There is growing popularity for the use of network attached storage (NAS) devices at home. Even with the increase in speeds of home internet connections and cloud storage, sales of these devices increase every year. Here are some of the reasons for the increase:
Additional space
Laptops and notebook computers are getting thinner every year. While this does result in lighter devices, this results in reduced or stagnant storage space. Adding storage space is either extremely expensive or not possible. Storage on a NAS is cheap and comes in Terabytes. Also, this storage is a shared pool for everyone else in a home.
Private cloud
Cloud storage is a cost effective, convenient and reliable means for storing data. However, there is no guarantee of who will have access to your data. The only way to ensure the privacy of your data is to run your private cloud. Most NAS devices allow remote access to files the same way you would access iCloud or Google Drive.
Backup
Backing up your data regularly is important. With a NAS it gets much easier. There is no external drive to connect, no drives to check and no reason to worry about disk space. Just set it up once and let it run automatically every night.
Apps
Most of the NAS vendors use Linux or a variant as the operating system. This allows for installation of other Linux-based applications. For example, some vendors have packages/add-ons for media servers like Plex.