Which is better DAS - Direct Attached Storage or NAS - Network Attached Storage?
You are backing up your computer(s), right?
Direct Attached Storage can be as simple as a hard drive attached to a port on your computer - USB, eSATA, Firewire or Thunderbolt. Drives are available at many price points, and with many options from the simplest 'extra' drive to ones capable of many feats including acting as a media store, backup repository, and much more. DAS are often used by folks who create large volumes of data - musicians, photographers and videographers are some who come to mind. They want voluminous, inexpensive storage for the large files they create, but access from other than the studio is less important for them. While onsite, they might use a more portable unit such as the Drobo Mini, moving the shoot or session to more substantial backup solutions back at the studio.
Pros and Cons of Direct Attached Storage
- Fast on USB3
- Can be very fast on Thunderbolt.
- Useful as additional storage for large files, or if connected to a server.
- Variety of prices (less than $100 - $1000's)
- Easy back up to other disks or online services
- Portable if small.
- Can be very slow on USB2
- Connects to only 1 computer
- Usually do not work over Wi-Fi
- Can not operate independently of a computer
Network Attached Storage is a smart Hard Drive connected to your router, rather than one single computer. In addition to offering backup options to all computers connected to your network, most are able to act as media servers, file servers, and more. Many are also accessible from the internet, and have services to share your files to your mobile divides when you are away from home. Imagine being able to pull up that file you forgot, or the pictures of the kids because you unexpectedly met an old friend. NAS are particularly useful for multi-computer situations. It allows many individual machines to connect through the network to the storage device, sharing files, or managing backups. As any particular computer can connect wirelessly to the NAS, backups can happen any time the computer is connected to the network. One downside is that since NAS are not connected directly to a computer, it is more challenging to back up to an online backup service, unless you purchase a high end unit.
Pros and Cons of Network Attached Storage
- Reasonable speed if on a Gigabit network
- Network Device, independent of a computer
- Usable with multiple computers
- Media server
- Cloud services
- Challenging to back up the NAS to online services
- Needs a network connection
- Somewhat more expensive
Both DAS and NAS can be configured in a RAID configuration, protecting your data in the event of a hard drive failure, however in the case of the failure of the enclosure, some DAS might allow you to remove the disk and connect to another enclosure for recovery, but most NAS would not, as the disk is usually formatted upon insertion into the enclosure, and the more proprietary operating system of the NAS usually prevents connection to another computer for recovery, necessitating a secure backup of the NAS.
My preference is NAS rather than DAS. I appreciate the ability to use the content of the NAS in many locations such to play movies, slideshows or music through my TV or other network connected devices, the ability to backup my laptop whether connected by ethernet or wireless, sharing of files between computers, and hosting backups of multiple computers.
If you want to see the differences between the NAS and DAS, compare the Drobo (USB), the 5D (Thunderbolt DAS) to their similar 5N (NAS) including the Drobo Apps.
Some other NAS of interest include QNAP, Synology and Thecus.