Unified storage: An ideal choice for growing businesses

Small and medium businesses face an ever-increasing need for storage consolidation to facilitate document sharing, data backup and disaster recovery.

Generally, there are two types of network storage solutions available: block-based storage and file-based storage. Applications such as spreadsheets and word processing can be addressed by file-level access. Applications such as server virtualisation, e-mail, financial accounting and databases, on the other hand, benefit from the use of faster, more abstract, block-level access.

"While each approach has its advantages and disadvantages, network storage solutions are usually chosen based on their specific purpose, the needs of a particular business, and their overall cost," says Wynand Moller, Country Manager for D-Link South Africa.

In the past, the choice was between simple file-based network attached storage (NAS) systems and robust block-based storage area network (SAN) solutions. However, a contemporary option, known as unified storage, presents a new opportunity for growing businesses that want the best of both worlds.

A NAS device can be a convenient, central and accessible place to maintain files and folders. File-based systems can provide ample storage space, and are often more economical than block-based systems when storage requirements are minimal.

User access control and permissions assignment can be integrated with existing authentication and security systems. Although adding additional network attached storage is straightforward, spreading data across dozens of file servers and NAS boxes can eventually become inefficient and wasteful.

Block-based storage systems typically rely on a storage area network (SAN). In a SAN environment, users typically cannot directly access data from the storage device itself. Raw data is transferred over the SAN using a protocol like iSCSI. Consequently, the volumes for block-based storage need to be created before the server-based operating system connects to the volumes for use as individual storage drives. This makes block-based storage high-performing and very flexible, versatile and scalable, as long as a suitable system is in place to interpret block-based data.

Unified storage is a term used to describe a system capable of supporting both file-based and block-based applications from a single platform. With unified storage, many of the limitations inherent in file-based or block-based storage are eliminated. For example, if both a NAS system and a SAN system coexist on a network, two sets of infrastructure and management skills may be required to administer each system in turn. Unifying the two platforms simplifies administration, and allows businesses greater flexibility to meet service-level requirements, which subsequently leads to more reliable infrastructure.

Unified storage is most beneficial when both file and block access applications are required. This may be the case for growing businesses that are adding servers and increasing their IT capabilities.

A key driver for unified storage is server virtualisation and storage consolidation. Unified storage allows the provisioning of high levels of performance to the most critical applications, while consolidating all storage on a single platform, and offers plenty of room for small businesses to scale upwards as needed.

Another major advantage of unified storage is its reduced hardware requirements. Whereas separate storage platforms would result in multiple RAID disk arrays, unified storage combines both NAS and SAN functions into a single system. This minimises the expense for disk drives and auxiliary hardware. Fewer cables are required, and power demands are greatly reduced.

Administrators benefit from features like encrypted volumes, snapshots and replication, which help to keep data protected and secure. Supplemental features such as virtual disk drive (VDD) expansion and predictable data migration also add a wealth of convenience and efficiency.

VDD refers to the ability to add additional capacity over the network from a separate iSCSI system. Predictable data management allows the system to regularly scan the disk pool and proactively move data from a disk drive that is showing signs of failing, before any failure actually occurs.

Businesses can set up different layers of storage with varying levels of performance. For example, block-based storage can be set to a higher precedence for critical data. File-based tiers can be used for user applications. Unified storage systems supporting VDD capabilities are highly scalable, so businesses can expand as users, applications and capacity requirements dictate.

Subsequently, unified storage systems developed for SMEs are generally more cost-effective than a single platform storage solution such as NAS or SAN for mid-market users, while providing the same level of accessibility as dedicated file or block storage systems.

Individual unified storage systems from various vendors offer different features. In particular, D-Link`s ShareCenter Pro branded unified storage solutions support a feature set appropriate for small and medium businesses that need a flexible and scalable solution at an affordable price point.

"D-Link`s unified storage solutions offer the flexibility to allocate storage pools for file servers or application servers without having to implement multiple platforms," says Moller.

This means there is no need to worry about over-spending or managing multiple storage systems at the same time. If your business is likely to double its storage needs within a year or two, and has applications that require file-based access and block-based access, then unified storage may be the ideal choice.