Network attached storage has been around since the late 90s and is a smart way to increase storage capacity on average-sized servers. A NAS Storage is a particular external storage appliance that allows you to store more data than regular external hard drives.
But which of these two solutions will give you more bang for your buck?
This article will take a deep dive into the pros and cons of each solution so you can choose what is suitable for your situation.
What is so special about scale-out storage anyways?
Combining a scale-out storage structure with server virtualization features creates an agile enterprise data center that can quickly adapt to evolving business needs, including starting and stopping applications, provision and de-provision resources rapidly, and seamlessly migrating the data and applications.
The benefit of scaling out an enterprise NAS Storage is that it brings economy to your infrastructure. Instead of overprovisioning right from the beginning, you could easily add capacity as storage requirements grow. In addition, with streamlined management and fewer space requirements for data centers, scaling out NAS Storage solutions can help you limit IT budgets.
The best NAS systems allows for heavy concurrent workloads that combine capacity and performance. In addition, the network and memory resources can be optimized across different operations when you scale in a single cluster.
The users manage the cluster as a single entity. It can handle the data via an all-encompassing namespace, which allows multiple nodes across geographical regions or data centers to function as a single virtual unit no matter where the data is.
In a scaling-out structure, it is possible to add new hardware quickly and then be configured to accommodate changing business needs.
Scale-Out NAS Storage as opposed to Traditional Scale-Up NAS Storage
Scale-up is the most popular type of the conventional Block and File storage platform. Comprising of controllers as well as multiple racks of storage, the design has scalability limitations for storage. If you require more capacity, you'll need to create a second rack of storage.
Scale-out storage overcomes the limitations of the older scale-up models, offering the ability to limit cost and complexity, adapt to changes in business requirements, and improve the efficiency of resources.
Scale-out Network Attached Storage systems utilize servers that form a clustered storage system and supply LUNs and file sharing across the network, similar to traditional arrays. In addition, adding nodes isn't disruptive and does not require any downtime to add power or efficiency to an array.
Bottom Line
Network Attached Storage is designed to address the rapid rise of structured, structured data and the performance requirements of the current applications.
A storage system that is scaled out takes advantage of the higher efficiency of clustered components, makes it possible to perform non-disruptive tasks, and makes use of policy-based management to ensure increased efficiency and flexibility.
Check out super scale-out NAS Storage appliances with Automated storage tiering, Deduplication, AES 256-bit encryption, Sync/async multi-appliance/multi-site replication from StoneFly if you are planning to scale your business storage.
