Cloud vs local storage
We offer both, so we have no reason to push either. Here’s a fair look at how a studio NAS and live cloud storage compare for film & video teams, and how to pick the right one for the way you work.
- Local storage
- A shared NAS in your studio, at up to 10GbE to every workstation. The fastest option when your team works in one building.
- Cloud storage
- Live, working storage in our own UK-based data centre. One shared pool your team reads and writes from anywhere, at the speed of their internet line.
- Hybrid
- Both together: a NAS for fast editing in the studio, synced to the cloud for everyone outside it.
- Either way
- Neither is a backup on its own. Keep a separate copy offsite, whichever you choose.
SC.01 The short answer
It depends where your team works
The biggest question isn’t the storage. It’s where the people are. Footage is big, and it moves fastest over short distances. So the right answer follows your team.
- 1
Everyone in one studio
Local storage is hard to beat. Every seat gets fast, shared access over your own network, with no internet line in the way.
- 2
People spread out
Cloud storage gives everyone the same live files, wherever they edit. Speed depends on each person’s connection.
- 3
A bit of both
A hybrid setup keeps the studio fast and still shares work with editors, freelancers and other sites outside it.
SC.02 Speed
Your network or your internet line
A NAS talks to your workstations over your own network, at up to 10GbE. Cloud storage reaches you over the internet, so it can only go as fast as your line, and that line is often shared by the whole office.
| Connection | Moving 100GB | Moving 1TB |
|---|---|---|
| 10GbE studio network, or a 10 Gbps line | About 80 seconds | About 13 minutes |
| 1 Gbps internet line | About 13 minutes | About 2 hours 15 minutes |
| 100 Mbps internet line | About 2 hours 15 minutes | About 22 hours |
These are best-case sums: 100GB is 800 gigabits, so it takes 80 seconds at 10 gigabits a second. Real transfers are a little slower, and slower again when other people share the line.
Local: like an internal drive
On a 10GbE network, editors can cut straight from the shared storage, several at once. Our rack-mounted and all-flash ranges are built for 6K, 8K and several editors on high-resolution footage.
Cloud: as fast as the line
Our cloud storage has up to 100Gbps of capacity coming in, across multiple carriers and resilient routes. The limit is usually the connection at your end, especially the upload speed.
Or move the edit, not the footage
A cloud workstation sits next to the cloud storage, with up to 25Gbps between them. Only the picture travels to the editor, so we recommend a connection of just 30 Mbps or more.
SC.03 Remote & hybrid teams
When not everyone is in the room
Local storage shines when the team sits together. As soon as people edit from home, join from another site or come in as freelancers, a NAS in one building starts to mean copying files, posting drives and keeping track of which version is the latest.
Cloud storage removes that. Editors, assistants and freelancers work from the same live files, instead of passing drives and copies around. They can sync files to their desktop, connect over WebDAV, work in a web browser over HTTPS, or use the mobile app.
Many teams cut heavy formats from lighter proxy files when they’re away from the studio, which makes cloud editing far more comfortable on an everyday connection.
Mostly in one studio
Local storage, perhaps with cloud storage for the odd remote editor.
Split between studio and home
Hybrid: NAS speed in the studio, the cloud copy for days at home.
Fully remote or freelance-heavy
Cloud storage, with cloud workstations for anyone who needs full-resolution media.
More than one site
Cloud storage as the shared pool, so every site works from the same files.
SC.04 Cost
Buy it once, or pay monthly
The two are paid for in different ways, so compare them over the years you’ll use them, not just the first bill.
Local: an upfront purchase
You buy the hardware, and it’s yours. Studio storage is quoted for your setup, and comes with a minimum 3-year hardware warranty at no extra cost. Growing later means buying more drives or expansion units.
Cloud: a monthly cost
From £6.50 per TB a month + VAT. It’s sold in blocks of 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 200 TB (from £130 to £1,300 a month), with up to 15 users included and a 12-month minimum term.
Cloud workstations
From £200 per month, excluding VAT, with a 12-month minimum term. Licences are per machine rather than per person, so editors working different hours can share a licensed seat.
Count everything
Add the costs that sit around the storage: the internet line cloud storage depends on, the office network a NAS depends on, and an offsite backup for either.
Not sure how much space you need? Work it out with our storage calculator, which estimates studio storage and cloud storage from what you shoot.
SC.05 Scaling & care
Growing it, and looking after it
Both grow with you. The difference is where the kit lives, and who keeps it running.
| Local storage | Cloud storage | |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 4TB to over a petabyte | 10TB to over 1PB |
| Growing | Add drives or units | Larger packages |
| Where it lives | In your building | Our own UK data centre |
| Run by | Installed by us | Hosted by us |
| Ongoing care | Support & maintenance | Support, maintenance & monitoring |
Planning ahead
With a NAS, we plan for your future storage and growth up front, so the system you buy has room to expand.
Kit in the office
A NAS needs a sensible home: power, a cool spot and somewhere secure. We support and maintain it, from installation to aftercare.
Kit in our data centre
We own the data centre and the equipment, with no third-party involvement, and we monitor and maintain it for you.
SC.06 Resilience & backup
Neither is a backup on its own
Both are built to keep running. A NAS uses a RAID array that can handle a hard drive failure without losing data, and our mission-critical range has two controllers, so if one fails the other takes over. Our cloud storage has built-in redundancy, multiple carriers and resilient routes, and 99.999% uptime.
But that’s about staying online. It isn’t the same as having a second copy. Cloud storage is working storage, not a backup. A deleted file, a bad save or ransomware hits the working copy, wherever it lives. A NAS has one more risk: it’s one copy in one building, so a fire, flood or break-in can take it.
Syncing a NAS to the cloud doesn’t fix this either. Sync copies changes straight away, deletions included. Keep a separate, versioned copy with offsite backup, and read our backup guide for the 3-2-1 rule.
| Risk | NAS alone | Cloud alone | + Offsite backup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drive failure | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fire, flood or theft at the studio | No | Yes | Yes |
| Accidental deletion | No | No | Yes |
| Ransomware | No | No | Yes |
SC.07 Your internet line
For cloud, the line is the network
With a NAS, your internet line mostly carries email, uploads to clients and the nightly backup. With cloud storage, every file your team opens comes down that line, and every change goes back up it.
Upload matters
Many broadband connections upload far slower than they download. A symmetrical leased line gives you the same speed both ways, from 10 Mbps up to 10 Gbps, and it’s yours alone.
Straight into the data centre
Dark fibre runs from your premises into our own UK-based data centre at up to 100 Gbps. With near-zero latency, kit hosted with us works as if it were in the office.
Remote editors
Home connections vary. Editing on a cloud workstation needs far less: we recommend 30 Mbps or more, because only the picture travels.
See our business internet options, or ask what’s available at your address.
SC.08 Hybrid setups
You don’t have to choose one
Plenty of teams run both. The studio keeps the speed of a local NAS, and everyone else works from the cloud.
- Fast in the studio. Editors in the building cut from the NAS over your own network.
- Shared with everyone else. Changes on your studio NAS sync to the cloud in near real time, so remote editors and freelancers see the same project.
- Full resolution, remotely. Cloud workstations sit in the same data centre as your cloud storage, so editors can work on full-resolution media without downloading it.
- Still backed up. Sync isn’t a backup, so keep an independent copy with offsite backup.
The trade-off
You pay for both: the NAS hardware and the monthly cloud storage.
Size both sides
Our storage calculator is a good first step, and we’ll help with the rest.
Mind the upload
Sync sends studio changes up your line, so a symmetrical connection helps.
SC.09 Which suits you
Find your fit
Find the lines that sound like your team. The column with the most strong fits is a good place to start the conversation.
| Your situation | Local storage | Cloud storage | Hybrid | Cloud + workstations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everyone edits in one studio | Strong fit | Can work | Can work | Can work |
| 6K or 8K footage, several editors at once | Strong fit | Weak fit | Strong fit | Can work |
| Editors at home or on location | Weak fit | Strong fit | Strong fit | Strong fit |
| Freelancers joining projects | Weak fit | Strong fit | Strong fit | Strong fit |
| More than one site | Weak fit | Strong fit | Strong fit | Strong fit |
| Slow or shared internet line | Strong fit | Weak fit | Can work | Can work |
| Prefer a monthly cost | Weak fit | Strong fit | Can work | Strong fit |
| Want to own the hardware | Strong fit | Weak fit | Can work | Weak fit |
Whichever column wins, add an offsite backup. And if two columns tie, that’s usually a sign a hybrid setup is worth a look.
END Next step
Still weighing it up?
Tell us where your team works and what you shoot on, and we’ll recommend local, cloud or both. Then we manage the storage, so you can focus on what you do best.