hold all your personal files and high monthly subscription fees. The shortcomings of USB drives range from a lack of off-site access and automatic backup to portability that can lead to loss or damage. NAS is the best alternative and a necessity for the modern home. Read on to find out what else NAS can do for you.
Why Consider NAS Solutions from Synology?
Synology offers some of the most affordable NAS solutions on the market, which can be set up for file storage and forgotten about. The Synology DS218j, for instance, is part of the latest generation of NAS drives, and offers two bays for up to 24TB of storage capacity. The DS918+ is a similar model but with four bays, allowing for a ridiculous amount of space to be made available with enough drives.
The Synology DS918+ is designed for SMBs and IT enthusiasts. With a powerful built-in AES-NI hardware encryption engine, DS918+ provides exceptional encrypted file transmission. Also capable of transcoding up to two channels of H.265/H.264 4K videos at the same time, DS918+ is ideal for sharing and storing ultra-high definition media content.
The best thing about Synology is its hardware and software ecosystem that is built upon DiskStation Manager (DSM), the operating system running on Synology NAS. Synology offers one of the best choices in dedicated apps in DSM’s Package Center that work seamlessly with your Synology NAS device to offer a wide range of features at the click of a button.
What Synology NAS Can Do for Business Users?
For businesses, traditional file-sharing practices are fraught with inefficiency. Some businesses use email attachments to share files and eventually face file size limit and version control issues. Synology NAS, as an on-premises centralized storage device, can fulfill the needs of modern file sharing and collaboration.
Synology’s Active Backup for Business makes backup easy through a unified, intuitive console without license fees. For PC backup, it supports bare-metal recovery to restore the OS, settings, applications, and data; your employees can have instant, self-service recovery without bothering IT admins.
If you can’t tolerate outages such as server or storage failures, then you need a High Availability (HA) solution to ensure employee access to data and services at all times. Two Synology NAS can form a HA cluster. All services and data requests are handled by the active NAS and mirrored to the standby, passive NAS in real time. If the active NAS malfunctions, the passive unit will take over in seconds, meaning your employees can continue to access files and services.
Video surveillance can deter criminals and improve employees’ accountability. With Surveillance Station, you’ll get a wide array of security options to secure your investment and livelihood. Surveillance Station streamlines deployment and technical support by complementing VMS and NVR.
The support of 6,000+ IP camera models allows for flexibility on camera selection. You can remotely access live and recorded footage via web browsers or mobile devices. By triggering different events and sending push notifications to your mobile devices, or via SMS and email, you will be kept notified if something is out of the ordinary.
In addition, Synology’s Drive, allows businesses to sync files between a centralized NAS and their PCs/Macs. Drive supports restoring previous versions and sharing files directly from local computers to maximize efficiency. If you are using Mac, you can also back up your Mac to Synology NAS via Time Machine.
What Synology NAS Can Do for Home Users?
With a Synology NAS, all your family photos and videos taken by their mobile phones can be backed up automatically to one personal place on your NAS with Moments. Most importantly, photos are automatically grouped together according to similar faces, places, and subjects with the power of AI technology.
Want to watch videos from computers, mobile devices, Apple TV, and Android TV without having to copy them between devices? Video Station streams videos to these devices. It also enriches your video collections with auto-downloaded posters, searches subtitles from the Internet, and lets you share videos with friends.
Sharing files stored on NAS with friends is a breeze. Simply right-click a file or folder and select Share File Links or Create File Requests and a link will then be generated. Your friends can follow the link to download the selected file or folder, or upload files to your NAS, with or without a DSM account.
How to Start?
If you are looking for the perfect Synology NAS for your home or office, click here to get in touch with our distributors and retailers. If you have any questions about Synology or its products and solutions, feel free to contact us at chris@ryshamedia.com.
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