You might think that your home network is complete after purchasing a good router, but that is not entirely true. There is a lot of other ways to improve it, as well as how you compute. However, one of the best gadgets to invest in after a new router is a Network-Attached Storage or a NAS drive for short. If you are new to the whole concept of drivers, a NAS drive is a hard drive that is directly connected to your router, rather than your computer. In this article, you will be able to read about the benefits of using a NAS drive for PLEX. Let’s take a look at the list:
Access Data Remotely
Most – not all – NAS drives have the option to set up remote access, which means that you can get all the important files from any location, without leaving the computer on at all times or dealing with a complicated remote access program. Usually, this involves a setup that lasts for a few minutes and then logging in with a username and password in a web interface that works on your browser. Of course, you will not get a high transfer speed (unless you have amazing broadband at home), but it can be quite useful.
Increased Storage Space
A NAS drive can increase the storage space available to you, just like adding an external hard drive. It might be a bit more expensive, but you will get all the benefits mentioned in this article, besides the increase in storage space. It is simpler getting an external hard drive, but you cannot share files from it easily and it does not come with some of the featured that will be mentioned below. Also, if you need the files on the go, you will have to carry the drive with you. Having space available on a NAS drive means that you do not have to spend a lot of storage inside your PC or laptop.
Stream Your Videos
One of the most common reasons for buying a NAS drive is that people can stream TV shows, music, movies, and photos around their home, to multiple displays and machine, without having to keep your PC on all the time. For example, PLEX is one of the best solutions for setting up your private Netflix account, and it works extremely well with NAS drives. As long as the NAS is online, you can get to your movies and shows from anywhere. If you want to see what the best NAS for PLEX is, read here.
Data Backup and Redundancy
Most NAS drives come with built-in RAID options, which means that you can easily duplicate your data on several devices – and this means that you will have an exact copy of your files if your drive or computer suddenly breaks down or dies. You will have to get additional drives to create this data redundancy, however, it will minimize your downtime if a drive fails suddenly. This is extremely useful if you have a home office or important work files at your home.
Switching Between Computers
Most of us are used to using Google Drive or Dropbox to keep files synced between different devices, but a NAS drive does the same job – it makes all of your data available to each and every device that you use, no matter where you are in the world. You will have to pay for the NAS drive and your disks, but after that, there will be no recurring subscription fees like there would be with a cloud sync service. And what is even better, you will own all the data, hence, there will be no third-parties involved.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are various benefits of using Network-Attached Storage. Once you pay for it, it will not only keep your data safe, but it will also stop you from paying for additional services like a cloud sync service or cloud storage.
