The exponential increase of data in the consumer environment, small and medium-sized business environments and the need for additional storage is driving the increasing uptake of network attached storage (NAS).
So says Kalvin Subbadu, SA sales manager at WD, a Western Digital company, who notes that consumers are steadily requiring more storage space to centrally store, share and access their personal data.
NAS is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients.
According to IDC's 2013 European Storage Systems with Vertical Views, there has been a 25% year-on-year growth of NAS in the global market.
This growth is being fuelled by the expansion of uses and capabilities that NAS offers, making it an ideal solution for file sharing, backup, media management and server management, says Subbadu.
Also, he adds, the growing demand for affordable and secure storage that reduces customer's total cost of ownership is driving NAS adoption.
He points out that the loss of confidence in public cloud is another factor influencing the uptake of NAS.
However, Subbadu says the South African market has been slower than the European market in adopting NAS because of high bandwidth costs and financial limitations. The local market also perceives NAS as a luxury and not a necessity, he says.
As the market gets more educated about the offerings and advantages of NAS and the economy becomes more stable, Subbadu believes that adoption will rise.
NAS offerings have grown to include small and medium enterprise as well as consumers, and this will help reach more businesses in the South African market, says Subbadu.
WD saw a gap in the small and medium business environment and decided to manufacture NAS for that market, he concludes.
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