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Network Attached Storage (NAS)
Network-attached storage (NAS) easily addresses the TCO drawbacks of server-attached storage.
Cost of Acquisition
NAS appliances are essentially disk arrays combined with a kernel operating system optimized for network connectivity and storage. With most NAS servers, the acquisition cost is comparable to a server-attached storage configuration of the same capacity.
Cost to Deploy
NAS does not require connection to a server HBA. It connects directly to a network. Deployment of NAS can be ?plug-and-play? with common IP services such as the Dynamic Name Service (DNS). NAS servers usually come pre-configured to support NFS and CIFS and typically require only a few minutes of configuration. In the most complex instances, additional configuration steps may be required (e.g., to create virtual volumes or to customize RAID configurations). However, these steps are usually performed offline and before device installation. No downtime is associated with deployment of a network-attached storage appliance.
Cost to Manage
Most NAS servers feature their own management utilities. Many products can also be monitored and managed via standard SNMP-based network management systems already in use. In short, NAS deployments do not require additional IT personnel skills or new storage management programs.
Cost to Operate
Without a general-purpose operating system, NAS products have fewer components to fail and fewer reasons to go offline. High-availability configurations enable continuous access to data, even in the event of a disk failure or other disruption.
For more information about InLine's storage solutions, please contact our Storage Specialist:
Brian Collier
205-278-8123
BCollier@InLine.com
