SAN vs. NAS

Long the most popular storage option for SMBs, NAS is facing competition from a new wave of SMB-oriented SAN products. So how do you make the call?

By Alan R. Frank

Information is what fuels the world of business, so it's not surprising that the mountain of business data that companies must amass and manage is growing by leaps and bounds.

Some SMBs cope by buying more--and more capacious--direct-attached storage (DAS). But that's not the trend, says Sajai Krishnan, general manager of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Network Appliance's StoreVault division, which focuses on small and midsize business (SMB) storage. "Most SMBs are moving off direct-attached storage," he says. "They have servers with a bunch of disks, and they're looking at some kind of small, specialized storage appliance."

Network-attached storage (NAS) is often the solution of choice. And, of late, more SMBs are beginning to take notice of storage area networks (SANs), which have long been the domain of large enterprises.

"Should we go with SAN or NAS?" It's a question many customers are asking their VARs and integrators. Often, the answer is "both." Just as networks are composed of both clients and servers, SAN and NAS are complementary, not competitive.

NAS: SERVING UP FILES TO NETWORK CLIENTS
A NAS device services file requests from network clients--that is, desktop computers and laptops connected to the LAN. NAS devices use the same network file protocols as do file servers--usually, the network file system (NFS) for Unix and Linux machines, and the Common Internet File System (CIFS) for Windows-based computers. Many NAS devices can also serve Web pages, using the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and transfer files via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

"The value proposition for NAS is the consolidation and elimination of file servers," says Robert Passmore, a research vice president with analyst firm Gartner Inc. "It allows you to get rid of a bunch of file servers, replace them with a single unit, and dramatically simplify the overall management of your file environment."

According to Krishnan, "Many of the people who buy a storage appliance will have six or more file servers, typically with direct-attach storage." They're looking to cut their management workload, he says, through file server consolidation.

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