Not better. Complementary.
The advantage of NAS (Network Attached Storage) over cloud storage is only a quarter of what’s important to consider, which include the advantages of cloud storage over NAS and the risks involved in using either.
It’s not an either/or situation. I use both.
Depending on your situation, you might as well.
NAS vs. Cloud -- Why not both?
You don’t have to pick just one. NAS sits in your home, so you’re in full control. Cloud storage is easy, but you rely on another company to keep it safe. The best plan is to use both. Always back up your files in more than one place.
Definitions: NAS and Cloud
A NAS, or Network Attached Storage, is a computer you own that sits on your local network and has lots of disk space.
The cloud is someone else’s computer that has lots of disk space that you access over the internet.
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NAS – Network Attached Storage
The “network attached” part of the name simply means that the device is connected to your local network. The “storage” part refers to the disks installed in the NAS that are available to other computers on your network.
Yes, there are fancy and expensive NAS devices available. They’re boxes dedicated to holding multiple hard disks, often in a RAID configuration for either speed, resiliency, or both. They frequently have a minimal web interface for configuring the storage, and might not even require a display or keyboard. They may run some variant of Linux, though that may or may not be exposed.
My NAS devices are different. I have two, and they’re both PCs with external disks attached. They run Linux and make those external disks available to the other devices on my network. They don’t necessarily have the speed or resiliency of a dedicated device with RAID, but it’s been a great way to recycle both machines and disks as they cycle through my system. One currently has approximately 45TB of disk space, and the other is being phased in with around 10TB.
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Cloud Storage
“Cloud” means you access this form of storage over the internet. “Storage” refers to the disks (or whatever) used to provide a place for the files you choose to upload.
Cloud storage often gets confused with two separate things:
- The actual storage. At its purest, it’s a place for you to store files.
- Synchronization tools. Popular cloud storage providers often include tools that automatically upload and download files from and to a dedicated folder on your computer. OneDrive and Dropbox are two popular services that do that.
In this article, we’re focusing more on the storage part and how that compares with a NAS.
NAS pros and cons
A NAS is completely in your control. It’s in your physical location and has as much storage as you’re willing to purchase.
A NAS is as private as you decide it should be. It’s on your network, available only to those computers (or individuals) you allow to have access to it. No third party is going to scan your data, delete your data, or do anything else to what you store on your NAS. Some NAS devices support remote access so you can access your data while you’re elsewhere, but this, too, is completely in your control. 1
And as I mentioned above, purpose-built NAS devices are often faster and more resilient than, say, my homebrew recycled PCs acting as a kind of NAS.
Unless you’re recycling, a NAS is a device you need to purchase. It’s also another computer you need to maintain to make sure it’s running and secure.
And, of course, a NAS suffers the same kinds of risks as any device in your home or office, namely disasters like fire, flood, or theft.
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Cloud pros and cons
Cloud storage of any truly usable amount is a subscription service you pay for by the month or year. If you need more, you can get more by paying more.
Cloud storage can be a part of a subscription you already have. For example, Microsoft 365 includes a terabyte of OneDrive storage2. Some Google plans include Google Drive storage, and some Proton plans include Proton Drive storage. Unless your needs exceed what’s included in those plans, you may not need to pay for anything more.
Another advantage of cloud storage is that there’s no additional hardware to worry about. Sign up for the service and start uploading.
The biggest concern I hear these days is that using the cloud — which is someone else’s computer, after all — gives them access to your files. In a sense, that’s true, because they have to be able to store and copy the files in order to provide the service. The concerns are more nefarious, ranging from using your data to train AI to building more detailed profiles about you. I don’t buy into any of that, but it’s a common enough concern that you need to understand those risks.
The concern I do have, however, is that it’s an online account, and online accounts get hacked every day. Not only can a hacker then access files you might have stored in the cloud, but you could lose access to them yourself. Keeping the account secure is critical.
Which brings us to the story that prompted this question.
If it’s in only one place …
The person asking the original question pointed me to this story from Tom’s Hardware: PBS broadcaster loses access to 50TB of data comprising 70 years of TV history after contracted cloud storage vendor goes defunct — public TV channel sues Iron Mountain data center, which hosts archival materials, to ensure preservation.
My response?
Wow. If ever there was an example of “if it’s in only one place it’s not backed up”, this is it.
The cloud is just one place. I don’t care that the cloud service backs up its server; those backups are for their protection, not yours.3
It’s not either/or
You can probably see where this is headed. You don’t have to make a choice. Use both.
Use a NAS locally to store your data, and back it up somehow. That could be to other computers (another NAS?). It could be to the cloud.
Use the cloud to store data, and back it up somehow. That could be to your NAS (I do this), or to another cloud provider (difficult, but possible).
In my case:
- I back up all my cloud storage to my NAS devices. All of it. Even the cloud storage I manage for others.4
- I back up important data on my NAS devices to other drives on those NAS devices.
- I back up important data on my NAS devices to the cloud.
My scenario is likely overkill for most, but you get the idea: back up your NAS, back up your cloud storage, and perhaps do so by backing up one to the other.
(And if you’re not technically using a NAS locally — say the data just resides on your computer — back it up anyway, possibly using the cloud.)
Do this
Understanding the pros and cons of both NAS and cloud storage, you can hopefully make a more informed decision.
But whatever you decide, back it up somewhere, somehow.
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Footnotes & References
1: I’ve not done this directly, but I do have a technique where I can leapfrog from one machine to another using a computer that does have remote access enabled.
2: In fact, if you’re just looking for cloud storage, it’s possibly cheaper to purchase Microsoft 365 and ignore everything except OneDrive.
3: Because this involved a cloud service provider acting as a middleman, the PBS station was able to sue the underlying storage/backup provider and recover their files. The lawsuit was required to establish ownership. They got very, very lucky.
4: Meaning my volunteer work.
“Unless your needs exceed what’s included in those plans, you may not need to pay for anything more.”
If you outgrow the storage included with your current plan, you don’t necessarily need to start paying. You can supplement it with multiple free‑tier cloud services—OneDrive, Dropbox, Mega.nz, Google Drive, Proton Drive, and so on. Despite what people often assume, running several sync clients doesn’t meaningfully affect system performance. They poll for changes infrequently and in very small bursts, so most users never notice they’re running.