Set up sharing on a network hard drive

In four steps, we explain how to share a network hard drive.


Step 1: Access to the NAS


A NAS consumes on average less energy than a conventional PC and is usually also quieter.


The setup of most NAS devices is done via any computer in the home network. A help program on a computer on the home network connects to the NAS and helps with configuration. PC and NAS must be connected to the router.


Step 2: Create Release Folder


Often, a public folder share is already set up on NAS devices. They exist with the terms "multimedia", "video", "photo" or "music."


The user can also create and name their own release folders. To do this, you define a public folder with no access restrictions (guest). This is how you save the user name and passwords when you want to access this share later on with the media player or from another computer on the home network.


Step 3: Copy data to the folder


After creating the folder, log out of the NAS's web interface and open the network disk in the left-hand column under "Network" in Windows Explorer.


Alternatively, almost all NAS provide help tools. These link directly into the Explorer directory of the network hard disk via a corresponding link. Now copy the media files from the computer to the desired sharing folder on the NAS.


Step 4: Enable UPnP


Not every streaming client can access share folders. This includes many web radios and audio streaming clients. Many network hard drives also support media transfer via UPnP AV or DLNA. These streams play web radios.


Some media servers want to know explicitly in which folder on the NAS they find the media files. Other network hard disks only accept a given folder. Here you have to study the manual of your device.