Cloud Computing & Tricks and Tips - UK - Edition 04 (2020)

While creating your own cloud server is a great solution to an online offering, it’s not always

practical, secure, cost effective or easy to manage. NAS, Network Attached Storage, drives

are a far better solution. They’re small, efficient and powerful units designed to store and

share data.

Using a NAS Drive as a

Cloud Server

A   NAS drive   is  a   reasonably

inexpensive investment  for

both    home    and business

users.  A   single  bay,    which   means   a

NAS unit    with    space   for a   single  hard

drive,  can be  picked  up  for well    under   a

hundred pounds. Dual    bay,    two hard    drive

capable,    NAS units   can be  around  the

hundred pound   mark.   The only    expense

is  the actual  hard    drives  you buy to  install

within  the NAS unit.   Depending   on  what

capacity    hard    drive   you want,   and how

many,   you could   be  looking at  anything

from    £40 up  to  £400.

    COST

A   NAS drive,

by  this    we

mean    the

entire  unit    and the hard    drives  within,

has a   reasonable  set of  specifications.

You can easily  expect  to  see dual    or  quad-

core    processors, gigabytes   of  memory,

high    performance read    and write   speeds

and gigabit Ethernet    ports.  In  general,    a

NAS will    outperform  a   similar specified

PC  at  the same    file    serving duties  due

to  its low memory  use operating   system

and the limited number  of  processes   the

hardware    is  required    to  run.    This    frees   up

a   lot of  resources   for its sharing duties.

    PERFORMANCE

NAS technology  has come    a   long    way in  the last    few years.  No  longer  are NAS drives  monolithic  boxes   dominating

the room    they    occupy, in  fact    they’re quite   discreet,   media-type  installations   that    can easily  be  hidden  away    in  the

corner  of  a   living  room    or  in  the corner  of  the office.

They    are remarkably  powerful    these   days    too.    With    specifications

that    better  that    of  a   top of  the range   PC  from    not so  long    ago,    a

modern  NAS is  a   far more    capable ‘computer’  than    some    of  the

PCs found   on  desks.  This    improved    processing  power   allows  more

services    to  be  run simultaneously, and with    support for more    users.

In  terms   of  service and software    many    modern  NAS units   run a

customised  version of  Linux,  which   serves  as  the backbone    to

their   file    and media   sharing capabilities.   There’s also    a   range   of

installable apps    available,  that    can further improve the scalability

and use of  a   NAS,    such    as  cloud   server  software,   for example.

NAS BENEFITS

A consumer NAS is just as capable as a business model,

it depends on what capacity you want.

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Advanced Cloud Uses