Introduction - Aberdeen AberNAS 120 Manual

Introduction

Development of technologies delivering storage over the network has revolutionized the availability,
distribution and accessibility of storage resources. Attaching storage directly to the company network
helps to eliminate or reduce the drawbacks business experience when using directly attached
storage. These drawbacks include:
•
Limited storage capacity and scaling constraints as data assets grow.
•
Proliferation of computer hardware and software to meet increased storage capacity needs.
•
Proliferation of hardware and software necessary to protect the data allocated to new storage.
•
Increased management complexity for the system administrator(s) configuring and maintaining IT
client and server systems.
•
Poor or inconsistent protection of data on client desktops and laptops.
•
Limited or laborious access to data, especially between company workgroups, departments and
branches.
•
Temporary or permanent loss of data resulting from hardware failures, data corruption or user
error.
•
Spiraling costs associated with capital expenditure, increased staffing, and production downtime
resulting from data loss.
Network attached storage (NAS) is one solution to these challenges. NAS storage and file serving
devices can be attached directly to the company intranet. Storage directly attached to the network
becomes accessible to all computers that can access the network. NAS servers are designed for
ease of deployment: they can be plugged directly into the network without disruption of services,
management is minimal and simplified, and they are largely maintenance free. NAS devices are an
ideal means by which to consolidate file servers and backup equipment and to expand storage
capacity.
A second networked-storage solution is the installation of a storage area network (SAN). Unlike NAS
solutions, these dedicated storage networks require considerably more planning to deploy, and their
management is more complex. SAN solutions are ideal for database and on-line processing
applications requiring rapid data access, but because SAN storage devices serve block-level data
rather than files, the installation of a Fibre Channel network to transport the SCSI (Small Computer
System Interface) commands is necessary
A third storage network solution is a hybrid one: NAS devices can be attached to SANs. In this
configuration, the NAS components necessary for filing are physically separated from the
components necessary for storing: a NAS "head" or "gateway" (containing the filing functionality)
attaches to the LAN network, and behind that lies the storage component—a "backend" SAN
consisting of the Fibre Channel network (wiring and switches) and the storage disks.
1
Microsoft, with its iSCSI initiator software released in June 2003, is enabling block transport over company intranets.
See the Enterprise Storage Division white paper, "Microsoft Support for iSCSI" for details.
Microsoft® Windows Storage Server 2003 White Paper
1
.