There are multiple reasons for using centralised storage in your workflow. Many are dependent upon the size of your team, but centralised storage can be very useful in a family or solo environment also. In this article we take a look at the centralised storage solutions that are available and how we can use them to make our data accessibility ubiquitous.
What Are the Benefits of Centralised Storage?
When it comes to using resources efficiently, centralised storage can help in multiple ways:
- You only have to store the files once which saves on drive space and hardware.
- When a file is updated it’s updated for everyone and on every device; there is no need to implement a versioning system.
- Data integrity and security; it’s easier to track files and where they are going if they are originating from a common location instead of having to make sure that data is securely moved to the correct place on the correct schedule.
- It’s easier to make a backup if all of the data is in one location to start with.
- Cross platform compatability; centralised storage is platform agnostic making it easy to use if you are in a mixed platform environment.
When Might I Not Want to use Centralised Storage?
If you are working in applications that require high data throughput such as video editing, then a direct attached storage solution will probably be faster and provide better performance. If you require the performance but still need to use centralised storage, then you will need to make sure that your entire system is capable of running on 10 Gigabit ethernet.
Centralised storage comes in two broad categories; Local network which includes servers and Network Attached Storage (NAS) or cloud based systems. In some circumstances the two forms can be facilitated by the same product such as with a Synology NAS unit.
Network Storage
Using What I Already Have
The simplest form of storage on the network is to share a folder on a machine that is already available. You can do this from System Preferences > Sharing and configuring the File Sharing service. Here you can choose the folders you wish to share and the permissions for the groups that can connect to it. Once configured, the shared folder will be available to the other computers on the network when they connect to that machine.
Should I Use A Dedicated Server?
A step up from this method is to employ a server. A server is a machine that is dedicated to the task of providing services across the network, one of which is shared storage. However it’s worth noting that as of 21/04/2022 Apple has depreciated the MacOS Server App, and the main functionality has been rolled directly into MacOS itself. Configuration therefore is the same as above. The main difference between the two is the dedicated nature of the server versus using the machines you are working on, which means that system resources are available purely for the task of serving the files as well as offering improved and simplified maintenance.
What Extra Benefits does Network Attached Storage Offer?
Finally, the most common form of centralised storage is Network Attached Storage (NAS). This takes the form of large storage (usually a RAID) with a small computer built in that provides the services to the machines connecting over the network. These usually offer other levels of functionality such as the ability to be used for Time Machine backups over the network, media server facilities, security camera recording and remote connection over the internet.
What’s a RAID?
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. It uses different methods to combine a group of smaller drives into a single unit of storage. The method used balances between speed and redundancy (protection).
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage uses the internet to connect to a centralised storage location. Examples of such services are iCloud Drive and Dropbox. Initially these services worked by creating a local copy of the files on your machine, but as time has gone on they have grown to work more intelligently so that files can be stored offline and downloaded as and when they are needed. However it’s important to remember that to work properly these services need an internet connection, and a good one at that, in order to work properly and stay in sync with the centralised server.
Some of the key advantages of these systems are:
- It’s easy to maintain a sync of data across multiple devices wherever they are in the world.
- They are highly integrated with your system. This is especially true of iCloud Drive.
- You don’t have to rely on purchasing and maintenance of hardware.
- It’s easy to share data with people that are not part of your network.
However it’s also worth being aware of the disadvantages of these services:
- If you want to have all of the data accessible all the time then you need to make sure that your internal drive has the capacity to store the entire data set.
- The speed of your internet connection (especially your upload speed) greatly determines how quickly the service can operate. This can be quite problematic if you have large sets of data.
- Security - if you are keeping your data on someone else’s server that is always connected to the internet then you are inherently less secure than if you were on your own network and disconnected from the internet.
Centralised storage can make a huge difference to the simplicity of an individual’s or group’s workflow with the added benefit of little to no hardware maintenance. It makes collaboration easy, data integrity manageable and central backups achievable. If you are interested in finding out more about how they could benefit you or your company then drop as an email.