Five open source solutions for enterprise storage

Introduction

Storage is\r\nessential for the enterprise: Data must be stored. Data must be retrieved. Data\r\nmust be shared. Data must be secured. At the same time, storage must not consume the entirety of your IT\r\nbudget. Fortunately, you can find effective solutions in the world of open\r\nsource.

Outside of cost\r\neffectiveness, one of the biggest benefits of these solutions is the ability to\r\nmodify them to perfectly fit your needs. You can make minor changes or even\r\nroll your own storage solution based on one of these tools.

If you want\r\nenterprise support and a “solution in a can” that will meet just about\r\nany enterprise storage need, you should turn to Red Hat or SUSE. Both Linux-based companies offer\r\nsome of the most powerful enterprise-ready tools on the market. But if you’d\r\nrather get your hands dirty and craft something of your own—something\r\nthat won’t demolish your budget—these five open source tools are a great place to start.

Note: This gallery is also available as an article.

ownCloud

ownCloud is a powerful\r\ntool, and the sync client allows you to keep multiple folders in sync with your\r\ndesktop. One feature that should appeal to enterprise clients is the ability to\r\nrecover accidentally deleted files. ownCloud offers a Community edition and an Enterprise edition. In addition to the\r\nlong list of features found in the Community edition, the Enterprise edition\r\noffers LDAP/Active Directory support, Single Sign In, Encryption 2.0 support,\r\nand much more.

Pydio

File syncing can be paused to avoid data loss (should work need\r\nto be done on the server), and Pydio lets users share files internally and externally.\r\nIn addition, it offers the ability to create public “mini-sites” for\r\npublishing lists of documents on the internet. It provides an outstanding plug-in\r\nsystem to extend your solution, as well.

Openfiler

Believe it or not,\r\nthis solution can be up and running in no time. The block-based storage has\r\npoint-in-time snapshot support with scheduling as well as online volume size\r\nexpanding. Openfiler features Windows domain controller support as well as built-in Samba support.

FreeNAS

FreeNas also\r\nincludes a powerful reporting tool that keeps track of CPUs, disks, memory,\r\nnetwork, partition, and system usage.

ProjectSend

Uploaded files are\r\ngiven a title and description and can be easily searched using the built-in\r\nsearch function. Project Send also includes a powerful email template system,\r\nso you can create company-specific email for notifications like new file by\r\nuser, new file by client, new client, new user, and password reset.