The Importance of Saving Your Data on a Network Drive
/
One of the challenges that companies face in their day-to-day operations is how to handle their files. Without a centralized strategy, they can end up with files being spread out over multiple computers and easily lost.
While cloud storage is helpful, many users still want to have direct access to their data without having to depend on a cloud service provider, which can have an outage at any time.
For example, in December of 2020 Google’s cloud services were down for approximately an hour, which can seem like an eternity in “business time.” This impacted multiple services like Gmail and Google Drive, the company’s cloud storage system.
Any modern office technology needs to be resilient in the face of outages, which means having access to files locally, while also backing those up to the cloud. But having employees all storing files on their hard drives causes multiple problems. Including:
· Files are more susceptible to being lost due to a hard drive crash
· All devices may not be backing up regularly
· File sharing becomes difficult, especially with large files
· Your data is at higher risk of a cybersecurity incident
· Difficulty finding files or the right version of a file
Network drives (also known as network-attached storage) are one of the best ways to get a handle on your company data and keep it easily accessible when you need it.
What is a Network Drive?
A network drive is simply a local hard drive designed for file storage and sharing that can be accessed locally via an ethernet cable or wirelessly.
Users with the right credentials can log into the network drive, which acts as a shared data storage for your entire organization.
Why Should Your Company Store Data on a Network Drive?
All Data is Captured in One Place
Using centralized local file storage for your team gives everyone a single place to store and access all company files. This ensures that all company data is accounted for and you don’t have important files that only one person can access.
Employees spend an average of 1.8 hours per day (9.3 hours per week) searching for and gathering information. Using a comprehensive system and a network drive, you can reduce the time spent searching for information and eliminate the need to email data back and forth.
You Control Your Data
Because you own your network drive and have it physically on-premises, you aren’t reliant on a cloud provider for access to your files. You can control access to your data and decide how it’s stored.
You can even set up your own archiving system, so files aren’t deleted without your knowledge. Many cloud storage systems will have confusing data retention policies that can mean you lose data unexpectedly.
Better Security
When you use network storage, you don’t have to wonder how secure your employees’ devices are, which may contain vital business information. You’re also not at the mercy of a cloud provider’s security system.
If you want to use a Zero Trust security setup, you can. You can also deploy any type of access security you like, including multi-factor authentication and a single sign-on solution (SSO).
You have control of how strong your network firewall is and can even choose when you want to take your storage offline for security. For example, during holidays when no one will need access to your data.
Remote Access to Your Files
Network drive storage can be accessed over an internet connection as well as locally, so your employees can get to files whether they are working from home, on the road, or at the office.
You gain the flexibility of cloud storage without giving up control over your data.
Back-Up All Your Devices Fast
Cloud data backup can take a while and take up a lot of your Wi-Fi bandwidth if you have multiple employee devices. When you have devices connected via ethernet to your network storage device, backups happen faster.
Ethernet can be as much as 10x faster than Wi-Fi, giving you a more efficient way to back up all your onsite employee devices.
Everyone is Working With the Same Files
When employees are saving work to their hard drives, you can easily end up with different file versions on different computers.
For example, a salesperson may have an old copy of a company price list on his hard drive, and not realize there’s a newer one. It’s sent out by mistake to a big customer, putting you in an awkward situation.
When all files are centrally located, employees can always have access to the newest version. You avoid problems with old files floating around and potentially being sent to customers or others.
Get Expert Help Setting Up Your Network Drive
BrainStomp can help your business with an efficient network drive setup to stop file confusion, save you time, and keep all your data more secure.
Schedule a free consultation today! Call 260-918-3548 or reach out online.
