Network Storage Devices Help Protect Your DataIn our modern world of technology and information, it is not unusual to have more data than you can fit on one computer system. This is why designers created network storage devices. These devices give you a place to store all of your important data in a way in which other people who use your computer network can still access it. There are three major types of network storage devices. These are direct attached storage, network attached storage and storage area networks. You can use the term Direct Attached Storage (DAS) to describe storage units that connect directly to a single workstation or server. The problem with this data storage is its limited use. That is, the information stored in this way can only be used by the particular computer or computers hooked up to that particular machine, such as a peer-to-peer network between the two systems. These types of storage usually come in the form of external backup hard drives, flash drives, and USB hubs connecting two computers together, and act as network storage backup. Network Attached Storage devices (NAS), on the other hand, allow you to have easier access to the stored information because it works independently of a server. NAS network storage units can sometimes be stand alone units, such as a Buffalo Terra-Station or incorporated into the file server itself. Most IT professionals usually keep NAS units as stand alone appliances simply to keep network speeds high. File servers usually have some operating system attached to the hard drive and share a high load of accessed bandwidth on the same drive as the file server can slow down network connectivity. A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a way to store and use data over a Wide Area Network (WAN). Many large institutions use this method, especially in corporate mainframe systems, such as large UNIX systems and IBM AS/400 mainframes. For instance, take the case of you going into your local bank branch office. There is a good chance that when the teller is typing in your data into the computer they are accessing a large mainframe system found in a main office or in another large city. There reason for this is at the end of the day's business, these large corporations have to update all their data. If the data was only stored at the local branch office when you went to another branch office, or main office, the computer would show you had no money in your account. Many years ago, companies paid telephone companies large sums of money to have dedicated phone lines attaching the systems together but with the arrival of the Internet, IP driven connectivity is now the norm in corporate connectivity. If more storage space is what you need, there are various ways to get it. Depending on your needs, there is a network storage device perfect for your needs. |