NAS Gateway Alternatives

This article was posted on an EMC blog and was writtent by Fidelma Russo, SVP, VMAX product business unit, EMC Corp.

NAS Gateway Alternatives

Mission-critical storage is not just block any more. More and more IT systems that run your business use different types of storage. Did you know that 75% of our top 100 VMAX customers currently deploy file gateways?  

Deploying a file gateway has traditionally involved both a multistep deployment process and a NAS gateway that needs its own rack on its own floor tile in the data center. In addition, many enterprises have mission-critical file requirements that demand higher levels of availability, security, and BC. While the gateway is still a necessity for some customers, others wanted to see an alternative.

I worked closely with our developers to examine this particular use case and more efficient methods to solve this challenge. The result is the VMAX 10K Block and File that integrates NAS gateway technology natively into the VMAX frame. It is ideal for customers that need consolidated islands of block and file storage, but want the benefits of a mission-critical array including greater than five 9s availability, data at rest encryption, and remote mirroring capabilities (SRDF). Building all of this into a single storage solution allows for TCO to decrease up to 30%, while reducing the required floor space by 50%.

A perfect real world example of leveraging a file solution on VMAX is Severstal North America, one of the largest steel makers in the U.S. Severstal turned to EMC to help them achieve HA and faster query results for their Oracle databases and month-end financial reporting.

Chris Stahlbaum, IT infrastructure manager for Severstal North America, even said in a blog post that “[The VMAX 10K Block and File] was a lifesaver because we were able to move our file shares off an IBM system on its last legs, and onto a more powerful and dependable platform. Users actually noted how crisp and snappy the file shares got after the migration.“

Having the right storage infrastructure to support the mission-critical applications on which your business relies continues to be an important decision in overall IT strategy. One size will never fit all needs, so we continue to challenge ourselves to innovate further. Partnering with you to build solutions is absolutely critical as well and we are committed to continuing that habit.

What challenges do you want help solving?