NAS storage is becoming more and more popular. So, you need to know how to turn a USB hard drive into NAS. This article will explain what you need to know to Turn Hard Drive into NAS. It will also give you a step-by-step guide on how to turn your normal Hard Drives into NAS devices.
Technology for hard drives is always changing. Ten years ago, having an internal hard drive with 1 TB was something to brag about. External hard drives can now hold up to 8TB and even more. With this much hard disc space, it would make sense to use them as Network Attached Storage (NAS).
Setting up NAS (network attached storage) on your Mac is still useful. If you have limited data, you might not be able to send large files over the internet, and connecting external drives all the time isn’t always convenient.
Steps to turn hard drive into an NAS
- Plug an AC power cord into the NAS adapter and turn it on. Then, plug the external hard drive into the USB port on the NAS adapter.
- Use the Ethernet cable that usually comes with the NAS adapter to connect it to your wireless router.
- After making sure everything is connected correctly, you can use your local network-connected computer to access the NAS adapter’s interface.
- Your IP address is automatically found by the NAS adapter. Once your IP address has been found, open your computer’s browser and type “storage” in the search box.
- Type in the username and password for the NAS adapter to connect to it. By default, both the username and the password are set to “admin.” You can find the username and password in the adapter’s user manual.
FAQ
Can a hard drive be used as a NAS?
An NAS is not like a regular computer in how it works. Even if you shut down your desktop or laptop, the NAS will still be running. A “normal” hard drive doesn’t work well under this kind of stress and doesn’t last long. Because of this, there are NAS drives that can be used around the clock.
Can a portable hard drive be used as a network drive?
If you want to use an external hard drive that is wired, plug it into the USB port on your router. From there, you can use your browser to log into your router’s firmware, which is usually done through an IP address of 192.168. If that address doesn’t work and you don’t know what your router’s IP address is, open a command prompt and type ipconfig.
Does a NAS need a lot of RAM?
If you decide to add more space, the NAS will work better and let you do more at once. For simple tasks, 4GB or 8GB is enough. We would suggest at least 16GB for a business Synology NAS. When more people open and save their work at the same time on the NAS, it puts a lot of stress on the RAM.