NAS for small business? Plus article with review of 5 boxes

[Frick]

Here is a decent shoot-out style article of 5 different NAS boxes:


http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-5-storage-servers-battle-business-176531?page=0,0

I like the idea of using a NAS box for many of my smaller business customers who dont need a an actual server. Does anyone have any con/pro info concerning them in a small business environment?

One issue I can come up with is online backup is not simple with many services as they do not support uploading from a NAS.

 

[teksquad]

If the NAS will let you create a iSCSI target then you can just use the iSCSI initiator on the windows box which will mount the NAS on the windows machine as a new drive. Then you can do your online backups.

 

[ProTech-MN]

Here is a decent shoot-out style article of 5 different NAS boxes:


http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-5-storage-servers-battle-business-176531?page=0,0

I like the idea of using a NAS box for many of my smaller business customers who dont need a an actual server. Does anyone have any con/pro info concerning them in a small business environment?

One issue I can come up with is online backup is not simple with many services as they do not support uploading from a NAS.

I'm a big fan of NAS devices for smaller shops where often times there's no real need for a server.

I can't speak to the other NAS devices in the article, but the Netgear ReadyNAS line does indeed have the ability to backup to an online service - ReadyNAS Vault. This is a direct backup from the NAS to the cloud. Also, check out their add-on for Egnyte Cloud Server... this may also meet your needs for online backup (and a whole lot more).

-Randy

 

[coffee]

I have had good luck with this little box hooked to a server and shared out for backups. Basically I set it up as a RAID5 hooked to a server and then share out seperate directories for workstations to backup to. It comes with a raid card and cables. Will do eSATA and USB. Might this be an option for you?

http://www.sansdigital.com/towerraid-plus/tr4mbp.html