QNAP has released a beta version of myQNAPcloud Storage Business, a version of its myQNAPcloud Storage cloud offering aimed specifically at businesses and workgroups. The service combines personal spaces for each user with shared storage for the team, centralized administration, and protection features such as server-side encryption, version control, and WORM (Write Once, Read Many). The commercial model starts at a minimum of three licenses and allocates 2 TB of capacity per license.
The key facts about myQNAPcloud Storage Business in 20 seconds
- QNAP expands myQNAPcloud Storage with a dedicated mode for businesses and teams.
- Each license includes 2 TB, and the service initially requires a minimum of three users.
- It includes personal and shared spaces under centralized administration.
- It lets you edit Microsoft 365 documents for the web.
- QNAP adds WORM, encryption, versioning, and individual transfers of up to 5 TB.
The launch comes about a year after the official availability of myQNAPcloud Storage. According to QNAP, requests for a mode geared toward teamwork were one of the reasons for expanding a service that until now had been more focused on cloud storage tied to its NAS environment.
The move also shows how the manufacturer is trying to extend its relationship with data beyond the device physically installed at the business. The NAS remains an important part of its lineup, but myQNAPcloud Storage Business works on a subscription basis and brings to the cloud functions that are usually split between storage, file sharing, and collaboration tools.
2 TB per license, even if the business doesn’t need another user
The licensing system has an interesting quirk: users and capacity are commercially linked, but an additional license doesn’t require adding a new active user.
Each license adds 2 TB to the organization’s total storage.
A business that needs 20 TB can, for example, purchase ten licenses even if it has fewer than ten employees actively using the service. In this way, licenses also work as a mechanism for expanding capacity.
The initial minimum of three users sets the entry point at 6 TB.
| Licenses | Included capacity |
|---|---|
| 3 | 6 TB |
| 5 | 10 TB |
| 10 | 20 TB |
| 25 | 50 TB |
| 50 | 100 TB |
The resulting capacity is part of the storage available to the organization and can be managed according to its internal structure and needs.
QNAP also differentiates between personal spaces and shared spaces. Each member can have a private area for their work, while team spaces are used to store files that multiple people need to use.
Administrators centrally control access permissions, file ownership, and storage usage.
This structure brings myQNAPcloud Storage Business closer to enterprise document-collaboration services, although QNAP still places considerable emphasis on features directly related to storage and data protection.
Microsoft 365 comes directly into QNAP’s storage
One of the features that extends the service beyond saving and downloading files is compatibility with Microsoft 365 for the web.
Users can open and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents directly from myQNAPcloud Storage Business without downloading them to the device first.
Creating new Office documents from within the service itself isn’t available yet. QNAP identifies it as a feature that will arrive later, so it’s worth distinguishing it from editing existing documents, which is part of the announced beta.
The service also supports fairly large files.
QNAP sets the maximum size of a single transfer at 5 TB, a capacity designed for scenarios where typical files can easily exceed the limits of conventional collaboration services.
Audiovisual production, datasets, technical projects, large backups, or graphic material are some of the scenarios where that capacity can come in handy.
The company is also preparing a feature for sharing files via links with people outside the organization. This feature, called Share Link, has been announced but is still listed as upcoming.
The same goes for watermarks, which QNAP will add later to help identify and track certain shared documents.
WORM and versioning strengthen file protection
The enterprise focus also shows up in the features aimed at protecting data.
myQNAPcloud Storage Business includes WORM, a technology that lets you set information to be written once and then kept unmodified for as long as the defined conditions apply.
This kind of protection can help reduce the risk of certain information being altered and support policies that require keeping data from being overwritten in the usual way.
QNAP also adds server-side encryption and configurable permissions.
These measures are joined by file versioning, options to control overwrites, activity logging, lifecycle rules, and a recycle bin that lets you recover deleted items.
These are different mechanisms and shouldn’t be confused with one another.
Versioning can help you go back to an earlier version of a document. The recycle bin lets you recover deleted files. WORM aims to prevent certain modifications. Encryption protects stored data against certain unauthorized access scenarios.
None of these features, on its own, necessarily replaces a full backup and disaster-recovery strategy.
For a business using the service as the primary storage for certain documents, it will still be necessary to decide which information needs an additional copy, how long it should be kept, and what procedure would be used in the event of a major loss or security incident.
QNAP looks to bring NAS and cloud together without limiting itself to backup
The move is especially interesting given QNAP’s traditional position in the market.
The company is known mainly for its NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems, devices that let you keep storage on-premises at a business or user’s site.
The growth of cloud services has changed part of that model.
A business may want to keep certain data on its own infrastructure while using remote storage for collaboration, mobility, additional protection, or sharing information with other locations.
QNAP has spent years connecting both environments through different services. With myQNAPcloud Storage Business, it’s trying to make the cloud usable directly as an everyday workspace for teams too.
That opens the door to hybrid architectures where local NAS and cloud storage play different roles.
Files that need fast local access can stay on in-house infrastructure, while other information can use cloud services to make distributed access easier. The right setup will depend on volume, required performance, connectivity, security policies, and each organization’s needs.
The new mode also doesn’t require every business that uses it to think of the cloud only as an extension of the NAS. QNAP presents it as an enterprise collaboration platform in its own right.
Centralized administration is one of the differences from personal use
Sharing files from cloud storage isn’t a new feature. The difference when the service moves into the enterprise environment lies in who controls those files and what happens when the team’s makeup changes.
In a model based solely on personal accounts, problems can arise when an employee leaves the company, changes departments, or keeps business documents in a space that isn’t properly managed.
myQNAPcloud Storage Business adds an organizational layer designed to manage permissions, storage usage, and ownership from a central administration.
This makes it possible to separate the personal space assigned to each member from storage that belongs to the team.
It also makes it easier to adapt the service to organizations that grow gradually: increasing capacity just means adding 2 TB licenses, without QNAP requiring all of them to correspond to additional active users.
That flexibility also comes with a trade-off businesses will need to weigh once QNAP finalizes the commercial terms: since capacity is tied to 2 TB user licenses, storage needs and the actual headcount can grow at very different rates.
A company with few users and many terabytes will have to purchase additional licenses mainly to get capacity.
A beta with several features still pending
myQNAPcloud Storage Business is presented as a Beta, a relevant detail when evaluating the product.
Some of its capabilities are already available, while others are announced for later.
Editing existing files through Microsoft 365 for the web is part of the current features, but creating documents will arrive later. Sharing via Share Link and watermarks are also identified by QNAP as future features.
Interested businesses should therefore evaluate the available version based on its current capabilities and not assume that everything announced is already part of the service.
The subscription can be purchased through the QNAP Software Store, and the company allows the number of licenses to be expanded later to increase capacity.
With this offering, QNAP is moving further into territory where storage and collaboration are increasingly less separate. The file stops being just something saved on a NAS or copied to the cloud, and becomes part of a shared space where several people can work on it.
For QNAP, it also means expanding its business from selling storage infrastructure toward a recurring cloud-services model.
How myQNAPcloud Storage evolves will show just how much its customers want to keep that combination: their own NAS-based storage when they need local control, and cloud services when they need collaboration and distributed access.
Frequently asked questions
What is myQNAPcloud Storage Business?
It’s a subscription-based cloud storage offering from QNAP aimed at businesses and teams. It combines personal spaces, shared storage, and centralized administration.
How much storage does each license include?
Each license includes 2 TB. The initial minimum is three licenses, so an organization starts out with 6 TB of capacity.
Do you need ten users to get 20 TB?
No. QNAP says a business can buy ten licenses to get 20 TB even if it has fewer active users. Additional licenses can be used just to increase total capacity.
Is myQNAPcloud Storage Business available yet?
Yes, QNAP has released the service in beta. Some features, such as Share Link, watermarks, and Office document creation, are announced for later.
