---
title: "Should I use Manual Upload or Select from NAS for a file source?"
description: "How Manual Upload and Select from NAS compare as ways to create a file source: the setup each needs, what they cover, and how file changes are picked up"
canonical_url: "https://docs.ardge.com/en/knowledge/argent/local-or-remote"
---
# Should I use Manual Upload or Select from NAS for a file source?

> How Manual Upload and Select from NAS compare as ways to create a file source: the setup each needs, what they cover, and how file changes are picked up

## Short answer

If your files already sit in a shared folder on a NAS, or their contents keep changing, choose **Select from NAS**: each sync compares the folder contents and processes the files that were added, deleted or updated, and you can schedule syncs to run automatically. If the files are on your computer, there aren't many of them and their contents are fixed, **Manual Upload** is enough, and you don't need to set up a file server.

You can use both. An agent can link to several file sources, including sources created by manual upload and by selecting from a NAS at the same time.

## How it works

**Manual Upload** uploads the files you select to ARGENT and creates a file source with the name you entered in **Source Name**. The system then converts the files into vectors right away. To add more files later, click **Upload Files** on that source's detail page.

**Select from NAS** first adds a CIFS/SMB file server in ARGENT, then creates a file source from a folder you choose in that server's shared folder. The sync job fetches the files from that folder, then processes them into vectors. Both ways fetch the files and then process them — neither reads the files on the NAS live at the moment someone asks a question.

## Comparison

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Manual Upload
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Select from NAS
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      Where the files are
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The computer you're using
    </td>
    
    <td>
      A NAS or another CIFS/SMB shared folder
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Setup beforehand
    </td>
    
    <td>
      None
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Add a file server first, with its IP address, username and password
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Name at creation
    </td>
    
    <td>
      You set it in <strong>
        Source Name
      </strong>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      You set it in <strong>
        Source Name
      </strong>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      What it covers
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The files you select one by one
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The chosen folder and its contents
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      How much you can add at once
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Up to 50 files and 50 GB in total
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Whatever the chosen folder contains
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      How file changes are picked up
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Upload more files or delete files on the source's detail page
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Add or change files in the shared folder, then wait for the scheduled sync or sync by hand; the log lists the number of files added, deleted and updated
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Automatic sync
    </td>
    
    <td>
      None
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Set a <strong>
        Sync Schedule
      </strong>
      
       to run automatically on chosen days and times
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Suited to
    </td>
    
    <td>
      A small number of files with fixed contents
    </td>
    
    <td>
      A document library that keeps growing and is maintained by several people
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

## Which one should I use?

- **Choose Select from NAS if** your documents are already on a NAS, or several people maintain them and update them from time to time. Once you set a sync schedule, you only need to maintain the files in the shared folder
- **Choose Manual Upload if** the files are at hand, there are 50 or fewer, and they won't change soon. This route needs no NAS account and no network connection between devices
- **Use both if** some documents live on the NAS permanently and others are ad hoc additions. When you create the agent, select both in the **Connect File Source** dialog

## Limits and caveats

- **A folder can't be used by two file sources.** If you choose the same folder again, creation is rejected with **Folder is already being used by another file source**
- **A file source isn't a live mirror of the NAS folder.** Changes in the shared folder only reach the agent's knowledge after the next sync runs
- **Both ways have the same format and size limits.** See [What file formats and limits does ARGENT support?](https://docs.ardge.com/en/knowledge/argent/formats-and-limits)

## Related articles

- [Connect a NAS shared folder as a file source](https://docs.ardge.com/en/knowledge/argent/nas-file-source)
- [Create your first AI agent](https://docs.ardge.com/en/knowledge/argent/first-ai-agent)
- [What do the file source statuses mean?](https://docs.ardge.com/en/knowledge/argent/source-statuses)


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