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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →A data center is a physical facility that houses computing equipment and the power, cooling, and safety systems it needs. Cloud computing is a way to access computing resources and software as services, often over the internet. They are not competing alternatives: cloud services run in data centers. The practical choice is who owns and operates the equipment, what the organization needs to control, and how it wants to provision capacity.
What is a data center?
A data center is a physical location for computing machines and related hardware, including servers, storage drives, and network equipment. It also needs supporting systems such as backup power, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), and fire suppression. These systems keep equipment operating and protect it from outages and hazards. AWS explains the components of a data center.
“Data center” describes the facility and infrastructure, not who owns it. A company can operate its own data center, rent space in a colocation facility, or rely on a cloud provider’s data centers.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is on-demand access to computing resources delivered as services, commonly over the internet. Depending on the service, customers can use computing power, storage, databases, development platforms, or complete software applications. Common service models are infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). Google Cloud describes cloud computing and these service models.
#1 Best Overall
- Entry-level NAS Personal Storage：UGREEN NAS DH2300 is your first and best NAS made easy. It is designed for beginners who want a simple, private way to store videos, photos and personal files, which is intuitive for users moving from cloud storage or external drives and move away from scattered date across devices. This entry-level NAS 2-bay perfect for personal entertainment, photo storage, and easy data backup (doesn't support Docker or virtual machines).
- Set Your Devices Free, Expand Your Digital World: This unified storage hub supports massive capacity up to 64TB.*Storage drives not included. Stop Deleting, Start Storing. You can store 22 million 3MB images, or 2 million 30MB songs, or 43K 1.5GB movies or 67 million 1MB documents! UGREEN NAS is a better way to free up storage across all your devices such as phones, computers, tablets and also does automatic backups across devices regardless of the operating system—Window, iOS, Android or macOS.
- The Smarter Long-term Way to Store: Unlike cloud storage with recurring monthly fees, a UGREEN NAS enclosure requires only a one-time purchase for long-term use. For example, you only need to pay $459.98 for a NAS, while for cloud storage, you need to pay $719.88 per year, $2,159.64 for 3 years, $3,599.40 for 5 years. You will save $6,738.82 over 10 years with UGREEN NAS! *NAS cost based on DH2300 + 12TB HDD; cloud cost based on 12TB plan (e.g. $59.99/month).
- Blazing Speed, Minimal Power: Equipped with a high-performance processor, 1GbE port, and 4GB RAM on Board, this NAS handles multiple tasks with ease. File transfers reach up to 125MB/s—a 1GB file takes only 8 seconds. Don't let slow clouds hold you back; they often need over 100 seconds for the same task. The difference is clear.
- Let AI Better Organize Your Memories: UGREEN NAS uses AI to tag faces, locations, texts, and objects—so you can effortlessly find any photo by searching for who or what's in it in seconds. It also automatically finds and deletes similar or duplicate photo, backs up live photos and allows you to share them with your friends or family with just one tap. Everything stays effortlessly organized, powered by intelligent tagging and recognition.
With cloud services, customers request and manage resources through the provider’s service rather than installing and operating the underlying physical hardware themselves. The provider runs the physical infrastructure in its data centers; the customer’s responsibilities depend on the service and its shared-responsibility model. AWS describes the infrastructure behind cloud services.
What is the difference between a data center and cloud computing?
The distinction is facility versus service model. A data center is where computing equipment and supporting systems are located. Cloud computing is a way to consume IT capabilities without directly operating the provider’s physical infrastructure. A cloud customer may manage a virtual machine, application, or data without managing the building or physical server on which it runs.
Rank #2
- 【Advanced Home Data & Media Hub】For advanced home users who need phone backup, file storage, and centralized data management. Centralize family photos, 4K videos, movies, computer backups, and personal files in one place while running multiple apps for home entertainment and everyday data management. Suitable for households with growing digital libraries and multiple NAS use cases.
- 【Built for Creators, Media Servers & Advanced Apps】Powered by the Intel N100 Quad-Core CPU, 8GB DDR5 RAM, 2.5GbE networking, and dual M.2 NVMe slots, DXP2800 handles large files and heavier workloads with ease. Run Docker, virtual machines, and media server applications compatible with Plex—ideal for content creators, tech enthusiasts, and advanced home users managing 4K videos, RAW photos, personal media libraries, and multiple NAS apps.
- 【Up to 80TB for Growing Digital Libraries】 Supports up to 80TB of storage using two HDD bays and two M.2 NVMe SSD slots for family photos, movies, RAW photos, 4K videos, work files, and device backups. AI photo management supports recognition of people, objects, scenes, and locations, album organization, and duplicate photo detection. HDDs and SSDs are not included.
- 【AI-powered Home Surveillance】Turn DXP2800 into a centralized home surveillance hub by connecting compatible network cameras and storing recordings locally on your NAS. AI-powered features include Face Recognition, People Detection, and Pet Detection, helping advanced home users review important events more efficiently while managing home surveillance and personal data in one place.
- 【One data Center Across Your Devices】Keep files from desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, and other devices together instead of scattered across cloud accounts and external drives. Access, back up, organize, and share data across Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, web browsers, and compatible smart TVs—ideal for creators and advanced home users working across multiple devices.
| Approach | What the organization gets | Who operates the physical facility | Who manages the IT equipment or services |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-premises data center | Equipment at the organization’s site | The organization | The organization owns or controls the hardware and its operations. |
| Public cloud | IT resources delivered as services | The cloud provider | The provider manages physical infrastructure; the customer manages the services and workloads at the level the provider offers. |
| Colocation | Facility space, power, cooling, and connectivity for the customer’s equipment | The colocation provider | The customer retains ownership and management of its IT systems. |
| Hybrid | A combination of private or on-premises infrastructure and public-cloud services | Depends on the components used | Responsibilities are split across environments and must be coordinated. |
The on-premises and public-cloud distinction is about where the equipment is operated and how resources are delivered; it does not mean that every data center is on-premises. AWS compares cloud and on-premises approaches.
Where each approach fits
On-premises data center
Operating equipment at an organization’s own site can suit workloads that need direct control over hardware or configuration. The organization also takes on the facility and hardware lifecycle: it must plan capacity, maintain equipment, arrange reliable power and communications, and staff operations and security.
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Rank #3
- Value NAS with RAID for centralized storage and backup for all your devices. Check out the LS 700 for enhanced features, cloud capabilities, macOS 26, and up to 7x faster performance than the LS 200.
- Connect the LinkStation to your router and enjoy shared network storage for your devices. The NAS is compatible with Windows and macOS*, and Buffalo's US-based support is on-hand 24/7 for installation walkthroughs. *Only for macOS 15 (Sequoia) and earlier. For macOS 26, check out our LS 700 series.
- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
Public cloud
Public cloud can make it easier to provision resources and adjust capacity without buying and installing each physical system. It does not remove the need to manage the workload: customers still select appropriate services and handle their applications, data, identity, and configuration according to the service’s responsibilities and controls.
Colocation
Colocation changes who provides the building, power, cooling, and connectivity, but it does not by itself turn the customer’s equipment into a managed cloud service. It can fit an organization that wants to keep owning and operating its IT systems while using a provider’s facility. The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2024 data-center guide discusses facility considerations.
Rank #4
- Value NAS with RAID for centralized storage and backup for all your devices. Check out the LS 700 for enhanced features, cloud capabilities, macOS 26, and up to 7x faster performance than the LS 200.
- Connect the LinkStation to your router and enjoy shared network storage for your devices. The NAS is compatible with Windows and macOS*, and Buffalo's US-based support is on-hand 24/7 for installation walkthroughs. *Only for macOS 15 (Sequoia) and earlier. For macOS 26, check out our LS 700 series.
- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
Hybrid infrastructure
A hybrid approach combines environments—for example, keeping some workloads on private infrastructure while using public-cloud services for others. It can accommodate different workload, location, control, or continuity needs, but coordinating systems and operations across environments adds complexity.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to compare the options
Start with the requirements of the workload rather than assuming one model is always better. These questions help make the trade-offs concrete:
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsBest Value
- Value NAS with RAID for centralized storage and backup for all your devices. Check out the LS 700 for enhanced features, cloud capabilities, macOS 26, and up to 7x faster performance than the LS 200.
- Connect the LinkStation to your router and enjoy shared network storage for your devices. The NAS is compatible with Windows and macOS*, and Buffalo's US-based support is on-hand 24/7 for installation walkthroughs. *Only for macOS 15 (Sequoia) and earlier. For macOS 26, check out our LS 700 series.
- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
- Ownership and control: Does the organization need to own hardware or set configurations directly, or is a provider-managed service acceptable?
- Operations: Who is responsible for facilities, hardware maintenance, patching, platform operations, and incident response in the specific arrangement?
- Capacity: Is demand steady and predictable, or does it require rapid provisioning and variable capacity?
- Location and latency: Where must users, applications, and data be located? Providers organize infrastructure geographically, but region and zone terminology and service availability differ by provider.
- Resilience: What redundancy, backups, disaster recovery, and failure-domain design does the workload need? A region or zone label alone does not configure an application for resilience.
- Cost: Compare investment and ongoing costs for facilities, staff, hardware, networking, services, and usage against the actual workload and contract.
- Energy and sustainability: Ask what energy is measured, for which facilities and workloads, and under what reporting boundaries before comparing environmental claims.
There is no universal cost winner. The Department of Energy’s 2024 guide says cloud and colocation can have lower first cost and may have lower operating cost than on-premises data centers; actual results depend on scale, utilization, staffing, service choices, and facility needs. See the DOE guide.
How cloud providers organize data-center locations
Geographic labels are provider-specific, so they should not be treated as interchangeable technical definitions. For example, AWS says its Regions are physical locations that group data centers, while its Availability Zones are logically grouped data centers, each made up of one or more physical data centers. AWS describes its zones as isolated from one another in location, power, and water supply. AWS explains its Region and Availability Zone terminology.
Microsoft describes its regions as sets of datacenters connected through a resilient network, with geographies organizing regions to support data-residency and compliance needs. Microsoft Learn describes its datacenter architecture and geography model. In either case, customers need to check the provider’s actual service availability and design workloads for their own resilience and location requirements.
Why data-center energy use matters
Data centers require electricity for IT equipment and supporting systems, including cooling. In a 2024 guide, the U.S. Department of Energy says: “In a typical data center with a highly efficient cooling system, IT equipment loads can account for over half of the entire facility’s energy use.” That is a qualified description of a typical facility, not a rule for every data center. Read the DOE’s 2024 energy-efficient design guide.
The DOE announced that a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report estimated U.S. data-center electricity use at 58 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2014 and 176 TWh in 2023. Its estimate for 2028 was a projection of 325–580 TWh, not an observed result. These figures describe U.S. data centers and should not be read as a direct comparison of cloud and on-premises energy use. See the DOE’s December 20, 2024 announcement.
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