Network-attached storage is cost-effective and is great for consolidating many file-serving environments. In addition, NAS storage appliances are helpful because they have both file-server and storage hardware.
On the other hand, newer Enterprise NAS storage gateways have many advantages over older appliances. For example, network Attached Storage gateways separate the file server and the storage to provide greater flexibility and scalability. They also offer a single point for managing both NAS storage data and storage-area networks (SAN) data.
What is a NAS storage appliance?
A NAS storage appliance, an all-in-one device, is easy to buy, install and use. The NAS storage appliance combines the file server and the storage array into one integrated device. Like all Network attached storage devices, a NAS storage appliance presents data as shared files, allowing for the consolidation of both storage and file servers.
NAS devices like StoneFly’s SSO NAS appliances also have several other features like Anti-virus and anti-ransomware, Immutable delta-based snapshots, Write-Once Read-Many (WORM) volumes, Automated storage tiering.
What is a NAS storage gateway?
The NAS storage gateway, on the other hand, is different. To overcome the limitations of an appliance-based enterprise Network Attached storage approach, it uses the existing SAN environment. A gateway is also less expensive than traditional Network Attached storage appliances because it separates the file server and the storage device. As a result, customers with existing SANs will find it more economical to purchase a NAS storage gateway with additional drive capacity.
Storage administrators can pool Network Attacged storage capacity with SAN capacity in a gateway environment, allowing them to achieve utilization rates that are far more than an appliance-based model. In addition, administrators have greater flexibility when responding to storage growth by reconfiguring SAN capacity as Network attached storage capacity.
Addressing multiple storages
A single Network attached storage gateway can also address multiple storage types, like the fastest-performing Fiber Channel drives, allowing flexibility in matching the storage to the exact storage requirement at the right price. Enterprise NAS storage gateways can leverage multiple back-end SAN storage arrays to increase performance in demanding environments.
In addition, Network Attached storage gateways can take advantage of remote and local replication, which allows for more significant consolidation than stand-alone Network attached storage appliances. Lastly, Network Attached Storage gateways enable storage administrators to monitor and manage the combined Network attached storage/SAN storage resources, allowing for greater productivity.
Are there any drawbacks?
Although Network Attached storage appliances are easy to use, they have some drawbacks. High storage utilization is difficult for Network Attached storage appliances because they don’t share their storage. Network Attached storage appliances are cost-effective but have difficulties scaling up to support high-end application support and consolidation. Network Attached Storage appliances only support one type of storage, making it challenging to tier different service levels according to business needs.
The design and implementation of the best NAS systems environments are more complicated than their appliance counterparts. Therefore, the ability to support them could be a problem.
While NAS storage gateways might be an option for specific environments, IT organizations are preparing by implementing enterprise Network Attacged storage appliances that can later be used to create a gateway environment. In addition, they can be easily converted to gateway environments by uncoupling the NAS storage server from the NAS storage server.
