Table for two: NAS and the general-purpose server; how network attached storage can maximize the general-purpose server's capabilities.

Data knows no economic slowdown. In the current climate of flat or shrinking IT budgets, the tremendous growth of business-critical data, the boom of e-mail communication, the e-business revolution, and the expectation that everything--data and applications--must be available and accessible around the clock is driving an extraordinary demand for storage. As storage needs continue to increase, many companies are looking for new alternatives to traditional methods of meeting increasing data storage needs. Organizations typically rely on their existing general-purpose servers to meet their storage demands: file serving, application serving, data storage, etc. However, as information demands continue to expand, many IT departments are quickly learning ways in which Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices can enhance the performance of their existing general-purpose servers, while providing a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) for their overall network infrastructure.

What Is NAS?

NAS devices are disk subsystems with embedded, optimized operating systems that exist with their own network addresses. Instead of attaching directly to a departmental computer that is serving applications to a network's workstation users, the NAS device attaches directly to a local area network (LAN), typically an Ethernet network, and is assigned an IP address. Any type of device on the LAN, from users' workstations to other servers, can then become a client of the NAS device and share its use for file sharing and storage. NAS enables administrators to add storage anywhere on the network within minutes by simply plugging in a network cable, applying power, and configuring a few settings.

How Does It Work With My Existing Network?

Because NAS appliances are completely dedicated to storage, they can increase the speed and functionality of an organization's network. NAS relocates storage onto all independent platform, effectively separating file sharing from application serving. Since applications and storage are no longer running on the same system, this frees up file server bandwidth, localizes file-sharing traffic, and reduces overhead on existing application servers. NAS appliances are a viable solution in networking environments because they allow for easy expansion of information access, complementing existing general-purpose servers, and in many cases, enhancing the productivity of general-purpose servers. NAS allows network administrators to attach data storage to a network easily and cost-effectively without disrupting existing general-purpose server operations.

NAS appliances have a streamlined architecture traditionally designed to serve data files to clients in heterogeneous network environments. Some workgroups use NAS servers to store large files near the user areas that most frequently access them. This helps isolate network traffic and assists with network and server load balancing. Frequently, companies duplicate images of software configurations and distribute them on NAS servers throughout the organization. NAS can also be used as the storage device for all types of applications, including software development, medical imaging, streaming video, and engineering design.

How Does It Work With My Existing Servers?

General-purpose servers are not only used for file serving and storage; many times they are running applications as well. An organization may have sophisticated infrastructure building blocks such as domain controllers, WINS servers, firewall servers, and RAS servers that are doubling as file sharing locations.

NAS servers are designed to separate storage resources from the network and application servers in order to simplify storage management and improve the reliability, performance, and simplicity of the network. NAS devices can be centrally located alongside general-purpose servers or distributed throughout a network. Because a NAS device moves storage to an independent server appliance, general-purpose servers are free to operate other applications much more efficiently. In essence, by removing storage access and its management from general-purpose servers, both applications and files can be served faster because they are not competing for the same processing resources.

One mission-critical application that consumes an inordinate amount of space is email. The incredible amount of data and management time email generates can cause major bottlenecks in the server. The problem of overloaded mail servers also impacts backup and recovery performance and leads to potential loss of mission-critical data. One way that NAS and general-purpose servers can work together is by implementing an email management application through the NAS appliance. These products capture and index all incoming and outgoing email and attachments. Email is shifted from the general-purpose server onto the NAS device, freeing up overloaded servers for application use and optimized server performance.

What Kind Of Real World Uses Are Available?

Engineering and design firms have found that NAS servers provide an inexpensive solution for archiving CAD/CAM and other data intensive files. In many cases, these same designs need to be easily accessible as the basis for new designs. A NAS server allows users to access files and images just like a typical network drive.

A department or workgroup might have its own NAS device exclusively for its data storage. As an example, a law firm may use NAS to store critical case-related data such as video depositions, evidential photos, or other data-intensive files. Portable versions of NAS may even be transported into courtrooms for instant record retrieval or case referencing.

Business continuance is a critical function that organizations are facing. Ensuring that an organization's critical data is backed up and easily retrievable is a key component to any disaster recovery strategy. Near-line backup is an ideal use for NAS. Because the restore time from disk is dramatically faster than tape, adding a NAS device can significantly increase file availability and uptime, while complemented by the archival abilities of tape.

NAS appliances used in an embedded application environment automates synchronization of data between NAS devices. This can be done over wide area networks (WAN)s, which gives organizations easy deployment of offsite data protection and rapid restore times. This gives organizations increased uptime and significant cost savings. Most NAS devices function with industry leading backup software packages, allowing for direct data backup to tape, and organizations can combine a software package that manages data by size, age, or access frequency with their NAS device to maximize efficiency of tape backups.

As a plug and play device, NAS appliances are dedicated to performing specific storage and file sharing functions at a very low total cost of ownership. For companies in need of file-based storage, their needs can often be best met by NAS working together with a general-purpose server to achieve a cost-effective storage solution.

There is no denying the continuing increase of information and the importance of a fast and efficient network storage solution. By implementing a storage solution that incorporates a NAS appliance, organizations can enjoy a faster, more productive server environment--an environment where the general-purpose server is available to serve applications and the NAS appliance is optimized to perform file serving and storage functions.

www.nas.quantum.net

Vicki Vollmar is the director of product marketing for Quantum Corporation's NAS Division (San Jose, CA).