NAS

Pros

• Consolidated storage within the business network.
• More reliable than a simple hard drive.
• Easy management and administration with fast local store and recover speeds.
• Cheaper than traditional on-premises servers.
• Smaller footprint than traditional on-premises servers.
• NAS has access to many bolt-on applications to extend functionality.
• Most NAS devices come with some form of cloud service to access data remotely.

Cons

• All data is stored on-premises and therefore requires some form of backup to move the data off-site.

Cloud

Pros

• Reduced risk of data loss due to hardware failure.
• Access to data from anywhere there is an internet connection.
• No on-premises server infrastructure to pay for and maintain.
• Scalability, pay per TB as required.
• Security. Data is encrypted in transit and locked behind better security than is affordable to most small business.

Cons

• Difficult to migrate once in the cloud due to the speed of the internet. (More of a problem for medium to large business)
• Requires Internet connection to access data.

Hybrid Cloud/NAS solution

By utilising a hybrid cloud and NAS solution, all of the disadvantages of each single scenario are eliminated. A hybrid Cloud/NAS solution provides a high level of data redundancy whilst providing the flexibility of accessing data from anywhere there is an internet connection.

In the event of a local catastrophe, another copy of the data is in the cloud, whilst in the event of an internet outage, all the data is available locally.