Why Should You Use NAS Over External HDD for Your Files?

This article was written by Buffalo Technology.

Why Should You Use NAS Storage over External HDD for Your Files?

With file sizes on the rise, external HDD storage alone may not be enough. Many users enjoy the simplicity of plug-and-play coupled with large storage capacities of external drives. But as they lack remote access and security features, external hard drives have fallen behind as a storage medium.

For users ready to take storage to the next level, NAS offers many robust features to simplify storage and keep your backups secure. It is usually comprised of multiple HDDs in a RAID array to ensure they are always online and available, and you can connect a NAS to your wireless router so you can access it as long as you’re on the network. Buffalo NAS storage are designed to help you navigate modern file storage and backup easily and securely.

Benefits of NAS Over External Drives
NAS offer more functionality than external HDDs, allowing for operations such as remote storage data access by multiple users, more robust data protection and security, and flexible backup options.

1. Centralize Your Storage/Backup
Depending on the size of your files folder, one external HDD may not be enough. This creates a hassle as you will have to shuffle an external HDD from one computer to another to access specific files, and is there anything more frustrating than searching though countless folders on multiple hard drives just looking for that one file?

A Buffalo NAS will offer a larger capacity than typical external HDDs, so you can consolidate all your files into one location. Just connect to your network to access all your files and quickly find what you’re looking for.

2. Secure Your Files With Backup Options
Nothing is foolproof. No matter what kind of data you are keeping, you will need to have backups. HDD failures eventually occur, and with ransomware so rampant you can’t trust files on your computer to always remain safe.

While you can regularly save files onto an external drive, it can be a hassle, or you can easily forget. Instead, Buffalo NAS are designed to make your backups effortless. You can schedule automatic backups to the NAS at regular intervals, so your data gets backed up even if you forget. What’s more, NAS also offers much more backup flexibility than external HDDs. If you use cloud storage, you can integrate the cloud service onto the NAS and back up data to and from the cloud. Network storage also opens up additional backup options such as off-site replication, so you choose the backup method and routine that works for you.

3. Share Your Files with Anyone, from Anywhere
Generally, most external drives are compact enough to be quite portable. You can carry them around in your pockets or a backpack, but you will have to physically ferry files from one computer to another to share them. Worse yet, what if the drive gets lost or stolen?

Why bother with carrying around all those devices when you can easily access your files on your NAS anytime, from anywhere? With a NAS, you can also remotely share any number of files or folders on the NAS. Company’s NAS allows you to create a link to a specific file or folder on your NAS and send the link to anyone, and they will be able to securely access shared files without hassle. To share data locally, users will only need to connect to the network instead of connecting HDDs from one computer to another. You can also create and manage users with granulated access permissions so they will only access allowed folders.

4. Enhanced Data Protection
External HDDs often lack features to keep your data safe from online threats and hardware failures. But protecting your data is a breeze on network storage. NAS often offer RAID, which provides redundancy in a variety of scenarios. Depending on the RAID setup and usage scenario, you will still have access to your data, or simply restore your data by replacing a failed drive.

Buffalo NAS are purpose-built for data protection. In addition to RAID, these network devices run on a closed system, which prevents third-party apps from being installed and therefore tempering any possible vulnerabilities that may lead to malware. They also offers security features such as native drive encryption to keep your data secure from external threats.

5. Effortless Home Media Sharing and Streaming
If you have a lot of media stored, you will need to connect the external HDD to a computer to play media files, as it won’t be able to run anything. On the other hand, you can set up a NAS as a media server, so you can share and stream media as you see fit.

Buffalo network storage is a secure storage and backup solution, and you can also treat some models as a media server that allows to stream your content to a DLNA device or Plex.

6. Scalable Expansion
External HDDs come in fixed capacities. If you need more storage space, you really have no other options other than to delete current files to free up space, or go out and buy more.

On the other hand, if you run out of storage space on a NAS, there are options to expand capacity. Manufacturer’s NAS can be purchased partially-populated, with not every drive bay filled, so you can enjoy a low cost of entry and expand the capacity later as you see fit. If you need to expand the capacity of the NAS itself, you will have options, from integrating cloud storage to use iSCSI and connect multiple storage devices together into the same storage network.

Buffalo Network Storage Solution
With more and more data being created and shared every day, traditional external HDDs are simply not sufficient to handle data volumes produced. They lack flexible storage accessibility and strong data security. Company’s NAS are purpose-built for security, simplicity, and stability.