Approximately 20 million U.S. consumers with a home or small-business network use it for sharing the Internet and creating mobility within their environment. As more people download movies and music and generate photos, home videos and documents, they need a way to protect and share it.
Today's simple network storage solutions mean you can easily add centralized storage and automatically back up PCs and Macs on your network, saving you time and giving you peace of mind that your data is protected.
A network attached storage (NAS) device is a data storage or protection solution that connects directly to a home or small-business router via a standard Ethernet port. With the help of automatic network configuration and discovery software, most NAS devices install quickly and easily, so you don't have to be a network administrator. The Maxtor Shared Storage and Seagate's Mirra Personal Server are two of the best examples of NAS devices because they are simple to use and offer the best value and functionality.
A consumer NAS box can help you:
• Centralize digital content in one location, making it easier to find files when needed.
• Share photos, music and documents easily with family or co-workers locally on a home or office network or remotely over the Internet.
• Protect your files by automatically backing up data on a regular basis. Most NAS boxes come with backup software and some even back up continuously as you make changes to content and even sync files automatically between all your networked Macs or PCs.
• Access your digital life via the Web anytime, anywhere.
• Store and stream movies or photos to your networked television to show friends and family.
• Organize and play music on your connected stereo during dinner parties, social gatherings or just for fun.
• Connect and share a USB printer.
• Provide a storage solution that allows you to designate folders as either public or private.
• Back up and rotate its contents to a second storage solution for offsite storage.
• Support up to 20 computer users, making it ideal for a small office.
When all these benefits are combined with ease of use and security, the result is a must-have storage and backup solution for any home or small-business network.
By: Stacey Moore