We all know how important it is to save to disk. To make sure documents, music, photos, movies and the like are there on our PC or laptop when we want them. But PC and laptop hard disks are far from infallible – they can and do crash, and when that happens, irreplaceable memories and expensive content is all too easily lost. Worse still, laptops can be left on trains or stolen. In which case you’ve not only lost your content, someone else could be watching it for free.

Taking backups to a USB stick, external disk or recordable CD/DVD is one way of protecting against such disasters, but you have to remember to do this regularly (not such an easy feat in today’s busy daily schedule!). Another is to use network storage or cloud-based services to store and protect data, and for many that’s a much more effective approach.

This can be done using a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, which as the name implies, attaches storage (i.e. ordinary disks) directly to the network. There’s no need for a server; the storage inside the box is simply made available as network “shares” to any connected PC, Mac or other computer. You and other family members can then save photos, music and other files to those shares instead of your own hard disk, or using the backup software bundled with the appliance, take regular backups of everything on your local drive.

NAS appliances really can help keep your content safe. Added to which many, like those in the D-Link ShareCenter^TM family, have built-in applications to stream music and movies to your PC or HDTV using any compatible media player like the Boxee Box by D-Link.

Another plus is the ability to access your content remotely from any Internet-connected computer, even those with little or no local storage of their own, like an iPad or smartphone. So, no more having to make sure you’ve downloaded the family photos before visiting Great Aunt Maud!

More than that, D-Link is building technology into is ShareCenter^TM NAS boxes, to take advantage of cloud based services, making it possible to create your own private cloud for access to your content just about anywhere.