NAS vs. SAN for SMBs

Which option is best for your clients? A storage guru speaks.

By Sharon Florentine

Storage is an especially tricky purchase for SMBs, says Greg Schulz of StorageIO Group. The same storage solution could be configured as one business's daily storage pool and as another's backup and archiving solution. But just as complex is the issue of network-attached storage (NAS) vs. a storage area network (SAN). Here, the answer is a little easier.

NAS solutions offer individual data repositories that are not connected to one another. For most smaller businesses, this type of storage is adequate, and can easily be scaled up by adding more drives and more capacity.

A SAN, on the other hand, links these "islands" of storage capacity together, and they can appear to a controller as a large, unified pool. The SAN approach can ease management, cut down on redundancy, and allow more efficient allocation of capacity.

But smaller SMBs generally don't have the in-house technical expertise or budget to purchase, let alone manage and maintain, more expensive and complex SAN solutions, though many storage vendors offer both, including those that are almost plug-and-play in their simplicity.

SHARON FLORENTINE is a Philadelphia-area freelance writer and editor with expertise in technology, the reseller channel, careers, lifestyle, and healthcare.