In spite of the convenience offered by network attached storage (NAS), appliances and gateways must be configured and managed using software tools that allow administrators to allocate space, manage RAID and storage behaviors, perform routine maintenance, and other tasks. Management software ideally provides interoperability with a variety of NAS devices from different vendors and can automate many of the routine management tasks that would otherwise demand manual attention. The product snapshots in this chapter highlight key specifications for a cross section of major NAS management software products. The following products were selected based on input from industry analysts and SearchStorage.com editors, and specifications are current as of August 2007.
The following specifications have been provided by vendors and are periodically updated. Vendors are welcome to submit their updates and new product specifications to Matt Perkins.
Product: Adaptec Inc.; Snap Server Manager
Maximum Storage: 44TB in one Snap Server
RAID Support: RAID-0; RAID-1; RAID-5
Hot Spare Support: Yes; it supports global hot spares and local hot
spares
Automated Discovery: Yes; automates the discovery of SnapOS- and GuardianOS-powered Snap
Servers (local and remote) in a fraction of the time needed by manual administration. This provides
instant environmental visibility, knowledge, and control
Automated Maintenance: Snap Server Manager automates routine storage maintenance tasks
such as configuring storage network settings, updating software and firmware, adding and retiring
Snap Server storage assets, monitoring and notification, and capacity utilization reporting. Snap
Server Manager can easily schedule maintenance during off-peak hours to minimize business
disruptions and can automatically create and send email reports to confirm a successful
operation.
Reporting Features: Yes; Snap Server Manager's comprehensive analysis, in-depth
information and reporting capabilities eliminate the need for manual collection and spreadsheets,
giving enterprises accurate knowledge about their Snap Server storage assets. With a simple and
efficient click of a mouse button, Snap Server Manager offers immediate in-depth information of
Snap Server storage assets and how they are being utilized.
Backup Support: Yes; BakBone NetVault [included with Snap Server Manager],VERITAS
NetBackup/Backup Exec, CA BrightStor ARCserve/Enterprise, Legato NetWorker, Microsoft Backup
Software for Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP, and NDMP v2,v3, v4.
Virtualization Support: Not provided
Security Features: Provides antivirus support through CA eTrust Antivirus and encryption
for data transfers
Other Key Features: Single console to manage a storage infrastructure with multiple Snap
Servers; intuitive GUI provides centralized management of the entire storage infrastructure,
including physical devices, global network configuration and administration, and capacity planning;
customized groupings so IT managers can administer their Snap Server storage infrastructure in the
way that best fits their business: by department, by location, by application, or by user; allows
users to simultaneously configure a group of Snap Servers in a single operation to eliminate
redundant administrative tasks, reduce errors and assure consistent settings across servers; IT
managers can generate business-centric reports based on the server grouping for capacity planning
or chargeback purposes.
Minimum Requirements: Pentium III 133 MHz, 128MB RAM, Snap Server GuardianOS v2.6 or
higher, Snap Server SnapOS v3.4 or higher; Java Virtual Machine V1.4.1
Hardware Compatibility: Snap Server 110, 210, 410, 510, 520, 550, 650, 4200, 4500, 18000
(Included free license allows servers to be viewed and individually configured. Monitoring only
Snap Server 1100, 2200, 4100 (No license required for these SnapOS systems)
OS Compatibility: HP-UX (PA-RISC) 11.x; IBM AIX 5.1, 5.2; Linux running kernel 2.2.1.2
and later with glibc 2.1.2-11 or later; MacOS X 10.2.3 or later; Microsoft Windows Me, NT, 2000,
2003, XP; Sun Solaris (i386 and SPARC) 7,8,9
Vendor Comment: Snap Server Manager is a Java-enabled management solution that allows
enterprises to rapidly deploy, configure, and manage a complete Snap Server storage network from a
single console. Snap Server Manager minimizes the IT resources required to manage hundreds of
terabytes of data, and lowers overall TCO with business-centric views that allow IT resources to be
focused on data availability and protection.
Availability: Currently available; Snap Server Manager is included with all Adaptec Snap
Servers
Base Cost: Free; Snap Server Manager is included with all Adaptec Snap
Servers
Detailed Specs:
http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/software/manage_sw/Snap_Server_Manager/
Vendor URL: www.adaptec.com
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Product: BlueArc Corp.; BlueArc software suite
Maximum Storage: Supports up to of 512 usable terabytes tiered storage, supporting
both Fibre Channel and Serial ATA drives. This is the current tested capacity limit, not an
architectural limit. There is no limit on the number of drives.
RAID Support: Can manage the backend RAID storage systems in RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 and 50.
BlueArc's Titan also has the ability to stripe across multiple RAID systems, creating a virtual
storage pool for greater capacity and performance. This can be dynamically scaled in both capacity
and performance.
Hot Spare Support: Software supports multiple hot spare drives within the back-end RAID
storage. Hot spares are configured per shelf or by RAID group as desired and rebuilt into the RAID
groups on failure, with drive rebuilds handled in hardware through the RAID controllers, minimizing
the impact on NAS performance during rebuilds.
Automated Discovery: Titan's management unit can discover new storage as well as
additional Titan servers. These are all centrally managed by the management
software.
Automated Maintenance: Management software performs constant monitoring of the Titan
servers relaying status and alerts to SNMP, e-mail and call home to BlueArc's Technical Assistance
Center (TAC) as configured. The software provides proactive alerts of drive errors, with reporting
to the TAC for proactive replacement. In high availability clustered configurations, active-active
paired Titan servers are monitored and all services are automatically moved to the surviving server
in the event of a failure to ensure continued file services.
Reporting Features: Management software performs a daily report with full details on all
systems. This includes logging of all levels of severity, e-mail, SNMP and call home alerts to the
BlueArc technical assistance center (TAC) as configured. Full alert monitoring, reports and graphs
are available within the management GUI. Daily reports are also generated by each system for
delivery to the customer and BlueArc TAC for long term trending and analysis.
Backup Support: Supports replication within the Titan between storage tiers as well as
between Titans. Replication is supported via synchronous or asynchronous copies, block or file
level including incremental copies. Snapshots are used to take point-in-time copies of data prior
to replication; Supports NDMP backup schemes via LAN-based and LAN-free tape libraries and media
servers. LAN-Free backups minimize the impact on client access as traffic only traverses the
backend SAN to a SAN attached tape library. Titan supports backup software and products from ADIC,
Atempo, Bakbone, CommVault Systems, Legato, Overland Storage, Quantum/ATL, Spectra Logic, STK
(Sun), Syncsort, and Veritas (Symantec).
Virtualization Support: Block storage is virtualized into a dynamic storage pool across
multiple hardware-based RAID arrays. The virtualized storage pool provides thin provisioning or
dynamic file system expansion. Virtual Volumes provide user or project constructs that allow
administrators to grow and shrink provided storage as well as implement quota limitations; Virtual
Servers allow administrators virtual machine like functionality by presenting many fully featured
virtual file servers from a single Titan allowing it to be shared across different applications and
workgroups each with their own policies, security, IP address, etc.; Global name space
virtualization feature provides a virtual view across all Titan servers and file systems as a
single unified file structure and mount point, simplifying access and
administration.
Security Features: Role-based access for storage, network or system administration is
provided via web-based GUI HTTP/HTTPS or CLI via SSL/SSH. NFS and CIFS user authentication via
Access Control Lists, Active Directory, NIS or LDAP is supported. For mixed NFS and CIFS access,
appropriate mapping of permissions is supported between the two protocols. CHAP authentication is
also available for iSCSI secure authentication.
Other Key Features: Titan features a 64-bit Object Oriented File system with almost no
overhead, eliminating the reduction of usable storage and improves data efficiency and access.
Integrated Transparent Data Migration between storage tiers allows data to be migrated via
automated policies with no affect on user or application access. Cluster Read Caching provides
accelerated read performance for a common data set across N-Way clustered Titan servers, providing
linear performance as customers scale out. Write Once Read Many (WORM) file system support for
compliance solutions. Advanced NAS features including: N-Way clustering, Hardware-based Snapshots,
Accelerated Data Copy, Anti-virus Scanning support, iSCSI MPIO (Multi-path support)
Minimum Requirements: The management software is provided on a turnkey system called the
System Management Unit, or SMU. This is a dedicated server that manages the entire system including
up to 16 Titans, proving control, monitoring, and reporting functionality.
Hardware Compatibility: BlueArc's management software supports all the companies'
products including the latest Titan 2200. Brocade SAN switches are managed and monitored for
backend SAN connectivity. The management software can virtualize and manage a variety of backend
SAN storage systems.
OS Compatibility: The management software runs on the dedicated System Management Unit
running a Red Hat Linux OS base. Any type of client OS is supported through standard CIFS, NFS and
iSCSI protocols, no special drivers are required.
Vendor Comment: BlueArc provides a comprehensive management and feature suite for the
high performance Titan 2200 enabling customers to enable massive NAS consolidation, improve
application performance, and simply storage administration. Titan's modular server and storage
design ensure no forklift upgrade is required as customer's requirements grow or
change.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: BlueArc Titan solutions start at approximately $100,000. Licensed software
features are available for additional varying cost.
Detailed Specs: http://www.bluearc.com/html/products/software_data.shtml
Vendor URL: www.bluearc.com
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Product: EMC Corp.; Celerra Manager
Maximum Storage: Provides the capability to perform all management functions for a
single or multiple Celerra systems. The largest Celerra system today is the NSX, which currently
has a maximum capacity of 168 TB usable per system, so managing ten Celerra NSX systems with
Celerra Manager would give you over 1.6 Petabytes under a single point of control.
RAID Support: The Celerra integrated systems and Celerra gateway systems provide multiple
RAID levels and disk types in a single array, and support RAID levels 1, 3, 5 and 10, depending on
the storage platform.
Hot Spare Support: Hot spares are an integral part of the fault tolerant capabilities of
the CLARiiON and Symmetrix back ends for Celerra. Hot sparing is handled by these storage
subsystems, as well as such features as proactive sparing, where disks may be replaced in the
background prior to failure, for exceeding a threshold number of soft errors. These functions are
transparent to the Celerra system. Celerra Management software monitors this storage and provides
usage/status reports.
Automated Discovery: Storage management solutions for NAS and storage resource discovery
include EMC Smarts, EMC Rainfinity Global File Virtualization, EMC Visual SRM, and the EMC Control
Center Family -- these products work with Celerra Manager to discover, manage, and report on
Celerra systems. In addition, Celerra Manager with Automated Volume Management (AVM) can simplify
and automate file system creation, using workload profile, such as high performance, bulk storage,
backup to disk, and archive. AVM automatically selects the appropriate drive type, RAID level,
striping, and physical assignments based on system defined or user defined workload
profiles.
Automated Maintenance: Can automatically extend file system size, based on parameters set
by the administrator. Email/pager alerts can be automatically sent, based on Celerra and resource
usage and hardware status, as well as file system monitoring and alerting, with the added
capability of predicting time to full for storage resources. EMC systems also employ a "call home"
capability that proactively sends alerts to an EMC support center.
Reporting Features: Provides quota management, current and historical data on resource
usage, and allows the export of graphs and lists from any of the reporting screens. EMC Celerra
maintains a number of system and error logs which can be viewed from the Celerra Manager Console.
Celerra manager has a "system health" icon which is a launch pad to an alerts page.
Backup Support: Backup is accomplished through support of the standard NDMP protocol or
network backups via multiple commercially available backup products, such as EMC NetWorker,
Symantec NetBackup, CommVault Galaxy, HP OpenView, Atempo Time Navigator, IBM Tivoli Storage
Manager (TSM), and many others. Replication capabilities are supported in the Celerra with Celerra
SnapSure (local) and Celerra Replicator (remote). In the case of CLARiiON, local and remote
replication is accomplished via tight integration with MirrorView; the Symmetrix replicates data
using TimeFinder for local replication and SRDF for remote replication. In addition, network-based
and host-based replication are fully supported by a number of EMC and 3rd party
products.
Virtualization Support: The Celerra operating system (DART) provides for the creation and
management of virtual file servers, so multiple file servers can be consolidated to a single NAS
head. EMC also supports namespace technology, including Microsoft DFS Root and Automounter for
Unix, which allows for the presentation of a single logical view of multiple independent
filesystems. EMC FileMover is an API that enables automated, policy-driven migration of data
between tiers of storage. Virtual Provisioning allows improved storage utilization through thin
provisioning, automatic increases in file system storage and automatic extensions of those
filesystems. EMC Rainfinity Global Filesystem Virtualization gives storage administrators the
ability to monitor storage utilization and performance and non-disruptively migrate data to
optimize the storage infrastructure.
Security Features: Uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption to protect the connection
between the client computer and the Control Station; uses MD5 to generate checksums to protect the
session tokens (cookies) used to identify users after they log in; logs out an inactive Celerra
Manager sessions after a time of session inactivity that is user settable; create a distinct
administrative user account for each administrator that has permission to log in to Celerra Manager
but not the Celerra CLI; scalable anti-virus protection from McAfee, Symantec, Trend, CA and
Sophos; fully supports Microsoft MMC Snap-ins, allowing users to take advantage of the full range
of Microsoft management, virus-checking and security capabilities.
Other Key Features: Multi-Protocol File System for iSCSI (MPFSi); Virtual Provisioning (a
combination of Thin Provisioning with an additional capability to automatically extend file
systems); File Level Retention features (WORM); Support for CIFS, NFS, iSCSI and ftp protocols;
Capability of creating checkpoints; User and filesystem tree quotas; IP replication services;
Ability to perform virtual tape backups; Data Migration Services; GUI-based wizards for simplified
management tasks; High availability networking, Virtual LAN, link aggregation and network
trunking.
Minimum Requirements: The Celerra Manager is installed on any Celerra system. It is
accessed via a web browser.
Hardware Compatibility: Celerra Manager is used to manage all EMC Celerra systems, as
well as to monitor and report on EMC CLARiiON and Symmetrix systems being used as back-end storage
for the Celerra.
OS Compatibility: Celerra Manager provides web-based access, and is accessible from any
platform that supports Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape browsers.
Vendor Comment: Celerra Manager allows users to manage a single Celerra IP Storage system
or an entire IP Storage infrastructure from any web browser, using a straight-forward web page
style interface. It gives the user an intuitive, easy-to-use set of tools and wizards that simplify
even the most advanced storage management functions.
Availability: Celerra Manager is available now and ships with the Celerra
system
Base Cost: Celerra Manager is included with all Celerra systems
Detailed Specs: http://www.emc.com/products/software/celerra_manager.jsp
Vendor URL: www.emc.com
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Product: Exanet; ExaStore NAS management software
Maximum Storage: ExaStore clustered NAS system has no practical limits on capacity,
file size, or number of files. It can scale transparently to any total capacity, up to 1 Exabyte.
Storage space can easily be expanded, through the addition of disks or entire storage arrays. The
file system grows to include the new storage without disrupting user access to
data.
RAID Support: Different RAID arrays are supported in different configurations – 0, 1,
0+1, 5, 6. There is a required minimum of 2 LUNs per ExaStore cluster node, and a recommendation of
a minimum of one LUN per CPU core (so in a Quad-CPU node it is recommended to configure access to a
minimum of 4 LUNs).
Hot Spare Support: Hot spare support will depend on the underlying RAID array – all RAID
arrays that Exanet supports currently do support hot spare disks.
Automated Discovery: ExaStore automatically discovers LUNs from RAID
arrays.
Automated Maintenance: Most system maintenance activities, including hardware and
software upgrades, are performed on-line, with no down time. ExaStore is designed to be fully
supported remotely, and includes a built-in "phone home" capability, which continuously monitors
the health of the system, and alerts Exanet's global support center to any problem. The file system
itself automatically distributes data among the cluster nodes, and is self-tuning, requiring no
performance tuning from the administrator.
Reporting Features: ExaStore includes a centralized, browser-based tool for managing the
system. The tool monitors and controls capacity utilization, performance, configuration, and
hardware system status. Using SNMP support, it integrates easily into standard system management
frameworks, such as OpenView (HP) and Tivoli (IBM). A CLI interface is also provided. ExaStore
authenticates users via Active Directory, LDAP and NIS.
Backup Support: ExaStore can be easily integrated with any network environment, and with
major backup products from Veritas, Legato, CA, and others, using vendor-provided backup agents.
ExaStore offers a variety of connectivity options for backup: Through the client network to a
backup server; over a dedicated "backup-only" network to a backup server; or using a direct FC or
SCSI system-to-tape connection. The ExaSync feature enables backup to disk, ensuring very fast,
highly reliable, automatic backup and recovery.
Virtualization Support: All information in an ExaStore system is contained in a single
global file system. A client needs to only configure access to one file system to gain access to
any of the data in the system. The ExaFS distributed file system is the core infrastructure that
turns the multi-node ExaStore system into a single-system image. Each node in a system is a peer
and presents an identical view of the file system. Both data and metadata are fully distributed. In
addition, ExaFS supports virtual data container entities called virtual volumes which allow the
administrator to apply different capacity allocation, security, and data protection policies to
every data set separately.
Security Features: ExaStore is released as a secure platform – supporting SSH/SSL
protocols for management. In addition, it supports common file sharing authentication protocols
such as Active Directory, NIS and LDAP.
Other Key Features: ExaFS supports file striping, directory striping and metadata
striping out-of-the-box, without any additional configuration or licensing; ExaStore active/active
software architecture uses redundant pairs in a clustered configuration, and a patented transparent
failover architecture protects file access in case of hardware failure; offers automatic and
transparent capacity and client load balancing; ExaStore CDP gives administrators access to a
virtually infinite set of data recovery points, through the use of unlimited Snapshots. These can
capture block-level changes on a continuous basis, reducing capacity requirements by capturing only
the portion of the files that has changed.
Minimum Requirements: Supported PC hardware with a minimum of 4GB per node, a minimum of
2 nodes, and a supported RAID array.
Hardware Compatibility: Standard, Intel-based Linux servers comprise the nodes of the
ExaStore cluster, and ExaStore supports a variety of standard, off-the-shelf RAID subsystems.
Complete list of supported hardware at:
http://www.exanet.com/default.asp?contentID=41
OS Compatibility: ExaStore is natively compatible with NFS, CIFS, and AFP file protocols,
enabling Windows, Linux, UNIX and Apple Macintosh OS9/OSX users to freely share data with one
another.
Vendor Comment: ExaStore's intrinsic value lies in its internally developed file system
and NAS software, which optimize the performance of industry-standard components. ExaStore is
unlimited by design, enabling it to scale to arbitrarily very large systems while maintaining
excellent performance, high utilization, and ease of use.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Not provided
Detailed Specs: http://www.exanet.com/default.asp?contentID=3
Vendor URL: www.exanet.com
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Product: NAS Management Software; TagmaStore Product Line
Maximum Storage: Scalable file systems with up to 512TB in a single storage
pool
RAID Support: Hitachi NAS solutions support RAID6 to ensure high
availability
Hot Spare Support: N/A
Automated Discovery: No
Automated Maintenance: N/A
Reporting Features: It supports SNMP and which system error and warning can be
reported
Backup Support: Using the NAS Blade Backup Restore software, the NAS Blade supports NDMP
(Network Data Management Protocol) software, VERITAS NetBackup, and CommVault Galaxy for
backup/recovery from a media server. The NAS Blade's Backup Restore is integrated with Hitachi
ShadowImage in-system disk-to-disk volume replication software and Hitachi TrueCopy Volume-level
remote replication software, allowing for unsurpassed availability and recovery of NAS data. All
the software features above also run on AMS/WMS with NAS Option with the exception of Hitachi
TrueCopy.
Virtualization Support: No
Security Features: Active-Active Cluster for high availability; Symantec Anti-virus
agent
Other Key Features: Not provided
Minimum Requirements: Not provided
Hardware Compatibility: Review the following Web pages for hardware compatibility;
USP: http://www.hds.com/products_services/universal_storage_platform/
NSC: http://www.hds.com/products_services/network_storage_controller/
AMS: http://www.hds.com/products_services/adaptable_modular_storage/
WMS: http://www.hds.com/products_services/workgroup_modular_storage/
OS Compatibility: Hitachi NAS OS
Vendor Comment: Not provided
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Not provided
Detailed Specs:
http://www.hds.com/products_services/nas/nas_management.html
Vendor URL: www.hds.com
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Product: Microsoft Corp.; Windows Storage Server 2003 R2
Maximum Storage: The maximum amount of storage that can be managed by the integrated
Microsoft Management Console (MMC) in each WUDSS system is determined by the maximum amount of
storage that each OEM is able to validate through their testing.
RAID Support: Integrated WUDSS storage management software uses the Microsoft Virtual
Disk Service (VDS) to configure storage arrays. VDS-based RAID configuration functionality that is
supported by the array vendor is supported by the integrated storage MMC in WUDSS. If the array
vendor has a Windows-based RAID management software solution, this can also be integrated as a
separate software component for the WUDSS NAS platform.
Hot Spare Support: Hot spares are not currently managed by the native WUDSS storage MMC,
but if the OEM has Windows-based management software for hot spares, it can be easily integrated
into the WUDSS NAS platform.
Automated Discovery: If a LUN is assigned to the system, the Windows Disk Manager that
has been integrated into WUDSS MMC will see it , and the user can provision the storage capacity
that is available. WUDSS management software does not automatically discover other NAS resources,
but the WUDSS OEM could provide additional Windows-based discovery and management software if they
wish to do so.
Automated Maintenance: Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) provides automated monitoring
and maintenance capabilities for Windows systems like WUDSS.
Reporting Features: The File Sever Resource Manager (FSRM) is an integrated MMC in WUDSS
that supports quotas (set maximum folder sizes), file screening (reject specific file types) and
reporting functionality (including automated email notifications) for file shares on the WUDSS NAS
system.
Backup Support: WUDSS can be used to host any Windows-based backup/replication software
product. WUDSS also supports the Volume Shadow-Copy Service (VSS), and Distributed File
System-Replication (DFS-R). DFS (namespace) management functionality is integrated into the WUDSS
management interface.
Virtualization Support: Storage virtualization is not currently managed by the native
WUDSS storage MMC, but if the OEM has Windows-based management software for storage virtualization,
it can be easily integrated into the WUDSS NAS platform.
Security Features: WUDSS supports all of the security features and functionality that is
available in Windows Server 2003 R2. WUDSS also supports the installation of any Windows-based
security software that an OEM may wish to bundle with this NAS product.
Other Key Features: New wizards in the NAS management software walk the user through all
of the configuration tasks required to provision storage resources. A new "out-of-box" user
interface walks the user through the initial configuration tasks required to set up the WUDSS
system within a given IT environment (MS domains, clusters, updates, etc). The WUDSS management
interface fully supports "unified storage" functionality. WUDSS storage resources can be seamlessly
provisioned for block (iSCSI) or file (CIFS, NFS) access. Single Instance Storage (SIS) – (file
de-duplication); If this feature is enabled within the management interface, duplicate files within
a volume are moved to a common store and replaced with sparse links. Integrated CIFS (SMB) and NFS;
ActiveX and Java RDP Support
Minimum Requirements: The integrated storage management MMC is provided (pre-installed)
with the WUDSS system. The minimum requirement to operate the WUDSS management software is a system
that supports an ActiveX (Windows) or Java (Unix) RDP client.
Hardware Compatibility: The OEMs will need to provide hardware compatibility matrix
information for the WUDSS NAS products that they ship.
OS Compatibility: Heterogeneous remote clients can access the WUDSS management software
using an ActiveX (Windows) or Java (Unix) RDP client.
Vendor Comment: Not provided
Availability: Please contact the individual WUDSS OEMs.
Base Cost: Please contact the individual WUDSS OEMs.
Detailed Specs:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/wss2003/default.mspx
Vendor URL: www.microsoft.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Neopath Networks; SMARTtouch software
Maximum Storage: Maximum amount of storage is determined by the backend NAS
servers.
RAID Support: RAID is provided by backend NAS servers. NeoPath does not impose any
additional RAID requirement.
Hot Spare Support: NeoPath File Directors can be configured in an active/passive
cluster.
Automated Discovery: Storage administrator defines what storage resources the File
Director will virtualize.
Automated Maintenance: NeoPath's SMARTtouch software supports automatic failover and
failback. SMARTtouch monitors software operation. If the software has failed, it is automatically
restarted.
Reporting Features: File Director's Attribute Accumulator captures file access
information. This information is used for policy based migrations.
Backup Support: Not provided
Virtualization Support: File Director combines namespace virtualization with
non-disruptive file migration to enable companies to implement global namespace, storage server
consolidation, storage server aggregation and disaster recovery solutions.
Security Features: HTTPS and SSH are used to manage the File Director.
Other Key Features: NeoPath's SMARTtouch software provides network file management
services in an non-disruptive and efficient manner.
Minimum Requirements: File Director is an integrated virtualization
appliance.
Hardware Compatibility: NeoPath supports leading NAS vendors including NetApp, EMC,
Windows Storage Server and Linux.
OS Compatibility: NeoPath supports leading NAS vendors including NetApp, EMC, Windows
Storage Server and Linux.
Vendor Comment: NeoPath's File Director(tm) family of products simplifies and advances
the management of networked attached storage (NAS) and other file servers, increasing storage
utilization and reducing costs.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: $45,000 USD
Detailed Specs: http://www.neopathnetworks.com/products/default.aspx
Vendor URL: www.neopathnetworks.com
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Product: ONStor, Inc.; EverON 2.0 NAS software
Maximum Storage: 40 PB
RAID Support: RAID is external (ONStor storage supports RAID 0, 1, 10, 3, 5,
50)
Hot Spare Support: RAID is external (ONStor supports multiple hot spares)
Automated Discovery: Discovers external RAID arrays from multiple vendors including EMC,
HDS, 3PAR, HP, Compellent, Xiotech, Nexsan.
Automated Maintenance: Integrated monitoring and event reporting
Reporting Features: "Health check" data reported to ONStor Support on ongoing basis.
Monitoring identifies issues proactively.
Backup Support: Symantec, EMC/Legato, CommVault, BakBone
Virtualization Support: Filer virtualization presents virtual resources to users. Storage
virtualization presents single virtualized pool to filers.
Security Features: Access control integrates with Active Directory and
NIS.
Other Key Features: Snapshot, disk-to-disk data replication, NAS system replication,
including replication of virtual servers.
Minimum Requirements: NAS software installs on ONStor-specific hardware
platform.
Hardware Compatibility: Supports storage arrays from ONStor, EMC, HDS, 3PAR, HP,
Compellent, Xiotech, Nexsan.
OS Compatibility: Supports users on Windows, Unix, Linux, and Mac
platforms.
Vendor Comment: Incorporates virtualization that enables completely non-disruptive
growth. Users and applications see a permanent mount point that remains unchanged, even as the
cluster grows from an entry configuration to 40PB of capacity.
Availability: v.2.0 Currently available
Base Cost: $20,000 USD including hardware
Detailed Specs: http://www.onstor.com/everon_platform_software.php
Vendor URL: www.onstor.com
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09 Aug 2007