If you are considering a network storage solution for your home or office, this guide should provide you with answers and guidance that will get you moving in the right direction. First off, network storage is simply the logical extension of files sharing and file servers from the past. Network storage provides a dedicated and flexible file sharing technology that is interoperable between different networks and operating systems. The network storage device provides the proper translation making these issues invisible to the end user.

There are three categories of network storage that you may choose from. These are Direct Attached Storage (DAS), Network Attached Storage (NAS), and Storage Area Networks (SAN). Each has advantages and drawbacks that we will discuss further.

Direct attached network storage provides a directly connected storage device to an existing server. These solutions are adequate for smaller systems where the incurred server load will not be a factor. These are also the least expensive solutions usually running into the low $1000 mark.

Network Attached Storage utilizes a dedicated piece of hardware that is connected to your existing network and assigned an IP address. This type of network storage provides a number of advantages over the direct attached style of network storage such as reduced server load and a greater flexibility in device placement. These devices are usually rack mountable and are about the size of a standard server. You can expect to pay between $1500 and $5000 for this type of network storage device depending on server speed, disk capacity and manufacturer.

Finally, a storage area network is a cluster of network attached storage servers that act as a single storage device. This type of network storage solution provides a great deal of redundancy and a very large storage capacity. They are also the most expensive solutions ranging $1000 - $2000 per node.