Can a NAS host a website?
Below is a typical website hosting comparison question:
I plan on getting a NAS (Network Attached Storage) to keep my files and I just wanted to know if a NAS could also host websites like a server could. I only ask because I hear NAS drives compared to servers all the time and a lot of people say NAS is better, at least in respect to accessing files and media over the network or from remote locations. Whether it can or can’t I’m still getting the NAS, a Netgear Duo in case the specific NAS matters or not, so unless you can suggest a better NAS or a server that has all the same features and specs. for around the same price I only need to know if I can host sites or not. Lastly, like I said if it can host sites that’s a tremendously great bonus, but the primary reason I want it is for remote storage and access to files, not hosting sites. Thank You!
What Is NAS
A Network Attached Storage (NAS) device is a storage device connected to a network that allows storage and retrieval of data from a centralized location for authorized network users and heterogeneous clients. NAS devices are flexible and scale-out, meaning that as you need additional storage, you can add on to what you have. A NAS is like having a private cloud in the office. It’s faster, less expensive and provides all the benefits of a public cloud onsite, giving you complete control.
NAS devices, which typically do not have a keyboard or display, are configured and managed with a Web-based utility program. Each NAS resides on the LAN as an independent network node and has its own IP address.
If you have multiple computers in your home, there has probably been many times when you wanted to have one or files on more than one computer (these files can be documents, music, videos, photos, etc). This is the basic problem that NAS solves. In its simplest form, you can think of NAS as an external hard drive that lives next to your router and is accessible by all the computers in your home. And just like an external hard drive, NAS is easy to store and access files – just drag and drop.
Advantages of NAS
- Simple to operate, a dedicated IT professional is often not required
- Easy to use for back up of data, so it’s always accessible when you need it
- Lower cost
- Good at centralizing data storage in a safe, reliable way
Can a NAS Host a Website?
It depends what type of website you’re planning to host. If it’s just some static files, then it should work. However, I think you’ll find that the webserver built into the NAS doesn’t support a lot of the functionality required for dynamic websites (eg PHP, MySQL/PDO libraries etc). Even if you got lucky and found the NAS does support that, you’d still have to have somewhere to host a MySQL server itself and I doubt the NAS would do that.
Best Web Host for Dynamic Websites
According to a web hosting comparison site, InMotion Hosting (IMH) came out the winner among others. InMotion Hosting scored better in almost all areas, based on the research carried out by webhostcomparison.org. InMotion is also rated highly by BBB. What we like most about InMotion is the 90-day money back guarantee. By giving such an extra long guarantee not given by any other website provider, it just shows how confident they are that you will like their service.
This IMH review was also impressed with customer satisfaction record of InMotion Hosting. So, now that you have the answer, you just have to try InMotion Hosting for yourself and start hosting for only $ 5.95 $ 6.95 per month.
Click here to visit InMotion Hosting.
Tip: Although most web hosting plans come with free domain name registration, we still recommend that you register your important domain name(s) separately at one of the domain registration services. This can avoid complication when you need to move hosting.
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