A computer system is a great thing to have, but you need to know about how essential a network storage system is. In the realm of computer data, redundancy is a good thing. Computer hardware does malfunction on occasion and loss of data can mean much more than an inconvenience. Businesses rely on data and if it is lost the business will suffer immensely. However, there are many options available for keeping data safe and network storage is one of the most reliable.
The basic concept of network storage is simple, the data on your computer is duplicated and stored on another device. Aside from keeping a backup version of your data, network storage also allows one to access their data from anywhere there is a network connection. Many people choose to keep their data in the “cloud” as opposed to on their local computer for this very reason. This also helps free up disk space that the computer may need need to function properly.
What you may not realize is there are a couple of systems in place today. They are the SAN systems and the NAS systems. Both of these will serve well at storing your data, but you should note that each one of these systems function on a different type of software platform. That means they will have different terms of service, and processes that they use as well.
The SAN will typically use the encapsulated SCSI and the other will use a couple of different standards that are present in data storage. You will also see that the SAN is going to utilize the fiber channel and will only have devices that can use this type of cable. However, it allows numerous computers to share this space. This is the preferred method in most of the data replication services and the recovering archives that you see so many people advertise on television.
The NAS systems will use numerous systems, but it is what you mainly see with your file sharing sites. However, it can also be used as an archive of content, a directory, and even the place to store all of those older e-mails that you no longer need to have.
With these two you will want to know that the NAS is lower in cost, but it could be slower as well. The SAN is faster, but with that speed comes a higher level of care and an extremely higher cost.
If you are using network storage as a backup then you are probably already aware of the applications available to keep the data on your local computer in “sync” with the backup data. The applications work in the background and in many cases you will not even know they are working. Every time you update a file, the system quietly goes about its business updating the network version. Some of these will manifest as a folder on your desktop, you just drop in the files you would like to keep safe.