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Network Attached Storage Question

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by imacdude

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I have a friend with a graphic design business. They have a lot
of work that they would like to access from off site. Their first
though was to purchase a server, but with only data storage
needs I thought their money would be better spent on a good
RAID 5, network attached storage device.

Does anyone have any good advice on brands or deployment
of such a device? I'm interested in your oppinions.

Thanks
John

5 replies

by bkinsey1

I like and use Dell PowerVaults, personally. Based on Win StorageServer (or whatever they're calling it now - has changed since we bought the first one). The advantage for us is that it integrates natively with our Active Directory setup, and makes security seamless. Dell's not the only player in that space, but if access control and security are an issue, and they're on a Windows network, that's something to keep in mind.

On the other hand, a linux-based NAS might get you into the same amount of storage for less money.

There are a TON of vendors out there making NAS devices of one kind or another. Here:
http://www.storagesearch.com/nas.html is a listing. Last time I went shopping for storage, Iomega's stuff looked appealing on price, but other than that, I can't say much.

by rusmanhg

hello there..
it depend on the budget itself.
nowadays many small vendor also launched their NAS hardware but there is plus and minus for this.
I have experienced and many people said also for using:
-ReadyNAS .. i think this one from NetGear.. the performance is not bad and the price I think quite affordable my sense about $1000 for around 2-4TB

I have tried also Western Digital Mybook 500GB this one for limited budget, i thnk only cost around $300
but if speed is concerned then you might have some issue since the writing speed for this mybook is slower comapre with other competitor

if you would like to go for professional and unlimited budget then i definitely recommend to use EMC or NetApp NAS

hope this help....

best regards,
rusman hadijanto

by marvinh

Your post presents an interesting scenario. However, there are many questions that should be asked before recommending a solution. Some of those questions include:
How many users will access the server/NAS device simultaneously?
What type of WAN services are available? (including bandwidth)
Do the clients need CIFS or NFS access (or a combination)?
What is their budget for this project?

If the graphics design business already has a networked system and the administrator understands how to administer NAS services, it might be best to provide them on a limited basis as a trial. (The data could be migrated to a dedicated NAS server if the test proves successful and their needs increase.)
Good luck on the project!
-marvinh

by imacdude

Marvin, thanks for that reply. I can answer a few of the
questions, but your post also has me curious about some other
possibilites I had not considered.

Their network now consists of just 5 users and a few printers. I
don't believe they have a dedicated Administrator. I've asked
him about bandwidth as well, but have not heard back. It is an
all Mac Network, and they were considering an xServ, but based
on their needs I thought it was overkill.

Are you aware of internet data hosting services? Any that
guarantee data loss, offer backup possibilities and can be cost
effective, compared to the price of installed hardware? Now that
offers some possibilities.

Thanks again for your ideas.
John

by rusmanhg

Hi John,

almost small scale of NAS nowadays require very minimum deployment.
For example Netgear or MyBook (Western Digital) only require you to connect this NAS to network and little configuration using easy web gui.
In about 10 minutes you can get everything ready.

Another thing to consider, pls make sure you are using pure local LAN for at least 100mbps, 1GB is better due to current NAS mostly supported Gigabit connection but again the data transfer itself will be very much dependent on the harddisk speed, so in real life it will never achieve 1gb speed access.

hope this help...

best regards,
rusman hadijanto

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