

Exablox OneBlox 5210Įxablox OneBlox offers a range of enterprise scale-out storage functionality which focus on data protection and usability. But for today's discussion, I'm limiting my recommendations to dedicated NAS devices that offer enterprise level sales and support. I don't want to take anything away from FreeNAS because it's incredibly versatile and powerful. If you're not familiar with FreeNAS, it's a popular open source storage OS that supports a plethora of hardware. I'm aware that you can re-purpose an aging server into a NAS by installing a few drives and slapping FreeNAS on it. FreeNAS Aside.īefore I make my recommendations for an enterprise NAS server solution, I want to briefly address the topic of FreeNAS. I recommend you avoid these slower speeds. Some less expensive models may only support 10 GB or 100 GB. Speaking of the network, most NAS products ship with Gigabit Ethernet support. Just make sure you have the right network connections in place. The cloud along with hybrid devices offer many replication options today. Purchasing a NAS with the ability to replicate data to secondary devices helps mitigate these and other disasters. Replication: Like any other piece of hardware, NAS servers occasionally go down. The best build software that makes it easy to manage all your storage. If you're not happy with the management software, you might not be happy with the enterprise NAS solution. Some companies are better at creating software than others. Managing multiple devices can become a headache without the right software for the job. Manageability: Any device you purchase will have its storage limits so it's common to purchase a number of similar devices. Any money saved by doing so will be sucked down the drain during your first outage. Never cut corners on power supplies or cooling components. Some of the latest devices allow you to install and designate drives and network adapters as hot spares.

But you'll be happy you did when one of these replaceable components goes down. Redundancy: You'll pay more for devices with redundant power supplies and cooling fans.

If you store your backups offsite, having a NAS with a disk-caddy can make it easy to remove and insert new drives. Most of the newer products make it easy to insert and remove drives. Also consider products that automatically rebuild your RAID array when you add new drives or drives of varying capacity. Most NAS servers support hot-swappable drives. My advice is to purchase twice as much storage as you need today. You'll have to assess the needs of your company. Purchasing a device with a lot of capacity is one option. Scalability: We all know that enterprise storage needs are exploding.

Features to Consider in Enterprise NAS Server Devices
