You’ll need external storage when storing more data than your device will allow. This comes in the form of USB drives, external drives, network drives, direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS), and the cloud. Which is best for you depends on what you plan on storing, who will require access, and if you need to run anything else as well as storing data. We’ll be looking at network drives and NAS, how they compare against one another, and how using a NAS opens up endless possibilities. Unlike simple network drives, NAS enclosures were storage devices but have become powerful servers for running software and services.