Google Drive Price Hikes Prompt Users to Question Local Storage Options
Rising storage costs have led some to question whether it's worth continuing to pay for Google Drive. I've been down this road more than a few times, and I can tell you that it's not as simple as it seems at first glance.
With two Synology NAS boxes in my office, one might think I'm a prime candidate for making the switch. However, every trip I've taken to 100% local storage has sent me running back to Google. If your primary goal is absolute privacy and keeping your data out of Google's reach, going fully local will be worth every trade-off.
However, if you're looking at building a NAS to escape Google Drive, there are five things you should know before pulling the trigger.
The first is that it won't save you as much as you think. A proper NAS setup requires a bit more than just buying a 2TB hard drive and comparing its price to an equivalent Google One plan. For basic reliability, you'll need a NAS or a dedicated PC with an enclosure, plus at least two hard drives for fault tolerance.
The second thing is that you can't cheap out on the hardware. Advanced features require real computing power, which means you'll need to invest in more serious hardware if you want to replicate the convenience of Google Photos or have your documents indexed so they're searchable on the go.
Thirdly, you still need backups. RAID is great for protecting you from a hard drive failure, but it doesn't protect you from fires, power surges, file corruption, or accidental deletions.
Fourthly, check your upload speeds. Your home internet is the ultimate bottleneck when it comes to storing data locally.