# NAS

> A small box of hard drives on your network that every device can share.

- Level: Basic
- Topics: Networks, Hardware
- URL: https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/nas/
- In Spanish: [NAS](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/es/nas/)

A **NAS** (network-attached storage) is a small computer whose main job is to hold disks and share them over the network. Instead of plugging a drive into one laptop, you connect the NAS to your router, and every computer, phone and TV in the house or office can open the same folders, as if they were a shared drive.

People use a NAS for family photo archives, automatic backups of every computer, a media library the TV can stream from, or shared project folders in a small office. Most NAS boxes hold two or more drives and can mirror them with **RAID**, so if one disk dies the files are still on the other. Many also run apps: photo galleries, file sync like a private Dropbox, or remote access from outside the home.

A NAS gives you a lot of storage that you own, with no monthly fee, but you are also its administrator. A mirrored NAS still is not a full backup: a fire, a theft or ransomware can take everything at once, so important files should also have a copy somewhere else. Exposing it to the internet without updates is a common way to get hacked.

## An analogy

A shared filing cabinet in the hallway, instead of a drawer in each person's desk. Everyone in the house can reach it, and you choose who gets which drawers.

## Keep in mind

- A box of disks connected to the network, shared by every device.
- Common for photos, backups, media libraries and small-office files.
- Usually mirrors drives (RAID) so one failed disk does not lose data.
- Still keep an off-site copy, and keep its software up to date.

## Go deeper

- [Network-attached storage on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage)
- [RAID on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID)

## Related terms

- [Laptop](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/laptop/): A whole computer folded into one portable case that runs on a battery.
- [Router](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/router/): The box that connects your devices to each other and to the internet.
- [Backup](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/backup/): A separate copy of your data, kept so you can get it back when the original is lost.
- [Dropbox](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/dropbox/): A company that keeps a folder of your files in sync across all your devices.
- [Malware and ransomware](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/malware-and-ransomware/): Software built to harm you; ransomware locks your files and charges to unlock them.
- [Internet](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/internet/): A worldwide network of networks that lets any connected device reach any other.