Tips

Tips

NAS devices

• What is SAN zoning and what are the different types of zoning?

  Zoning can be set up according to server, storage and SAN switch. Discover what type of zoning to use, how zone sets extend SAN segmentation and about the various zoning schemas.  Continue Reading

• Object storage devices won't be pushing NAS out just yet

  Object storage is becoming more popular as the default storage choice for enterprises and large organizations. But it may not be time to ditch that NAS system quite yet.  Continue Reading

• NAS applications will change with greater SSD adoption

  As NAS technology changes -- with new software features and faster, all-flash NAS hardware -- its use in organizations has evolved into functions for which it was never suited.  Continue Reading

• Update NAS scale-out systems without a performance hit

  With proper prior planning, it is possible to upgrade existing scale-out network-attached storage without the process having a negative impact on overall performance.  Continue Reading

• How to configure a rack-mounted NAS in 10 easy steps

  Get the most out of your rack-mount NAS appliance by enabling permissions, network access and other advanced options.  Continue Reading

• Top five reasons to choose NAS vs. DAS

  DAS can be useful for specific applications, but NAS is often the better option because it can provide a greater number of storage architecture options.  Continue Reading

• Five LUN management basics

  IT expert Brien Posey discusses five fundamental ideas storage professionals must understand when dealing with LUN management.  Continue Reading

• Five LUN storage questions for pros

  Learn what expert Brien Posey has to say to storage administrators about five questions they have about LUN storage in their environments.  Continue Reading

• Scale-out network-attached storage: Options in today’s market

  Scale-out NAS systems are gaining interest due to rapid growth of file data and “big data” analytics. Here’s a look at the scale-out NAS vendors.  Continue Reading

• Scale-out network-attached storage: What you need to know

  Scale-out NAS is replacing traditional network-attached storage. In this guide, you’ll find out how to stay ahead of this emerging technology trend.  Continue Reading

• Ancestry.com adopts Isilon, BlueArc scale-out network-attached storage

  With billions of records requiring PBs of capacity, Ancestry.com turns to scale-out network-attached storage that exceeds limits of traditional NAS.  Continue Reading

• Top five tips for choosing a network attached storage device

  The editors of SearchSMBStorage.com have closely followed the network attached storage (NAS) device market. Here are our top five NAS device tips.  Continue Reading

• Should you bypass the hypervisor for storage I/O?

  Passing storage I/O through a hypervisor can seem inefficient, so does it make sense to bypass the hypervisor and allow virtual machines to mount data storage directly?  Continue Reading

• Using NAS storage devices in a virtualized server environment

  Are NAS storage devices a fit for a virtual server environment? We list factors in choosing these devices, and explain their impact on your storage systems.  Continue Reading

• Adding a NAS device to your data storage environment

  Determine whether or not you need a NAS device for your SMB environment by asking yourself these six questions.  Continue Reading

• Design your SAN for high availability

  How, and at what cost.  Continue Reading

• Clustered NAS: How to choose the right clustered NAS system

  Finding the right clustered NAS (or scale-out NAS) system means knowing your storage needs. Learn the questions to ask when evaluating your requirements and the latest offerings.  Continue Reading

• NAS appliance purchasing tips: A network-attached storage guide

  Learn everything you need to know about buying a NAS appliance, NAS vendors and what to look for in a NAS product.  Continue Reading

• Improve NAS management with private storage clouds and grid storage

  We look at some of the pain points resulting from NAS system proliferation and how private storage clouds or grid storage systems can improve NAS management.  Continue Reading

• File virtualization can contain file storage growth in NAS systems

  Learn how file virtualization can alleviate rapid file storage growth in NAS systems. We discuss shared-path and split-path file virtualization products and their advantages and disadvantages.  Continue Reading

• Clustered NAS systems can ease NAS management

  Find out about clustered NAS systems vendors and products. We also list the advantages and disadvantages of using clustered NAS systems to ease NAS management.  Continue Reading

• SMBs and network-attached storage appliances: What you need to know before you buy NAS

  Many SMBs are considering the switch to NAS. In this tip, learn whether or not a NAS is right for your environment, and what questions to ask vendors to get the best one.  Continue Reading

• Choosing a NAS filer for small and medium-sized businesses

  Learn what a NAS filer is, if it's suitable for your SMB and how to choose the right one for your data storage environment.  Continue Reading

• Network-attached storage clusters for virtualized environments

  Learn about the network considerations for NAS clusters in a virtualized environment, and whether a build or buy approach is right for your organization  Continue Reading

• Clustered storage essentials: What to ask your vendor

  Here are eight esstential questions to ask your clustered stoage vendor. .  Continue Reading

• Using NAS NFS with VMware ESX: Technology pros and cons

  NAS NFS can be an efficient network storage methodology when dealing with VMware ESX and thousands of virtual machines, but NAS performance can be an issue.  Continue Reading

• Choosing a midrange network-attached storage (NAS) system

  Midrange network-attached storage (NAS) appliances can be an affordable solution for SMBs in today's do-more-with-less economic climate. Learn how to choose the NAS system that best fits your storage environment.  Continue Reading

• How to determine a NAS system's scalability

  This tip covers scalability limitations of a network-attached storage (NAS) system, including maxed managed file limits, IOPS and throughput limits, and capacity limits. It can help you avoid application outages that occur when storage reaches ...  Continue Reading

• Top five NAS tips of 2008

  Here are the top five NAS tips of 2008, based on our readers' interest, covering such topics as NAS consolidation, NAS interconnects and protocols.  Continue Reading

• Do you really need NAS?

  There are no short, hard-and-fast rules when it comes to determining if a small to midsized business (SMB) needs network-attached storage (NAS). In this tip, Tory Skyers discusses the advantages and disadvantages of networked storage in an SMB ...  Continue Reading

• Moving from DAS to NAS

  As the volume of data and the number of users in SMBs grow, direct-attached storage (DAS) becomes harder to manage. In this tip, Rick Cook discusses how SMBs can benefit from adding storage to their existing networks in the form of NAS.  Continue Reading

• How to consolidate NAS boxes

  By now, we all know that network-attached storage (NAS) can provide benefits for small-midsized businesses (SMBs). However, managing more than a few NAS devices quickly becomes a burden, swapping the value out of NAS simplicity. This tip discusses ...  Continue Reading

• Is clustered NAS for SMBs?

  Clustered storage is not just for large enterprises. This tips explores how clustered network-attached storage (NAS) can be leveraged in the small-midsized business (SMB) market.  Continue Reading

• What you need to know before implementing NAS clusters

  Now that we've examined the reasons why clustered NAS is getting more popular with storage managers and dispelled the biggest myths about clustered NAS, you're almost ready to deploy a clustered NAS solution. But first you have to know what ...  Continue Reading

• Five ways to control RAID rebuild times

  Hard disk capacities are rapidly increasing, and so are RAID rebuild times. This article offers five tips for keeping RAID rebuilds reasonable.  Continue Reading

• Top considerations when buying a NAS array

  Purchasing a NAS platform for your organization requires careful consideration. This article outlines the most important things to consider before making a decision.  Continue Reading

• How to create an RFP for NAS

  Creating an RFP will help you boil your NAS vendor choices down to a manageable few. And your NAS RFP should include one technology: thin provisioning.  Continue Reading

• NAS system planning strategies

  Implementing a NAS environment requires a lot of planning. This tip tells you why location, power and allocation are vital to consider when installing a NAS.  Continue Reading

• SAN or NAS?

  Determine whether implementing a storage area network or network-attached storage is right for your business.  Continue Reading

• Understanding NAS interconnects: Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet

  Understanding interconnects like Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet, which are used to integrate NAS devices into networks, can help you make better decisions on NAS deployments.  Continue Reading

• Why NAS protocols are the language of NAS

  NAS protocols are the language of your NAS system, and understanding how they work is the key to operating a storage network. The main NAS protocols are CIFS and NFS, but iSCSI is gaining ground, and FCoE may be just around the corner.  Continue Reading

• NAS devices remain simple and cost effective

  Despite the lack of some features, NAS continues to gain in popularity because users like the concept of just plugging a device into their Ethernet network and having storage available a few minutes later.  Continue Reading

• Dispelling myths about clustering NAS and file servers

  This article dispels some of the myths that have sprouted up about clustered storage because the term is used to describe so many different kinds of vendor offerings.  Continue Reading

• Can a NAS filer work for your small business?

  NAS filers are a good option for a small business or department that's not worried about expandability and has fairly simple storage management needs.  Continue Reading

• Clustered NAS gaining in popularity

  While clustered storage is often associated with high performance computing, the reality is that mainstream commercial environments are adopting clustered storage, particularly clustered NAS servers, at a rapid rate. These businesses are attracted ...  Continue Reading

• Don't let NAS consolidation impair performance

  Learn how to avoid some common NAS upgrade mistakes.  Continue Reading

• Top 5 NAS tips of 2007

  Here are the top 5 NAS tips of 2007, based on our readers' interest. This list covers topics such as file virtualization, NAS aggregators and more.  Continue Reading

• Choosing a low-end NAS product

  Many low-end NAS products are designed for personal or home office use. However, there are some products on the market suitable for certain SMB or enterprise-level applications. Learn what you need to consider before deploying a low-end NAS product.  Continue Reading

• How to choose and implement a NAS aggregator

  Rick Cook details network-attached storage (NAS) aggregator basics, suggests things to consider before implementing a NAS aggregator, and outlines the major players in the market.  Continue Reading

• How to adapt NAS to your needs

  How to adapt network-attached storage (NAS) by choosing the right NAS accessories for your needs. This tip outlines various approaches to customizing NAS and the variety of NAS accessories on the market today.  Continue Reading

• Scale capacity with clustered NAS gateways

  Jerome Wendt explains what clustered NAS gateways are, how they work and compares various products on the market today.  Continue Reading

• Manage heterogeneous NAS devices with virtualization

  NAS virtualization is emerging to solve issues that have cropped up as NAS has moved into enterprise environments. Learn what NAS virtualization is, its potential benefits and what you need to consider when implementing NAS virtualization.  Continue Reading

• Easing I/O bottlenecks with Microsoft Scalable Network Pack

  Microsoft's SNP is designed to improve performance by easing network and I/O bottlenecks. This tip explains how this new offering works, and what it means for your storage environment.  Continue Reading

• Migrating data in NAS gateway configurations

  There are four approaches for migrating data between NAS gateway systems. For storage administrators, the problem is how to maintain data availability during the migration.  Continue Reading

• Get fault resiliency with NAS clustering

  Learn some of the possibilities for fault resiliency with NAS systems using clustering.  Continue Reading

• Five ways to add capacity to a NAS system

  NAS expert Randy Kerns offers some actions to take in order to find more space on your NAS system.  Continue Reading

• How SMBs can select a NAS system

  The key factors an SMB should consider for making a NAS system selection and some of usage areas that may have an effect on the choice are outlined in this tip.  Continue Reading

• Kerberos and its place in NAS authentication

  Kerberos security has been around since the 1980s, but many people are still unfamiliar with how it works. Storage expert Christopher Poelker explains how NAS environments can benefit from the use of Kerberos.  Continue Reading

• Taming NAS sprawl and file management

  This tip looks at how NAS can be used to address file management woes as well as how to tame NAS and file server sprawl.  Continue Reading

• SAN/NAS tech tips: What's hot this summer?

  Network attached storage products, iSCSI, SATA and RAID are hot topics among our readers right now. Check out the top tips of the past few months.  Continue Reading

• NAS survey: Top NAS hardware on the market

  Our survey reveals the top NAS hardware products, according to storage professionals at enterprise organizations.  Continue Reading

• Troubleshooting your NAS system

  This tip will point out some common sense suggestions and best practices that may help you to create or maintain a more robust and reliable NAS infrastructure.  Continue Reading

• Four ways to consolidate NAS boxes

  The first NAS box installs without a hitch, but the more filers you install the more your problems grow. Consolidating NAS brings huge benefits to your storage environment.  Continue Reading

• 20 tips in 20 minutes: Clustering explained

  SearchStorage.com readers frequently ask questions about using clustering for storage. This article offers a collection of expert responses to recent reader queries.  Continue Reading

• High-end NAS considerations, part two

  Learn about the variety of approaches to take when implementing a high-end NAS system.  Continue Reading

• Questions to ask before building a NAS system

  Questions and considerations when building a NAS system.  Continue Reading

• High-end NAS considerations, part one

  As NAS systems become more prevalent in enterprise environments, the needs for greater capability and capacity become more apparent.  Continue Reading

• Clustering comes to NAS

  Fed up with monolithic NAS boxes that don't scale? Clustering provides a way out of the management headache that's being perpetuated by some industry players.  Continue Reading

• How to use NAS gateways

  Managing files has become a big headache for enterprises. Here's how to manage NAS gateways as the move out of the array and onto the network.  Continue Reading

• Checklist: Five ways to boost iSCSI performance

  There are several things you can do to boost the performance of your iSCSI storage system -- some are easy, and fairly inexpensive.  Continue Reading

• Which is better: Cheap mirroring or RAID?

  Want to avoid the cost and complexity of RAID? Mirroring is one option to consider.  Continue Reading

• Checklist: Ten steps to troubleshooting SAN/NAS performance problems

  Learn how to isolate the cause of performance problems in your storage system, fix what's broken and learn from your mistakes.  Continue Reading

• Checklist: How to design LUNs for high performance

  If you want the best performance, you need to design your LUNs so they map effectively onto storage devices.  Continue Reading

• For compliance, neither SAN nor NAS are a slam dunk

  Compliance regulations are forcing companies to make tough choices, but which storage architecture to choose -- SAN or NAS -- may not be one of them.  Continue Reading

• Checklist: How to design a scalable SAN

  If you want your SAN to scale up as your enterprise grows, you'll need to think carefully about your choices during the planning phase.  Continue Reading

• Pros and cons of iSCSI arrays

  ISCSI arrays will save you a pretty penny, but at a slight cost in terms of performance.  Continue Reading

• Checklist: How to buy a switch

  Buying the right switch for your networked storage infrastructure can be a challenge.  Continue Reading

• Keep your SANs from crashing

  Learn how to configure SANs for high availability.  Continue Reading

• Which is better for semi-archives: DBMS or file system?

  Sometimes the simplest storage method is the best method as well.  Continue Reading

• Pound-foolish iSCSI: Should you use NICs in SANs?

  It's possible to build a SAN using NICs, but the performance costs may outweigh the monetary benefits.  Continue Reading

• How to tweak Ethernet for iSCSI SANs

  Even gigabit Ethernet needs some tweaking for best performance in applications like iSCSI SANs.  Continue Reading

• How to prevent common problems in SATA drives

  Problems in SATA drives generally stem from one of two causes. This tip will tell you how to prevent both.  Continue Reading

• How to help your SAN keep its cool

  To find out how hot your SAN actually is, you have to do more than measure the temperature in the server room.  Continue Reading

• How to store e-mail on the cheap

  Cost-effective e-mail storage should still provide service levels just above what's needed. New technologies offer more ways to fine-tune your storage environment and save money.  Continue Reading

• Dueling SAN technologies: NAS vs. iSCSI

  Competition between the two "budget" storage technologies is heating up.  Continue Reading

• How to document a SAN

  Effective SAN documentation will keep your systems up and running even if your entire staff gets hit by a bus.  Continue Reading

• How to roll your own NAS cluster

  Having trouble finding a good out-of-the-box network-attached storage (NAS) clustering solution? Roll your own.  Continue Reading

• How to calculate costs of data protection

  To determine how much data protection really costs, you have to take into account productivity and business losses.  Continue Reading

• The best fit for distributed clustering

  This series of articles compares the methods of storage clustering. This installment covers distributed clustering.  Continue Reading

• SAN, NAS come together at last

  Once sharply divided, SAN and NAS vendors are coming together to provide customers with solutions that best suit their needs.  Continue Reading

• Six steps to improving disk throughput

  In Windows 2000, while the disk system is the logical suspect in performance degradation, it's not the only possible culprit--it may mean you need more memory.  Continue Reading

• Consolidating NAS pays off

  The role of network-attached storage may be changing as more and more storage managers discover the the benefits of using NAS to consolidate file servers.  Continue Reading

• Top 10 IP storage tips

  Here, you find the top 10 tips storage neophytes must consider before going down the IP storage path.  Continue Reading

• Data classification: Start with applications

  In this tip Rick Cook explains how classification by application, and not data type, allows Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) to start paying dividends almost immediately.  Continue Reading

• Set up persistent binding on an HBA

  In this Ask the Expert Q&A, SAN expert Chris Poelker gives you the code to set up persistent binding on an HBA for a Unix host.  Continue Reading

• Using NAS for database storage

  This tip takes a look at online yellow page company YP.Net, and shows how their CTO optimized the company's database for high performance, and why he chose NAS storage over SAN.  Continue Reading

• The critical link in mirroring

  It's important it is keep the lines of communication open. The same is true for data mirroring. This tip explains why it's crucial to analyze the quality of your lines.  Continue Reading

• New FC-AL technology ushers in "SBOD"

  New technology puts what amounts to an FC-AL switch and allows the controller to establish point-to-point connections between a storage device and the controller.  Continue Reading

• The SNIA shared storage model

  You need to know about this new standard in the market.  Continue Reading

• How to secure NFS access to NAS devices

  Bits & Bytes: Security expert Vijay Ahuja discusses several approaches to prevent unwarranted user access to NAS devices, when made via the Network File System (NFS).  Continue Reading