Introduction
The sheer volume of storage options available means that you can choose NAS drives based on what's most important to you. That could be speed, scalability, support, security, or other factors. This guide will examine how these areas affect your decision and which are the best NAS drives. For more, check out our Everything you Should Know About NAS blog.
Speed
Speed is essential for a NAS in so many ways. For example, one of the most common uses for a NAS is backing up your files. If you can't back up your files quickly, you must wait until the backup is complete! And that's just not fun at all.
Speed is also vital when it comes to file transfers—if you're trying to copy large amounts of data from one place to another, you want the transfer speed to be faster than it would be if they were both sitting on the same hard drive! And lastly, file access speed helps you get into your files as quickly as possible (which we've all been there).
Scalability
Scalability is a significant consideration when purchasing a NAS. If you're starting, it may be best to use the smallest-capacity option and add storage as your needs grow. However, if your company is in high growth, or if you want to avoid having to replace your NAS in the future because it can't handle increased data volumes or new users, look for one that offers expansion options.
Your choice will also depend on how many devices connect to it at any time; some NASes support more than 250 concurrent connections, while others can handle up to 1,000 users simultaneously. But, again, these figures vary widely depending on which features come in each model—for example, some newer models come with USB ports to act as hubs for other devices such as printers or speakers; older models may not have this capability.
Support
A NAS is just a computer, and computers need support. There are many kinds of support—hardware, software, and operating system (OS), to name a few. Here's what we mean:
- Hardware Support
Hardware support refers to the physical components that make up your NAS device. If one part breaks or doesn't work, hardware support will help you fix it so you can continue using your NAS without issue. How much time should this take? The answer depends on what is explicitly broken (and its age). Still, generally speaking, if something critical goes wrong with your hardware, you'll want it fixed as soon as possible so that everything works properly again!
- Software Support
Software refers to the programs stored on your device and any additional tools you may use while managing your data, such as antivirus software or backup solutions like Acronis True Image Backup & Recovery. It also includes things like automatic updates for operating systems which could prevent future problems from occurring due to malware which could infect other parts of the computer system if unchecked."
Security / Data Protection
A NAS device is an excellent resource for your business, but keeping your data secure is essential. The security features built into the storage device can help protect sensitive data in case of theft or loss.
Security features include:
- Encryption - prevents unauthorized users from accessing files encrypted on the NAS device. The only way to access an encrypted file is with its key, typically stored separately from the actual file itself.
- Redundancy - ensures that no single point of failure exists within a system and eliminates any possible place where data could be corrupted or deleted during operation. For example, if you want to ensure redundancy for your company's financial records, consider using RAID 1+0 (or "stripe set with mirroring"), which consists of two mirrored drives that act as one logical unit. If one drive goes down, both drives go down until you replace or repair them. Understand that you will lose all data if either drive fails before being replaced/repaired!
- Backup - allows users with sufficient rights to retrieve previously saved versions of their files should something happen to them later down the line (like accidentally deleting them).
What's most important depends on the individual user and their own needs.
The answer to this question depends on the user and their needs. For example, if you're looking for speed and scalability, consider a NAS that supports iSCSI. On the other hand, if your priority is security/data protection, then it would make sense to choose a NAS with built-in encryption features. And if the price is most important to you, then a home network attached storage device (NAS) with a simple design will be more in line with what you need while still giving you all the data protection features that matter most.
Regardless of what's most important to each user—price, speed, or security—you can find several options on our website today!
Conclusion
We hope this guide has helped you decide what's most important for your NAS. If you want to learn more about these topics, please check out our other blog posts!
