NAS storage arrays are a popular option for businesses that need to add onto their data handling capabilities, and to do it without exploding an IT budget. These devices are dedicated entirely to maintaining one or more drives, each of them capable of holding hundreds of GBs of data. It is, compared to traditional servers, a rather simple device and can be managed even without the help of an IT expert. And because it is accessible through the company’s network, anyone with authentication can access the company’s data from anywhere, as long as they have a connection. It’s this extra accessibility, in addition to the impressive data handling, that makes these devices a top choice for businesses of any size.
Why should businesses consider NAS storage arrays over desktop storage?
Any business that grows beyond a few workstations will soon find that data management can be a major chore without the right tools. One of these tools is a device dedicated to maintaining the company’s hard drives. By centralizing the company’s data, it will be much more accessible to all employees, allowing them to operate from multiple workstations or locations at once. It will also ensure all data is current. One of the problems with splitting up data handling over multiple devices is that multiple copies of the data may exist in varying states. It’s common for employees to accidentally save over existing data or use data that is no longer relevant to the company’s needs. This is a waste of time, and something that is easily rectified with NAS storage arrays.
These devices are much less expensive than upgrading to a new set of servers, which is what some companies do when they need to scale up their data handling capabilities. Instead, businesses should consider attaching one of these devices to the network, as they are extremely scalable and only need extra drives as the business’s data handling needs increase. In fact, most systems offer hot swapping capabilities, so new drives can be plugged in without bringing down the network.
Fault tolerance is a significant concern for companies, as a single error can destroy an entire reservoir of data if it is not backed up and protected properly. NAS storage devices are designed with sophisticated fault tolerance software or hardware, like RAID. With RAID, data can be written to multiple drives simultaneously, so if one drive fails, other drives can take over and provide data without loss of stability. And because such devices act like a private cloud for the business, they are easy to secure against outside threats.
Eventually, a business is going to have to organize and monitor the way its data is handled. These devices are a natural, low cost and low effort solution that can provide excellent storage capabilities for many years.