"Offline" NAS

[GelinosOne]

Hello Everybody,

it may sound like a dumb question but I'd like to know if I can use a NAS "offline" ?
Well I mean if I can use the NAS with a WLAN Router which is not connected with the internet ...
So I could share my date with WiFi technology nearby the location or use it via an ethernet cable
Is this possible ?

If yes, does it work like a Hard drive which I connect to my PC ?

 

[i386]

NAS = network attached storage, the files are shared over smb (windows) or nfs (linux/bsd/unix)

Yes, you can connect a nas to a router with wifi and the clients can access the data, be it over cable or wifi(wlan).

No, its not like a hdd that you connect to pc. Usually there is a "server" (integrated in windows, samba server on linux) that serves the files.

 

[vl1969]

it is all depends on what you mean by NAS.

as i386 points out "NAS" translates as Network Attached Storage.
that means a device with one or more hard drives that is capable or better described as designed to share those hard drives via network,
NAS can be anything, starting from a full blown computer running a full Operating system like Windows(desktop or server edition) , Linux, BSD, etc.. that has a designated storage setup and a sharing technology configured to allow other devices to connect and use the local hard drive or folder.

or a dedicated appliance like device where you only see the hard drive and a command line management via SSH or a web style management interface via web browser.

sharing technology can be anything, like NFS and windows compatible SAMBA for Linux systems.
to Windows data share and CIFS or SAMBA like sharing protocol, windows 7 and windows 10 can also nowadays support NFS protocol. some setups include all of the above at the same time to allow for diversified data sharing experience.

common appliance type NAS are QNAP , Synology, Western Digital MyCloud.
a DIY setups are PC loaded with FreeNAS/NAS4Free, OpenMediaVault, OwnCloud / NextCloud .

so what do you mean by NAS?