7 ways I realized my NAS was better than Dropbox for work files 

Even after I moved all my data to my brand-new NAS, I knew that cloud storage would continue to hold importance in my storage setup. The convenience of the cloud remains unmatched, allowing you to access your files from almost anywhere. However, there are still so many areas where a network storage server wipes the floor with cloud storage services like Dropbox. When you have a lot of things to manage, the tools you’re using become quite central to your system, and that’s when having a central server makes sense. Here are seven such moments that made it clear.

7 No subscription needed

My credit card bill is now lighter

Dropbox seems cheap when you’re paying a small monthly fee without realizing it, but it all adds up if you put everything else together. If you’ve been a subscriber for years, the amount could easily surpass what you would’ve otherwise paid for a complete NAS setup. NAS doesn’t come cheap, but it’s a one-time investment, one that doesn’t bleed you every month.

It doesn’t make you pay for extra users in your family or your team, nor are there any price jumps after the purchase. You can use what you own — not rent — without any limits. That sense of ownership turned into real savings surprisingly quickly.

6 More storage

No more compromises

The 2TB plans that many cloud services advertise may not be quite enough for storing all your work files, and renting any more storage means shelling out a hefty sum every month. I used to constantly worry about hitting the storage cap, deleting files from the cloud, and maintaining archives in portable drives, which was certainly not worth it.

My NAS has completely changed those habits. I don’t worry about all that anymore, even though I have a system to archive my files on the NAS itself. It has felt quite liberating ever since I upgraded to a NAS — I could finally stop squeezing my work into those limits.

5 Super-fast local access

The server is right next to you

The internet is an incredible piece of tech that brings everything across the world closer to you. But you still have to deal with delays, especially when uploading and downloading larger files. Your NAS, on the other hand, is a server that sits right in your home or office, so access is instant and transfers blazing fast.

You can make it even faster with caching and smarter syncing for an experience that is as smooth as Dropbox. Now, I don’t have to spare half an hour waiting for a large file to download on my PC.

4 Offline reliability

What internet?

Besides speed, owning your own server also means that you aren’t bothered by internet outages or Dropbox going down. Even if the internet is dead, your files will remain accessible on the local network. Now that is the ultimate offline reliability that businesses so badly need.

There have been dozens of instances where I have thanked my NAS for still humming and letting me access files when the internet was down. If I were relying on the cloud, I would’ve needed to wait until I got back online to resume working on my projects. It makes you that much more productive in such extreme cases.

3 Granular control

That’s how sharing should be

Sharing files using Dropbox hasn’t been as smooth as I would’ve liked. While its permission options are alright, it often became an ordeal if the other person didn’t have an account. It was like I was inviting people into someone else’s house.

With the NAS, I am the one setting the rules. I can make a direct link, limit it to a single download, or open a shared folder for collaborators without forcing them to sign up for an account first. The process is more straightforward and respectful, which everyone has appreciated so far.

2 Built-in backup

Mainstream cloud services maintain a solid backup strategy in the backend, but you have no control over it. If something gets accidentally deleted, the recycle bin is your only option. Things are a bit more spread out on the NAS, with RAID to protect against drive failures, snapshots to roll back to a file version you want, and additional syncing options when connected to external drives.

I set up a second backup to the cloud, and instantly, I was no longer relying on one company’s promise to keep my files safe. The safety on my NAS is in layers and not just a single option that I can’t control.

NAS isn’t just storage, you know

Dropbox is just storage. My NAS, on the other hand, does much more than just being a file cabinet. It doubles up as a media server with Plex and Jellyfin, runs Docker containers for little apps I keep trying, and whatnot.

It started with me just using it to move my work files, but slowly, it became the central hub of my digital life. And not just me — my family, too, relies on it to back up and index their photos, stream media on any device they want, and keep their devices backed up. That’s the kind of versatility that the cloud cannot match.

It saves me so much cash

Thanks to my NAS, I no longer pay for Dropbox. I do subscribe to the cheapest Google One tier to store my and my family’s photos as part of my hybrid system, but that’s just about it. Just getting this one storage box has saved me from splurging on so many online services that I have honestly lost count. If you ask me, the NAS is well worth the investment even in the short term, let alone the long term.

9/10

CPU Intel Core i5-1235U

Memory 8GB DDR5 non-ECC SODIMM (up to 64GB)

Drive Bays 4 HDD bays + 2 NVMe SSD slots

Ports 2x USB Type-A (10Gbps), 1x USB Type-C (10Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x 10GbE RJ45

The TerraMaster F4-424 Max is a premium hybrid NAS enclosure that combines a solid Intel Core i5-1235U processor with ultra-fast 10GbE ports and ample storage capacity. It also supports up to 64GB RAM and is as amazing for home lab workloads as it is for storing your precious data,