Businesses are always looking to cut on cost by streamlining operations and for this companies have to adopt a more suitable technology that can take care of their day to day business activities smoothly. With the amount of data increasing by the day the companies are realizing the need for a more advanced and secure data storage devices. Data must not just be secured but also be available widely across the network. With the growing pressure in business the need for protected and large scale data storage capacities are needed. Large corporations use clustered storage farms to manage their data over a network. But now with the advent of network attached storage devices small businesses also are able to store data more effectively.
With networks being part of even small companies the need NAS has become essential. A NAS device comes with components like server, CPU, motherboard, RAM, hard disk, etc. NAS comes in various sizes and types and hence can be used for homes as well as small businesses. The capacity can be increased by adding hard disks to the rack. The RAID concept is popularly used in NAS. A NAS system can be connected through a network via various means like Fibre, Ethernet, iSCSI, WiFi and USB2. Ethernet is the most popularly used interface. The performance of the network is also essential in boosting the efficiency of your infrastructure.
The Network attached storage protocols include Network File System (NFS), Multi Protocol File System (MPFS), Common Internet File System/Server Message Block (CIFS/SMB), VMware Virtual Machine File System (VMSF). All this facilitates heavy duty file sharing. NAS is compatible with almost all types of operating systems like Windows, Linux or MAC OS. Similarly applications like Oracle, MySQL, Apache and many others are supported. The performance of NAS depends on factors like hardware configuration, speed of the network connection, issues in operating systems and the number of users on the network. There is no doubt that NAS can prove to be the most effective storage means for your network if properly selected and used thereby providing full value for money.
When it comes to data safety you can count on NAS. The facilities of redundant power supplies, RAID 5 support, redundant disk controllers help in protecting your data. Moreover the operating system should support the kind of data storage needs that you require. A multiple file system support, secured shared access to files, multiple data paths and simplified management are the functions to look out for. NAS units support wireless 802.11 a/b connection and can be used with small and low demand groups. NAS can be used for servers as well. Data serving performance can be increased multifold with the usage of NAS. This means the server’s processors are freed up so that it can be used for application purposes. The performance of virtual servers is also increased with network attached storage units as it can be configured to function with virtually any file system. This means NAS can offer file serving resources throughout virtual platforms.
The author is a freelance writer who has touched on various topics like network attached storage, network storage and cloud computing.