You’ve decided to buy a NAS storage for your data center – congratulations! But before that, there are some things you need to ask yourself.
There are some critical questions before you purchase a setup for your enterprise. Do you need it to store files? Or do you need to serve files across a network? If you need to help with files, do you need a server, or can an enterprise NAS storage do the job? Do you need your storage to be highly available? If it’s up all the time, will it be used? If so, how important is 24/7 uptime?
More questions? Well, keep on reading. There is so much more to consider that you might haven’t even thought of.
Do you need redundancy?
No matter how careful you are, devices will crash. And because devices and their data are so essential to modern life, losing them is a big deal.
So it makes sense to allocate a significant portion of your budget to redundancy in case something goes wrong. You plan to spend thousands of dollar a year on storage; how much redundancy can you afford?
An answer depends on how much you can afford to replace. Most of all, Is your data essential? Which I believe is almost always the case. Do you want to avoid losing everything if the Network Attached Storage is broken by a flood or an unexpected power cut?
If yes, go for RAID (redundant array of independent disks). Learn more on RAID here.
Do you need to add more disks?
Before buying a NAS storage, you have to decide how much capacity you will need. Unfortunately, this is not easy to answer because capacity is relative: how much capacity you need depends on where you are, whether you expect your users to grow, and what you want to store.
As anyone who has ever tried to store a lot of video knows, it can quickly take up a lot of space. For example, a single hour of uncompressed video can easily take up several gigabytes of storage. As a result, if you want to store even a moderate amount of video, you will need a lot of storage capacity. If you expect your usage to grow, you will probably want at least double that for long-term storage. Of course, there are ways to reduce the amount of space that video takes up, such as by compressing it. However, even with compression, video can still take up a significant amount of space. As a result, if you’re planning on storing any significant amount of video, it’s important to make sure that you have enough storage capacity to meet your needs.
So, let’s assume at least double. However, there is evidence that buying more capacity than you need is a waste of money, so let’s assume you already have enough capacity. StoneFly scale-out appliances provide a solution that starts as low as 64 terabytes of data which can go up to a petabyte and then scaled out as per your needs. This is the most cost-effective and realistic solution to uncertain storage needs.
Do you need to pair it with cloud?
If you share files, and if you want an automatic backup. The cloud is safer and more efficient. It can also be used to manage and prioritize your hot and cold data. If you want to use the cloud, make sure your device has the option to set the rules for automatic storage tiering so that your most used data can stay on the NAS while less frequent data remains on the cloud. This way you will save a lot of space and money.
Don’t want any additional staff for maintenance.
Are you looking to have a system that anyone can operate with ease with no need for an additional IT guy? Look for a tailor-made NAS appliance that comes with a custom-made OS and hardware to suit your organization’s needs. StoneFly’s NAS appliances come with StoneFusion OS that is easy to operate, and the setup requires no extraordinary knowledge of IT. Minimal configuration – minimal hassle and high-quality performance.
Bottom Line
If these questions lead you to buy the best NAS system for your organization, thumbs up and give us a tap on our back for helping you out. Now that you have the best setup for your data center, you can be carefree and scale just as much you need without any over expenditure.
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