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NAS Overview
A network-attached storage (NAS) device is quite different than a PC, in that it is dedicated to file sharing (i.e. data read/write and management). Due to a stripped down, lean operating system they are more stable than a Windows based PC. A NAS device is not located within a PC or file server but as an actual network attached device. A NAS device comes with various RAID options, usually preconfigured to RAID 5, depending on which brand/model you buy. Per Gigabyte, NAS is usually much cheaper than a server or PC, and requires less maintenance than both and there are no costs of licensed software – keeping the cost of video storage down!
NAS devices offer more reliability through the principles of hardware simplification overlayed with data protection features. By stripping out unecessary services and applications, the device is much less likely to fail because of software issues or security attacks. Additionally NAS products are preconfigured for RAID, in case of hard disk failure. Many NAS appliances also come with data protection software features such as snapshots and replication to insure against data loss.
Scalable
As you need more storage for adding more cameras, you just plug in another NAS device and point the new cameras to it. Alternatively, if you were recording to a primary server you would need to shut it down to add more hard disks, and depending on how many more cameras you are adding, you may also be looking at adding more CPU power, memory etc. This is time consuming, requiring system downtime and cost.
Easy to setup
The nice thing about the NAS architecture is that it enables storage to be rapidly added by just plugging the appliance into a network switch. NAS devices can be setup in under 30 minutes, as most of the settings are preconfigured including the RAID settings.
Storage Range
Netgear Products