How SMBs can select a NAS system

A network attached storage (NAS) system can be a great solution for the storage needs of a small to midsized business (SMB).

Since managing storage is not the main business of most SMBs, they want to minimize the efforts and costs of doing that. To ease the burden of managing their storage capacity needs, many SMBs turn to NAS systems for the following reasons:

The major considerations for selecting a NAS system are:

Bringing a NAS into an SMB environment really may be as simple as setting the IP address.

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An SMB may also want to consider the following functionalitieis:

This is a relatively short list of items to research in making a NAS selection. Doing your homework will pay off.

Do you know…

Kerberos and its place in NAS authentication

Randy Kerns is an independent storage consultant. In the past, he served as vice president of strategy and planning for storage at Sun Microsystems Inc., and covers storage and storage management software including SAN and NAS analysis.

Rate this Tip To rate tips, you must be a member of SearchStorage.com. Register now to start rating these tips. Log in if you are already a member. BROWSE BY TAG NAS management,   NAS (network attached storage),   Advanced Data Storage,   Advanced network attached storage,   NAS hardware and architecture,   Network attached storage backup,   Data Storage Basics,   Network attached storage,   Network attached storage management,   SAN/NAS Update,   NAS hardware,   VIEW ALL TAGS Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us    << PREVIOUS | NEXT >>: NICs in NAS systems VIEW ALL IN THIS CATEGORY RELATED CONTENT NAS management Storage Decisions Chicago 2009 Session Downloads Isilon expands with transactional and archive systems Digital Reef aims for data classification scalability EMC adds file-level single instancing, Flash to Celerra Scale-out NAS poised for growth How to determine a NAS system's scalability Top five NAS tips of 2008 Storage Decisions San Francisco 2008 Session Downloads Sun repackages open storage NAS products Attune file virtualization software reports on Windows NAS performance NAS management Research NAS hardware and architecture Choosing a low-end NAS product NICs in NAS systems NAS vs. DAS NAS appliance vs. homegrown file server SAN and NAS (heads), together at last Network attached storage backup Upstart tops NAS vendors NAS tackles enterprise storage NAS backup: What are my options? NAS and DB backups NAS and disk-to-disk backup Security issues in NAS backup RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary direct-attached storage  (SearchStorage.com) file transfer  (SearchNetworking.com) File Transfer Protocol  (SearchEnterpriseWAN.com) file virtualization  (SearchStorage.com) NAS accelerator  (SearchStorage.com) NDMP  (SearchStorage.com) Network File System  (SearchWinIT.com) network-attached storage  (SearchStorage.com) storage filer  (SearchStorage.com) unified storage  (SearchStorage.com) RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary DISCLAIMER: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.