- Available space
- Encryption and security
- Availability from multiple devices
- Price
Have your own NAS
You can also choose to have your own NAS server. It is a device that has a hard drive and you connect it to the network. In this way, you can access it from anywhere just by having access to the Internet. It will always be on and you will be able to host content of all kinds as if it were another memory.
One of the most interesting points is that you will not depend on an external service. It is a computer that you are going to have physically in your home, connected to the network, and you just have to make sure you have it configured and always on. In addition, another advantage is that they can have a lot of space available. There are several TBs where you can save much more content than, for example, you can save on a laptop.
You can buy a NAS ready to use, but you could even create your own. You will have the option of giving an old router a second life, for example, to which you are going to connect a hard drive and thus be able to use it as a NAS. You can access the content from a television and watch series or movies, for example.
Remote Desktop
One more option to access files over the Internet is Remote Desktop. With this what you do is establish a connection with another device that is physically located elsewhere. For example, access from one computer to another, to a mobile, tablet, etc. You can even use it as if you were physically there, so it is used a lot in remote work.
For what interests us, which is to be able to access files through the Internet, it is a good option. You can use tools like Chrome Remote Desktop itself, the Remote Desktop that comes with Windows, TeamViewer, or SupRemo, to name a few alternatives. But you will find many more available.
It is important that you choose one that is guaranteed. In this way you will be able to connect without problems, without cuts appearing or having failures when remotely accessing a computer and the files hosted on it.
Use email
This trick to access files online is somewhat more limited than the previous one. Although in the email you will be able to upload very varied documents and files, you will have an important space limit since most only allow 25 MB per email. Here you will be able to use well-known services such as Outlook or Gmail.
What exactly does it consist of? What you are going to do is attach documents and send them to yourself by mail or leave them in drafts. In this way, you will only have to enter the e-mail account from any device and place and you will be able to access those files that you have attached. It is very useful since you can even access it from the browser, without having to install anything else.
As you can see, it is one more alternative but it will be very limited in terms of available space. It is useful for uploading Word, PDF or image files, but you will not be able to host content that is larger.
Specific backups
One more way to access files over the Internet is through backups. There are certain applications that allow you to generate backup copies that are uploaded to the network automatically. It is similar to the cloud, but in this case what we do is create a copy certain files and we can configure it to be done automatically.
You can do this on your mobile or computer. For example, something common is to upload a backup copy of the mobile images and videos folder periodically. In case there was a problem, we would have access to those files from anywhere and we could restore them. If, for example, we are victims of a ransomware attack, it is a way to recover them.
Conclusions
As you can see, you will have different alternatives to access files over the internet. You will be able to do this on any device you use and have access to the network. For example a computer, a tablet, a mobile… You just have to make sure you have an Internet connection and everything is well configured so that there are no problems.
The most useful option of all today may be the cloud. In that case, you will only have to register on one of the many platforms out there and start hosting content. But it is also interesting to have your own NAS, although this can be more expensive and also has to be always on.
Whichever option you choose, you must take into account the importance of security to prevent an intruder from accessing those files. Avoid using accounts with weak passwords, unreliable cloud services, or malfunctioning NAS devices.
