External Hard Drive vs NAS

The relationship between NAS and external hard drives is that both can be saved to save documents, media files, and every other type of file you deal with.

However, both are not the same, NAS is more advanced and flexible - provides you with more features than typical hard drives.

Some people refer to NAS as a “hard drive with a brain.”

Hereunder are the various aspects where these two types of storage differ.

Lets's compare these drives in details

1. Portability

External hard disk drives are designed to be as portable as possible so they can be easily taken along by the owner/user. You can use external hard drives with any computer system - laptop or desktop systems. With external hard drives, you can have all your files and data handy, everywhere you go because you can easily plug the drive into any PC and access your files.

With regard to NAS, you would need to set up a location for it to remain because it is not a portable storage device. NAS is not a form of storage that is convenient to transport from place to place. The main drawback of NAS devices over external HDDs is their large size. Well, it's a much better choice than an HDD if you don't move the storage frequently.

Mainly, external HDDs do not need to be powered from a source before being accessed - you simply connect them to a PC via USB and access your files. In contrast, NAS devices need to be powered before you can access the data inside. You'd also need to connect to the internet to access a NAS, while external hard drives do not require those procedures.

2. Accessibility

You probably need a storage device you can easily access, right? Well, both NAS and external hard drives are easy to access - it all depends on how you view it. Notwithstanding, you may experience easier accessibility with external hard drives because you can quickly plug them into any computer system to access the files saved inside without connecting to the internet.

However, to read the files on an external hard drive, you must have the drive handy. If you forget the drive at home, or it got stolen/lost as you were commuting, there's no way you can have access to the files you stored inside. This is one of the main disadvantages of external HDDs over NAS.

With NAS, you can access your files from any computer - remotely. So, even though you're not at the place where the NAS is installed, you can still open your files on another computer, remotely. But, before that could happen - accessing your files remotely on a NAS - you need to set up your account.

Yeah, NAS works with the “Cloud” - it backs up your data to the cloud so you can access it from anywhere. In other words, with internet access and NAS, you can access your data from anywhere you are located; this sounds good to most people, and that’s why they’d choose NAS over an external hard drive.

3. Number of Computers

You can only use an external hard drive on a computer at a time. You can simultaneously access the data on an external HDD from two different computers at the same time. External HDDs work like the internal ones; they are limited to one PC at a time.

On the other hand, NAS allows you to access your files from different computers at the same time. A NAS can be accessed through all computers connected to the router network; it is preferable in a work environment where different persons may need to work on a certain file simultaneously.

If you have just one computer, getting an external HDD is a good choice, but if you have multiple systems, a NAS is a much better option.

4. Capacity

Because a NAS comprises several hard drives connected together, it has more storage capacity than a single external hard drive. The storage capacity of external hard drives is static and can't be extended further; once a hard drive is full, you either delete unuseful files to have more space for new ones or buy another drive to continue saving your files in there.

This is not the same with NAS - when you’re using NAS, you have more storage space, which can be extended further (if need be). NAS systems are built with “bays” and a NAS can contain up to 8 bays. Bays are the extra space(s) to connect more hard drives to expand the capacity of the NAS.

In other words, with NAS, you can have up to 8 hard drives connected all together to offer almost unlimited storage for all your files and documents.

Recover your Lost Data Using DiskInternals RAID Recovery

The best NAS hard drive recovery software lets you recover lost files and data from NAS and hard drives. This data recovery program is trusted by IT experts and has been regularly improved for more than 15 years. The DiskInternals RAID Recovery is packed with a suite of useful features, and it supports various file systems.

More interestingly, this software works for recovery data from different RAIDs, both software and hardware RAIDs for Linux, macOS, and Windows OS. It goes on to support up to three (3) recovery modes and a built-in Recovery Wizard to help you through the data recovery process. DiskInternals RAID Recovery is the best, most reliable tool for data recovery on Windows PCs.

Furthermore, with DiskInternals RAID Recovery, you can recover any type of file lost from your PC. It is easy to use and very efficient in data recovery. Below are the steps on how to use this data recovery solution.

First Step:

Firstly, you need to turn off your computer/network server and disconnect the RAID drives in the array.

Second Step:

Remove the drives and connect them to a computer system via USB or any other supported means of connectivity.

Third Step:

Boot the computer where the hard drives are connected and install DiskInternals RAID Recovery software. After the installation, launch the program and follow the Recovery Wizard prompts to recover your lost files from each of the connected drives, one after another.

Why Use DiskInternals RAID Recovery?

It is a pretty much-advanced software solution - preferred by experts and works very fast. There are three recovery modes, so you have to choose the one best for you at the moment.

• Recovers data from both software and hardware RAIDs.

• Supports manual and automated recovery (Recovery Wizard) options.

• Recovered files and folders can be saved to remote directories or local drive.

• Supports Unicode filenames and multi-level folders.

• Can be used to create disk images (data backups).

• Recovers data from unmountable, badly damaged pools.

• Automatically fixes pool and filesystem parameters, including disk order.

• Recovers previous versions of files if available.

• Verifies checksums to validate data credibility.

When you use DiskInternals RAID Recovery, you can also back up your important files in the form of Disk Images to keep them from getting lost in the case of any data loss scenario. Hereunder are some useful tips on what you need to know about data recovery.

Conclusion:

Conclusively, NAS gives you more advanced options and flexibility than external hard drives. However, you can lose the data you save on either storage platform. When such disappointing scenarios happen, the best thing you should do is to use attempt to recover the lost files using DiskInternals RAID Recovery software. Interestingly, this software works for file backups, and it is reliable - highly efficient - for data recovery.

NAS and external hard drives are the two main ways to get your files and data across computer systems, but they work differently. Also, you can lose your files from either of these storage systems; so, to stay on the safe side, DiskInternals RAID Recovery can help to backup your files, and also recover your files when they get lost.

This article details everything you should know about the differences between NAS and external HDDs, as well as explains how to use RAID Recovery by DiskInternals for data recovery.