What is a Network Hard Drive?

A network hard drive is a hard disk drive inside of an external enclosure that can connect to computers via a network.The most popular implementation of a network drive is Network Attached Storage (NAS). The NAS unit connects directly to a router and needs its own IP address. The biggest advantage of network storage is that the drive can be shared among several computers.

Network drives have been used by institutions for many years. In recent years, the price of a low end NAS box has been dropping to the point where they are starting to be an attractive option for the home user. The disadvantage is that even with gigabit networking, the sustained transfer rate is only about 30 MB/sec, which is slower than Hi-Speed USB.

Read more about network storage.

Read more about Network Attached Storage.

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