NASDrives.net Home Network Attached Storage Buyers Guide

Network attached storage (NAS) for the home is all the rage. NAS provides a way to share files, access music and movies and backup your data. To help people interested in a NAS device choose the best network attached storage for them, NASDrives.net presents this buyers guide.

What is Network Attached Storage?

Network attached storage devices are small servers dedicated to nothing but file sharing. Instead of having to physically connect a drive to your computer, you can just plug a device into your home network that provides additional storage space. Storage prices are falling and adding 250gb, 500gb or even 1 tb (terabyte) is becoming cheap and easy.

Advantages of NAS

* It’s a simple way to add data storage to all your computers rather than just one.

* Multiple computers are able to access files anytime and do not rely on a host PC for file sharing.

* Savings on your electric bill because a power hungry computer or server need not be on 24 hours a day to share files.

* New media server features allow for centralization of your music and movie library so it can be shared by everyone on your network and even streamed to home audio and video devices.

* Provides a central place for backup storage.

Explanation of features

USB Print Server – A USB printer can be connected to the NAS device and it can share the printer over the network.

Media Server – The device can stream media to any device on the network capable of receiving it. MP3’s or movies can stream to your PC or movies can stream to a media center connected to your TV.

UPnP – Universal Plug and Play. UPnP is a dynamic zero-configuration protocol used for device interconnection. That’s quite a mouthful but what it means is that UPnP devices can talk to other UPnP devices without any intervention from you. It just works.

DLNA – Digital Living Network Alliance. DLNA is a certification built on other technologies. DLNA certification insures that certified devices will be able to talk to each other and provide a minimum level of features.

RAID – Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. RAID, in it’s many configurations, sacrifices some disk space for a level of data redundancy. RAID 1, called mirroring, makes an exact duplicate of the primary disk. If the primary disk fails then the secondary “mirrored” disk can take it’s place until you buy a replacement. RAID only helps in cases of hardware failure and is not to be mistaken for a backup strategy. If you accidentally delete a file on the primary disk the file is deleted on the mirror as well.

FTP Server – File Transfer Protocol server. Most people will not need this and will use Windows file shares instead. Some security cameras and office scanners have the ability to save to FTP servers and in those cases, and many more, this feature would come in handy.

iTunes compatible – The NAS has the ability to publish it’s media files to a computer running iTunes. The computer with iTunes would then be able to play those media files.

USB Ports – External USB storage can be added on to extend the capacity of your NAS. This can insure your NAS is never obsolete! When you run out of space you can buy an inexpensive external USB disk and plug it into your NAS. A few systems will use these for USB printer sharing or as a host for your digital camera.

Gigabit Ethernet – 1 billion bits per second transfer rate. Most wiring done in homes or offices in the last 5 years was gigabit rated but the equipment is still a bit more expensive than 100 megabit so most homes and small offices do not support this. Gigabit will get cheaper home and SOHO use so it’s still a good feature to have.

Backup Software Included – A major reason to add NAS to your network is backups. Quite a few drives come with Windows backup software to automate this important but often overlooked task.

Vista Support – Vista removed support for some older Windows file sharing technologies and some NAS drives still rely on it. If you use Vista in your home or office, make sure the NAS says it’s Vista compatible.

Mac support – Native Mac support is spotty so make sure the device is compatible with your Mac and your version of the Mac OS. Macs are able to access Windows shares so this really isn’t much of an issue.

Active Directory support – If you’re running a Windows Server or Windows Small Business Server in your office then you need this. It allows your existing network users to use the file shares on the NAS without creating new usernames and passwords. Very handy.

Gigabit Jumbo Frames – Geekspeak for faster networking.

File access via web server – This allows you to browse files on the NAS via a web browser. This would be handy if you were trying to access it from a system that did not support Windows files sharing or if you just preferred to access the files that way.

DFS support – Distributed File System. This is another Windows technical term that means that a remote shared folder can be mirrored to the NAS device. This is great for a business with a Windows Server and multiple locations.

Accessible via the Internet – A few companies have setup central servers that act as a middleman between Internet connected users and your NAS. This makes your files accessible by anyone, anywhere. Of course, everything is password protected for security. The possibilities here are endless.

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and complexity of building a SAN has put these features out of reach. Whats needed is an easy to deploy solution that can deliver the features of shared storage without the cost and overhead of building a SAN. The FalconStor® Network Storage Server (NSS) Virtual Appliance for VMware Infrastructure eliminates all barriers to server virtualization and brings intelligent storage virtualization and virtual SAN technology within reach of any organization. FalconStor Product Marketing Manager, …

Help answer the question about network attached storage

2. Computing storage devices that can be accessed over a computer network without direct connection to each individual computer.

3, It represents the technology on which impending failures can be predicted, thus allowing the user to better prevent data loss.

4. It allows multiple hard drives to share or replicate data which can increase data integrity.

I think it's # 4? please help!

About Author

Mark Speener is a Network Administrator based in St. George Utah and runs Home Network Attached Storage – NASDrives.net

Introduction

Many small businesses today are working harder than ever to find new ways to reduce costs and streamline their operations. At the same time, these businesses are also generating more data throughout their organization than ever before. Data that must be protected while being more widely available. In the past businesses had only a few megabytes of storage on servers and desktop PCs to worry about. If they were diligent, they backed everything up daily onto tape drives.

Today, businesses are under growing pressure to insure that the data they produce is protected and available on demand. Large corporations use large scale data storage networks and clustered storage farms to manage and keep their data safe. But those solutions are far too costly and complicated for the average small business.

What can a small organization do that is looking for a reliable, flexible, cost-effective, storage solution? This article will look at the benefits to small business of integrating Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions into their network infrastructure.

Network Attached Storage (NAS) Defined

Network Attached Storage (NAS) was introduced by Novell as a file-sharing system in 1983. Sun Microsystems created the UNIX based Network File System (NFS) protocol in 1984 which allowed network servers to share storage with networked client systems. The first dedicated NAS system was built by 3Com in 1985.

Today, a Network Attached Storage (NAS) system is basically a stripped down server that is designed from the inside out for high performance file-based data storage on your network. NAS systems come with all the major components of a server: a CPU, a motherboard, RAM, etc. And just like a server, a NAS unit is only as reliable as its components, software, and configuration. NAS units come in a variety of types and sizes from simple standalone units for the networked home PC and entertainment center, up to high capacity rack mounted units suitable for larger corporate data centers.

NAS systems can be connected to networks in a variety of ways: Ethernet, Fiber, iSCSI, Wi-Fi, and even using USB2. Generally though, NAS would be attached to your businesses network using Ethernet. Because the performance of NAS is tied to your network, it is essential that your infrastructure is working as efficiently as possible.

NAS Functionality

NAS functionality is targeted for heavy duty file-level, file-sharing. The most common NAS protocols and file systems in use include, though are not limited to Network File System (NFS), Common Internet File System / Server Message Block (CIFS / SMB), Multi Protocol File System (MPFS), VMware’s Virtual Machine File System (VMFS).

NAS can be setup to handle just about any client accessible files using whatever file-sharing system there is. Microsoft, UNIX, and Linux file systems for example are thoroughly supported. On the application side Oracle, Apache, MySQL, and more are covered.

The performance of a NAS device depends on a number of factors including the configuration of the hardware, the operating systems efficiency, the speed of the network connection, the amount of traffic on the network, and the number of clients accessing files on unit. Make no mistake, NAS performance is not going to be on par with Direct Attached Storage (DAS). However, when properly sized, and configured, NAS is a solid performer providing very good overall value.

Deciding which NAS solution is right for you depends on where, and how, you plan to use it.

What to look for in NAS

When you count data safety as your most critical issue, your NAS system choice at a minimum should have the following: redundant power supplies, redundant disk controllers, and have good RAID 5 support. Additionally, you should look for a NAS system where the operating system used is well supported and specifically tuned for the type of data storage and file serving you intend to use it for. Look for mixed file system support, multiple data paths, secure shared access to files, and simplified management of all these functions.

Because your NAS is going to be a popular resource on your network is would be a good idea to keep it on a Gigabit Ethernet connection. There are NAS units available that support wireless 802.11a/b connections but they are very limited due to the available bandwidth on these types of networks so use them with very small, low demand, groups.

Storage on a mid-range NAS unit, targeted towards small & medium sized businesses, will typically use multiple disks arranged into logical, redundant storage containers or Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disk (RAID) arrays. There are a number of different types of RAID systems available and some are geared towards performance of over safety. For example, while RAID 0 yields superior performance it offers no redundancy. If one of the disks fails, the entire array may be corrupt beyond recovery.

If data safety is important to you, a better choice would be to use the popular and well supported RAID 5. The drives in this type of configuration use a standardized redundancy system that allows a certain number of failed drives to be safely replaced. Once the replacement drive is in place RAID should rebuilt the data onto the new drive without losing any of your data. And while this is a slow process, especially if the system stays in production, it is a relatively safe process.

When sizing the capacity of a NAS unit, start with a rough measure by estimating the maximum amount of storage you think you’ll need and then double that figure.

NAS for Servers

Your servers can benefit from using NAS units in a number ways. First, NAS can increase your data serving performance. Servers gain performance from using NAS to remove the heavy I/O responsibility of file serving. This frees up the servers processor to do more for your applications.

NAS is also a solid solution for further increasing performance of virtual servers as NAS units can be configured to work with virtually any file system and can provide file serving resources across virtual platforms.

NAS can also provide for load balancing of high activity file server access like database, email, and web servers. Your web server or email content is stored on one or more NAS systems. The server load balancing system uses an algorithm to distribute file requests evenly across the system. The NAS will efficiently process all server and user requests from one central repository.

NAS for Workgroups

One of the issues I still run into from time to time is data stored for whatever reason on local hard drives. The main issue with this is that it rarely, if ever, gets backed up. When the PC hardware eventually fails or an application fault corrupts some data, it often takes all of this work with it. And data recovery services are still painfully expensive.

NAS and workgroups are made for each other. Configuring your various client systems to use NAS is a simple and fast way to consolidate valuable data and add a layer of protection for your data. Using NAS to consolidate data encourages and simplifies file sharing and collaboration. Another key benefit is that the data can be stored in a secure central location in your organization where it is easier to manage. NAS is also immune to many common client and server hardware failures. If a client system isn’t working the user moves to one that is and accesses their work from there. The same principle applies to servers.

And because NAS is flexible enough to work with many popular file systems like those used by Apple, Microsoft, Sun, and Linux, NAS is very cost-effective.

NAS for Backup

NAS is ideally suited as a backup solution. In comparison, NAS is superior in many ways to legacy tape systems. Performance of disk-to-disk backup and restoration is far greater with NAS than tape. And remember, when a tape or the tape drive goes bad it’s never good news. Replacing a tape in a series can be a daunting task and finding out a tape is bad several months down the road can catastrophic. NAS is a faster and more secure solution to your data backup needs.

Use NAS for temporary parking or staging of data that is out of the current production cycle. Once the data is ready for archiving it can be sent, via encrypted network transfer, to an online, off-site, data storage service. You can also backup servers to NAS using disk-to-disk or as a Virtual Tape Library (VLT). Or you can backup to a mirrored NAS unit (RAID1) with an attached tape drive for long-term archiving later.

As I mentioned a moment ago, using NAS with parked / staged data, ready to send to an encrypted online data storage service, preferably one that is outside of your geographic area, is a far better solution to local backup. In terms of disaster recovery and business continuity, it is a solution that can have your business back up and running again quickly.

One side note, if you decide to continue using tapes, be sure you have a way to get the tapes far enough away from the effects of any potential local disaster. (Can you tell I live earthquake country?) Either FedEx them to an out of state branch office or data storage facility. Because if your building gets damaged in a quake, or flood, or whatever, and your tapes are in your building, well, you get the idea.

Summary

Safely storing your companies data is critical in today’s productivity driven market. Having the information your company needs, when and where it needs it, can make the difference between making and keeping or losing customers. Small businesses can use the versatility, reliability of NAS systems as a cost-effective part of their network infrastructure in many ways. NAS is a tool that can help keep your business lean and agile while providing scalable solutions for the future.

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This video shows the actual operation of HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server Appliance when it comes to backup, system restore and remote secure access of data. Windows Home Server is a great product that works well. … windows home server raid WHS powerpack power pack console network attached storage nas whs jbod firewall router switch hub cisco extreme networks linksys netgear dlink d-link

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About Author

Mark H. Jessen has been an independent San Francisco Bay Area small business IT consultant for over 10 years offering a wide range of planning and implementation skills that help small and medium sized business’s increase their efficiency and profitability. He is also available for speaking engagements on this and other SMB IT topics. For more information visit: http://mhjessen.com