Can someone explain NAS - 2 mac minis sharing drives

[rickself]

I have a Mac mini connected to a 4tb drive for Time Machine backup and a 1tb drive for work files. We are a box company and do a lot of image work and layout. I have a coworker using the same drive through a Netgear switch that we are both connected in order to access office printers, TeamViewer, internet, email, etc. Response time for her is slow. What will a NAS drive do for us, how do I hook it up, advantages and disadvantages? We use DHCP for our IP addresses. Does it have to be static? What about shared printers the rest of the office uses?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Satcomer]

I found most IP techs don't lock down their router or network printer! If a printer gets a IP then you can go to it in settings to share to whole network! Plus if you get into the router on some routers you can reserve IPs in pool to printer!

 

[rickself]

I found most IP techs don't lock down their router or network printer! If a printer gets a IP then you can go to it in settings to share to whole network! Plus if you get into the router on some routers you can reserve IPs in pool to printer!

Thanks but I don’t understand NAS. It’s not printers that I’m worried about, I’m sharing my external hard drive with my coworker, and if I have issues with my Mac and I have to restart, she has to get out of everything she was doing to allow me to restart. NAS, from what I understand allows us both access to the hard drive, not affecting each other in case of shut downs.
I’ll Google and see what I can find out about NAS pertaining to Macs.

 

[Satcomer]

I feel you don't have to restart! Just turn sharing on off to restart the sharing because it is prone to hanging lately, especially after sleeping your Mac!