The data storage needs of a small or medium sized business are different than that of an enterprise because of the data load, complex management, and operational differences. Not to mention the importance of mission critical data for an enterprise is at a totally different level as compared to a small business. Therefore, an Enterprise NAS Appliance must differ in capability and performance from that of a small or medium business.
An Enterprise NAS Appliance Must be Scalable
Scalability is the main forte of NAS storageand especially when we talk about an enterprise, scalability is a sure shot feature that will make it buy the appliance. With the expanding data, the needs of scalable devices and appliances are also on the rise. Considering this expansion, an enterprise would obviously prefer buying a storage appliance that is scalable enough to offer the storage capacity which is close to unlimited if not unlimited in real.
Redundancy is also a Key Feature of a NAS Storage Appliance for Enterprise
It is always good to have a redundant copy of every resource so that if one fails on you, you always have a second copy to fill the space and make sure that business does not suffer downtime or latency. Yes, it is going to be a little more costly but once you experience and feel the need of it in the run time, you will get what you have paid for. That will make you contended.
It Must Be Easy To Manage
No matter how much storage capacity a storage appliance has, it may fall short of an enterprise’s data storage needs someday. It is when there will be a need of buying another storage appliance or appliances and this is when easy management is the main thing an enterprise will look for. When an enterprise buys multiple appliances and still it does not find it troublesome to manage them, this will really make the buyer happy and their needs will be met most adequately.
An Enterprise NAS Appliance Must Replicate Data
If a NAS Storage Appliance also has the ability to replicate the data on other secondary storage appliances whereas san storage solution doesn’t have this, it can be very useful in minimizing the risks and threats of losing data due to natural disasters or any other factor resulting in hardware device failure. Although these devices are not likely to fail often, but still the fact remains that enterprises cannot afford losing access to their mission critical data even for a minute.
Conclusion
Buying an enterprise NAS appliance can become the best decision made by an enterprises provided it has the features that are mentioned in this article. If an Enterprise NAS Appliance offers the features which meet the enterprise level data storage needs and requirements, not only data accessibility and security is assured but it can also help in customer retention for the vendors.