Exploring File Storage Challenges and Solutions

Transcription

1 NETAPP WHITE PAPER Sachin Chheda, NetApp November 2008 WP A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO FILE SERVICES Individual file servers are unable to share data across their respective disks, leading to silos of underutilized storage, increased management costs, and both poor scalability and service levels. While a SAN typically provides better performance and scalability than DAS, the high costs of SAN deployment as well as ongoing administrative complexity associated with backup, recovery, security, and availability can undermine the performance and scalability benefits. This paper explores these and other challenges associated with today s complex file server and storage environments, along with key points to consider when addressing these challenges.

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION KEY CHALLENGES WITH FILE STORAGE AND SERVICES...3 COMPLEXITY AND RESOURCE INEFFICIENCY...3 INCREASING ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES AND LOWER PRODUCTIVITY...4 INABILITY TO MEET STRINGENT SERVICE LEVELS...4 INADEQUATE SCALABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY NETAPP FILE SERVICES SOLUTIONS...6 CONSOLIDATE REDUCE COMPLEXITY AND INCREASE RESOURCE EFFICIENCY...6 MANAGE REDUCE ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY...8 PROTECT MEET AND EXCEED SERVICE LEVELS...9 SCALE IMPROVE FLEXIBILITY TO QUICKLY DEPLOY, GROW, OR MOVE STORAGE...10 EXAMPLE OF A NETAPP FILE SERVICES SOLUTION CONCLUSION NEXT STEPS

3 1 INTRODUCTION Network file servers play a vital role in most enterprises today, enabling end users to store and access their home directories and files without affecting system resources on shared application servers. In an effort to support the tremendous growth of file data in high-productivity environments, organizations in recent years have deployed large numbers of individual file servers with either direct-attached storage (DAS) or a storage area network (SAN) back end. The resulting proliferation of file servers has created problems that cannot be adequately addressed by either current file-serving solutions using DAS or SAN storage. Individual file servers are unable to share data across their respective disks, leading to silos of underutilized storage, increased management costs, and both poor scalability and service levels. While a SAN typically provides better performance and scalability than DAS, the high costs of SAN deployment as well as ongoing administrative complexity associated with backup, recovery, security, and availability can undermine the performance and scalability benefits. This paper explores these and other challenges associated with today s complex file server and storage environments, along with key points to consider when addressing these challenges. An overview of NetApp file services solutions is provided, focusing on network-attached storage (NAS) as a simpler, more flexible approach to file storage compared to DAS or SAN. Key technologies are reviewed in relation to their ability to improve efficiencies and reduce both complexity and total cost of ownership in Windows, UNIX, and Linux file storage environments. NetApp s NAS solutions enable organizations to better consolidate, manage, protect, and scale their file services. This paper will be particularly helpful to IT professionals working in midsize to large Windows-based CIFS (Common Internet File System) environments; however, the concepts, technologies, and benefits discussed are applicable to NFS (Network File System) environments as well. 2 KEY CHALLENGES WITH FILE STORAGE AND SERVICES COMPLEXITY AND RESOURCE INEFFICIENCY PROLIFERATION OF FILES AND SERVERS The volume of files being generated and stored in today's information-rich organizations continues to increase dramatically. IDC predicts that by 2011 a majority of new storage capacity will be used for filebased data 1. Administrators typically deploy individual file servers to house the growing number of both user and shared files. These file servers are either Windows, UNIX, or Linux shared application servers or, more commonly, dedicated file servers that use DAS or file server SAN. In order to keep pace with file growth and the increased need for file access, IT organizations either add capacity to existing servers or deploy new file servers. In most cases, these practices have led to the proliferation of file servers and associated problems such as increased administrative overhead, poor service levels, rising costs, and lack of information security. POOR RESOURCE UTILIZATION A problem brought about by file server proliferation is poor utilization of both the file servers and the associated file storage. File storage for each file server is typically deployed in DAS silos, which in most cases cannot be scaled dynamically that is, while systems are online and without disrupting user access. Therefore, administrators usually overprovision the storage with additional headroom to accommodate future growth, resulting in unused, wasted capacity and poor resource utilization. Even if connected to a SAN at the back end, the individual file server LUNs using file systems like NTFS or UFS may still be isolated from each other and unable to share their storage. Furthermore, these LUNs, like DAS, may not be dynamically scaled up or down as needed because of restrictions of the file and operating systems. Therefore, they are also usually overprovisioned as well. Poor utilization of IT resources also brings about challenges regarding power, cooling, and space in the data center. This is all too often an unrealized tax on IT. 1 Source: Expanding Options for File Services: Addressing Organizations' Increasingly Diverse File-Based Storage Needs, IDC, December 2007 (IDC# ). 3

4 POINTS AND QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER Attempting to address file storage growth by deploying new file servers is a short-term solution. How do you plan to break this cycle? Can you quantify the growth of your file servers, storage, and files? As you consider consolidation to address file server proliferation, can you ensure that your workgroups and users will still have the autonomy to manage their own file storage? Have you considered how much of your disk space is occupied by redundant files or file data? INCREASING ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES AND LOWER PRODUCTIVITY HIGH COST OF MANAGING INDIVIDUAL FILE SERVERS Consider the manual-intensive tasks that are introduced with each new file server deployment, including storage provisioning, patch management, and system upgrades, as well as the time-consuming, ongoing processes related to backup, recovery, and security. The cost of managing these activities across tens or hundreds of individual file servers is a heavy burden for many IT departments. Enterprises that have faced flat or reduced IT headcount in recent years must often depend on their already overworked administrators to manage additional file servers and storage. Unfortunately, this is a short-term solution that ultimately leads to reactive rather than proactive management, and increases the likelihood of servers running out of capacity, operational errors, and poor productivity. PAINFUL DEPLOYMENT OF FILE SERVICES For most enterprises, the deployment of new file services involves more than just the installation of hardware devices or software packages by a single individual or department. Services such as backup and recovery, archiving files for compliance, replicating data for disaster recovery, and implementing antivirus technologies for data security typically demand tedious coordination amongst various groups and staff members, including, but not limited to, server, storage, backup, and security administrators. Such file services also usually require ongoing management after deployment for sustained operation. Without a unified approach to managing servers, storage, and files, administrators can end up using a different interface for each file server or storage activity, causing further proliferation of management tools. POINTS AND QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER It is likely that your files will continue to grow rapidly while your IT budgets remain comparatively flat. Are you under pressure to reduce the amount of time your staff spends on storage management? How would your staff benefit from automation of day-to-day tasks such as storage provisioning and reporting? You may be concerned about the proliferation of management tools. How much would productivity improve if your administrators could leverage existing Windows tools to manage all file storage? Evaluate your changing file storage needs and whether you can manage them without disrupting users. INABILITY TO MEET STRINGENT SERVICE LEVELS LENGTHY BACKUPS AND TEDIOUS RECOVERY Ironically, as organizations deploy higher-capacity file servers to accommodate rapid growth, they often tend to back up their data less frequently. Backup processes that take hours to complete can extend beyond the backup window, disrupting end-user access to data and involving extensive administrative overhead. Frequent backups are therefore avoided or delayed, exposing vital files to potential data loss. To complicate matters, the continuous replication of redundant data during backups ties up network bandwidth and further extends backup processes. The file recovery process, in many cases, is also more complicated and longer than the backup process itself. Not only does data recovery typically require coordination amongst multiple administrators and storage systems, the process of finding and restoring individual files from offline tape library archives can be particularly slow and unreliable. MAINTAINING DATA AVAILABILITY Recovery from data loss or data corruption is almost always a difficult process. However, these problems can seem rather benign compared to unforeseen system failures or site outages that can wreak unique financial hardship and even threaten the viability of enterprises that are inadequately prepared. Replicating 4

5 data to a secondary site is therefore highly recommended to protect and ensure the accessibility of critical files during routine maintenance and particularly in the event of a fire, flood, earthquake, or other prolonged site outage. Unfortunately, many organizations delay implementing replication solutions because they are considered too complex and expensive to set up and manage, especially if new storage or networking hardware is required. POINTS AND QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER What productivity improvements could you achieve by reducing or eliminating your backup window? How much time and how many resources could you save if users were able to recover files on their own, without administrator intervention? Does your organization have data availability requirements that vary based on file type? Do you have an off-site data replication (disaster recovery) plan to protect your critical files? How much damage would your organization sustain, as measured in money, time, and opportunity cost, should you experience an unplanned outage or disaster? INADEQUATE SCALABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY DIFFICULTY PROVISIONING STORAGE FOR RAPID GROWTH As mentioned earlier, the inability to dynamically resize file storage is a major limitation associated with DAS as well as SAN-based LUNs. This inflexibility not only leads to poor utilization, it hinders an organization s ability to quickly provision new storage or accommodate rapid file growth. In the event that initial growth estimates are too low, the underprovisioned storage resources can lead to performance bottlenecks and even unplanned downtime. Even under favorable conditions, the file server must be taken off line while new capacity is provisioned, disrupting file access. INABILITY TO ALIGN DATA WITH APPROPRIATE STORAGE TIER It is commonly understood that the majority of files that enterprises store at any given time are outdated and frequently accessed. Companies are finding that a sizable portion of their high-end storage is comprised of files that could be archived or at least moved off their primary storage systems 2. Yet most businesses do not know how to handle this problem because of user concerns that even old files may still be required at some point in the future, when they least expect it. They do not want to delete the files nor do they want to move them to offline storage archives where they cannot be quickly accessed. As a result, enterprises continue to purchase additional storage systems when their existing file storage has reached full capacity, rather than migrate the outdated files to free up capacity. POINTS AND QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER File storage silos are expensive and can affect your ability to manage capacity and performance. Can you quantify the budgetary and operational impact of deploying new file servers and storage capacity to handle file growth? Evaluate the flexibility and scalability advantages of a centralized storage pool that enables you to grow or shrink file storage within seconds, without user disruption, compared to static file storage silos. How much money and time could you save? Consider the volume of files your users are reluctant to delete just in case they need them. What benefits could you gain by moving files to less expensive tiers of storage over time? 2 For more information, refer to the joint UC Santa Cruz and NetApp study Measurement and Analysis of Large-Scale Network File System Workloads by Leung et al., presented at the 2008 USENIX Annual Technical Conference, June

6 3 NETAPP FILE SERVICES SOLUTIONS This section describes NetApp s holistic approach to addressing the challenges explored earlier, including innovative technologies for each layer of the file services solution stack. NetApp s NAS systems are optimized for storing and managing: Home directories and user files Shared project files Application and database logs and data files And enable file services such as: Backup, archiving, compliance, and disaster recovery Virtualization for servers and desktops The benefits delivered by the NetApp solutions are summarized in four value-based categories, discussed below: Consolidate, Manage, Protect, and Scale. CONSOLIDATE REDUCE COMPLEXITY AND INCREASE RESOURCE EFFICIENCY NetApp s NAS solutions help organizations reduce the complexity and inefficiency associated with hardware sprawl by eliminating file storage silos while supporting both current and future requirements. Consolidation can be realized from multiple perspectives, including physical hardware, data types, and management interfaces. Enterprises can consolidate tens or even hundreds of servers, reducing hardware costs and doubling storage utilization. Figure 1) File server consolidation UNIFIED STORAGE ARCHITECTURE Most midsize and large enterprises today are heterogeneous environments, comprised of Microsoft Windows, UNIX, Linux, and even Mac desktops and laptops. Organizations should therefore consider a solution that can support multiple protocols and data types. NetApp s unified storage architecture available across all NetApp systems helps enterprises reduce hardware costs by simultaneously supporting file-level NAS data and block-level SAN data within the same system. NetApp NAS solutions also provide native CIFS and NFS file data access, eliminating the need for emulation software such as Samba, Hummingbird NFS Maestro, or Microsoft Service for UNIX and enabling the consolidation of multiple Windows, UNIX, and Linux file servers. While NAS may be under consideration for file storage, a SAN may already be in place. In cases in which you have excess SAN capacity that you would like to use for file storage and serving, consider implementing a NetApp V-Series solution. This will deliver all the benefits described here, including higher storage efficiency. 6

7 Some departments within an enterprise can be reluctant to participate in a file server consolidation initiative out of concern that they might lose control of their data. NetApp addresses this issue with technology that enables multiple virtual file servers to be created from a single physical system (Figure 2). Two or more workgroups can therefore share one physical storage pool but may independently manage file security and access to their data. Using NetApp MultiStore technology, IT departments can pool file storage, manage fewer physical devices, and reduce their storage footprint while allowing workgroups to manage their own files. Figure 2) NetApp MultiStore technology. NetApp also offers workload balancing for consolidated environments that prioritizes processing resources for key services when the system is under heavy loads. This technology, known as FlexShare, allows administrators to configure volume priority levels, user-versus-system priorities, and caching policies. For example, in a consolidated environment that houses an application and home directories on different volumes within the same NetApp system, the application volume can be set to a higher priority when needed and readjusted after important deadlines have been met. FlexShare helps maintain service levels for critical workloads and processes, including file backups. DYNAMIC STORAGE RESIZING Earlier we discussed the inability to dynamically resize DAS and SAN file storage as a major cause of overprovisioning, creating silos of wasted resources. NetApp s FlexVol storage virtualization technology addresses this problem by allowing disk storage capacity to be centrally pooled, managed, and allocated to meet the needs of each volume and associated file system. Volumes can be rapidly provisioned and automatically resized up or down while systems are online, eliminating potential downtime and simplifying management. In particular, the thin provisioning technique employed by FlexVol enables a volume to automatically acquire unused disk capacity from other volumes as needed to support unexpected file growth. Thin provisioning allows administrators to allocate sufficient disk headroom for each volume without locking in the total allocated disk space for that volume. Unused disk capacity can be used by any other volume, which dramatically reduces the need for excess capacity. FlexVol technology facilitates consolidation by increasing file storage utilization levels from an average of 15% to 30% to 60% or more. FlexVol eliminates the time-consuming guesswork normally associated with file storage provisioning, while thin provisioning allows more efficient use of storage resources and delays storage purchases. MANAGING HOME DIRECTORIES Many organizations waste considerable time managing and keeping track of home directories and associated user files across multiple file servers. The high capacity of NetApp NAS up to nearly 1.2 petabytes in a single system and more efficient storage utilization than workgroup file servers enable enterprises to consolidate and centrally manage their user files and directories in a single location for simplified manageability, easier backups, and secure file sharing. 7

8 DEDUPLICATION OF REDUNDANT DATA Consider how many versions of files are created before a final document is published and the amount of disk space occupied by the resulting redundant data. The storing of duplicated files or file data represents a major factor in rising storage expenses and increased backup time. All NetApp systems support deduplication technology that enables enterprises to reduce disk space requirements by an average of 20 to 30% for primary storage and 90% or more for backups, lowering costs and improving backup performance. MANAGE REDUCE ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY The proliferation of individual file servers creates management inefficiency and makes it increasingly difficult to deploy or change file services. Administrator productivity can be greatly improved and overhead costs reduced with a NetApp solution that integrates with and leverages existing management tools like Microsoft System Center, unifies management silos, and automates key administrative tasks. UNIFIED MANAGEMENT OF STORAGE, FILES, AND SERVICES The elimination of physical file servers and storage represents only one aspect of consolidation; consolidated management of storage and files is perhaps even more important. NetApp offers a Manageability Storage Suite comprised of several data and storage management technologies that enable storage administrators to view, deploy, manage, and monitor separate physical storage systems, backup and recovery processes, and multiple devices from central consoles. This unified management approach allows automation of core tasks, improved data availability, and reduction in management overhead by up to 60% 3. Storage can be automatically provisioned based on predetermined policies to save time and avoid exceeding disk capacity limits. The amount of file storage being used and the types of data consuming disk space can be easily obtained in order to make efficient storage management decisions. Detailed file storage properties including age, size, and identification of files least recently accessed and most recently modified allow administrators to implement policies that eliminate old or unused data. Windows, UNIX, and Linux administrators can also manage storage directly without constantly relying on storage administrators to perform backups and other day-to-day activities. INTEGRATION WITH EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE In order to simplify deployment in the storage environment, NetApp s file services solutions support and integrate with existing authentication and network services, such as Windows Active Directory Domain Controllers and Kerberos and UNIX LDAP and NIS, without requiring additional hardware, software, or services engagements. Additionally, NetApp s file services solution integrates with Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS) and Windows Group Policy and Active Directory services infrastructure, enabling management from existing Microsoft tools. SIMPLIFIED MANAGEMENT OF HETEROGENEOUS ENVIRONMENTS Organizations with multivendor storage environments typically have to deal with multiple management interfaces along with related headaches such as searching for files across multiple systems or consolidating files in preparation for migration or disaster recovery. In order to reduce management complexity in heterogeneous environments, NetApp Virtual File Manager (VFM ) provides a unified logical view of all storage devices across the LAN or WAN, allowing centralized management of home directories, including files shared with other storage vendors. The ability to unify and virtualize heterogeneous files into a single view or global namespace that is decoupled from the physical location of file storage simplifies and automates many processes that previously required multiple systems to accomplish. Heterogeneous file storage can then be consolidated, dynamically grown, migrated, archived, and automatically failed over based on predefined policies, thereby reducing errors and downtime and enabling standardized processes across the enterprise. 3 Source: Total Cost Comparison: IT Decision-Maker Perspectives on Network Appliance and EMC Solutions for Windows File Services Consolidation, Oliver Wyman,

9 PROTECT MEET AND EXCEED SERVICE LEVELS Protecting and maintaining the availability of critical file data are priorities for today s information-driven enterprises, yet these needs continue to be areas that most enterprises struggle with almost daily. Lengthy backup and recovery periods and complex data availability processes have been major obstacles to meeting established RPOs (recovery point objectives) and RTOs (recovery time objectives) and other service levels. NetApp offers several data protection technologies that enable enterprises to dramatically reduce their file servers backup windows and file recovery time and to realize flexible, cost-effective data replication for critical files. These technologies help centralize and automate data protection for primary, remote, and disaster recovery sites, improving data availability and reducing end-user disruption. FAST, RELIABLE BACKUP AND RECOVERY Backup processes that require hours or longer can be reduced to minutes or even seconds using NetApp s point-in-time copy technology, better known as Snapshot. A Snapshot copy is basically a pointer to a file system image at a given point in time. Data is not actually copied; therefore a Snapshot copy requires almost no disk space and does not affect system performance. Snapshot copies of even the largest file systems can be created in seconds and quickly stored as backups. Snapshot copies eliminate backup windows and allow backups to be scheduled more frequently for enhanced data protection. In addition to providing fast, consistent backups, Snapshot copies are also instrumental in enabling fast recovery of individual files or entire volumes. NetApp SnapRestore technology leverages Snapshot copies, allowing enterprises to restore files almost instantly from stored Snapshot-based backups and to quickly resume operations. SnapRestore even enables individual users to recover their own files, reducing administrative overhead. Additionally, file backup and recovery are also integrated with Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) 4 through which users can create and view Snapshot (point-in-time) copies right from their desktop. Snapshot-based technologies can also be used to simplify backup operations for organizations that manage file storage at multiple sites, even if they are using heterogeneous storage. NetApp SnapVault technology delivers automated, centralized backup and recovery for NetApp and other open systems storage at remote or branch offices, providing users with a disk-based backup solution that is faster, simpler, and more affordable than tape. COST-EFFECTIVE DATA REPLICATION AND AVAILABILITY Cost and complexity are two of the main reasons why companies do not implement adequate data replication solutions, leaving their files and intellectual property vulnerable in the event of a disaster. NetApp provides flexible IP-based disaster recovery (data replication) that works across the LAN or WAN and enables files to be recovered at the disaster recovery site typically within minutes. Organizations that cannot tolerate any data loss can implement synchronous replication whereas organizations with less stringent replication and availability needs can implement asynchronous replication. No additional hardware or networking equipment is required in either of these scenarios using NetApp SnapMirror technology, and a variety of disaster recovery configurations are supported, included one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and round robin. In addition to replicating data, NetApp file services solutions can be set up as highly available storage clusters. This not only protects against data loss, but also secures continuous access to file storage. Using NetApp s active-active cluster setup, availability to file and file storage is maintained in cases in which one "node" of the cluster fails. Using the NetApp MetroCluster offering, the cluster can be geographically separated, enabling true business continuity in the case of a disaster. MEETING COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS In addition to disaster recovery, regulatory compliance is another reason to safeguard critical files. NetApp offers technology that allows nonwritable, nonerasable volumes to be created on NetApp systems, thereby preventing critical files from being altered or deleted until a specified date. This SnapLock technology enables organizations to comply with regulatory requirements and best-practices records-retention processes without requiring extensive changes to storage infrastructure. 4 See NetApp Technical Report 3367: NetApp Storage Systems in a Microsoft Windows Environment,

10 SCALE IMPROVE FLEXIBILITY TO QUICKLY DEPLOY, GROW, OR MOVE STORAGE Poor scalability is a major contributing factor to performance bottlenecks and file server sprawl. NetApp s broad product line accommodates today s fast-growing file storage environments with high-capacity systems that can store hundreds of terabytes of data. NetApp systems also enable online storage provisioning and resizing to deliver the real-time scalability and flexibility needed to optimize performance and capacity utilization. SCALABLE PRODUCT LINE NetApp s entire product line (Figure 3), from the S family systems, which are ideal for remote offices or branch offices, to the FAS6000 and V6000 lines, designed to meet the stringent storage requirements of the world s most demanding data centers, is based on the Data ONTAP operating system and several core technologies. The common system architecture used across all NetApp systems enables administrators to use familiar interfaces and tools for maximum responsiveness and storage management flexibility. NetApp also offers data-in-place upgrades, enabling enterprises to easily upgrade from midsize to high-end NetApp systems, keeping data within existing file systems and directories and preventing data loss. Figure 3) Scalable NetApp FAS and V-Series systems. FLEXIBLE VOLUMES As mentioned earlier, NetApp FlexVol technology provides online storage resizing, allowing volumes and associated file systems to be dynamically and automatically grown or reduced as required. In addition to providing an excellent means for organizations to enhance their storage utilization, FlexVol volumes also provide nearly instant scalability to accommodate unpredictable file growth without performance penalties. FILE STORAGE TIERING Many enterprises spend too much of their valuable disk space storing outdated files and prematurely purchasing new storage to house new data that will rapidly become outdated. NetApp s storage tiering solution provides a way for customers to align their archiving policies and storage investments with the business value of information. Important files can be initially stored on high-performance storage systems, then migrated to less expensive classes of storage over time as the files become less important to the organization. For example, the most critical files could reside on primary, online storage while less critical files could be moved to near-line storage and eventually moved to a tape library or VTL archive. Both the migration of files to and access from secondary storage can be made transparent to end users. Files can be migrated based on a variety of user-driven criteria, including age, type, size, and access patterns. Tiered storage can even be implemented in heterogeneous storage environments comprised of NetApp and thirdparty solutions using NetApp Virtual File Manager. NetApp s tiered storage solutions help reduce the costs of high-end storage while enabling organizations to meet their archiving objectives. 10

11 EXAMPLE OF A NETAPP FILE SERVICES SOLUTION NetApp file services solutions can integrate with any open system storage environment to deliver all of the solution benefits described above. Figure 4 illustrates a complete NetApp value solution for a typical environment comprised of Windows, UNIX, and Linux clients. This environment requires sophisticated file management, security, backup and recovery, archiving, compliance, and disaster recovery technologies. Figure 4) Typical enterprise file services value solution. Organizations large and small that employ productivity workers need network file storage. This file storage is used for storing user files in home directories as well as for collaboration through shared or project folders. Additionally, network file storage is used for archiving critical files including those required for compliance. NetApp s file services solutions can be deployed to solve all of these needs. Instead of using multiple siloed individual file servers, user and project/application file storage can be consolidated on NetApp. This allows near-instantaneous backups (making backup windows a thing of the past), consolidated antivirus and malware protection, and file management. With NetApp s unified storage architecture, you can deploy file storage quickly from a shared storage pool, which can be shared with other storage workloads such as messaging (MS Exchange) and server virtualization (VMware and Xen). For continuous access to files and high availability of file storage, you can deploy an active-active NetApp storage cluster and even synchronously or asynchronously replicate critical files to a separate disaster recovery site. You can also handle the file storage needs of your remote and mobile users by either deploying NetApp S family or FAS2000 products, which were designed with Remote Office Back Office (ROBO) needs in mind, or by having those users access storage over the network. You can also implement an archiving solution on a NetApp file services solution, including keeping an online archive of previous backups. NetApp s unified storage architecture allows both primary and secondary (FC and SATA) storage to be supported on the same system and accessed over both NAS and SAN protocols. So, archiving files, , and other data, including data required for compliance purposes, can be done on the same NetApp solution. 11

12 4 CONCLUSION NetApp s file services solutions address all of the challenges associated with enterprise file storage management, enabling organizations to consolidate, manage, protect, and scale their environment. NetApp solutions help enterprises reduce the complexity and costs of file server proliferation, increase storage and management efficiency, and confidently achieve their backup, recovery, and availability service-level goals. Thousands of NetApp customers have realized significant real-world business benefits, including improved productivity and reductions in both management costs and TCO of more than 60% and 40%, respectively. 5 NEXT STEPS NetApp has the technology and services expertise to help you optimize and advance your file storage environment at all stages of deployment. An example of a typical file storage consolidation project is shown in Figure 5. Figure 5) NetApp file storage consolidation process. Perhaps your organization wants to initiate a file server consolidation project or needs help understanding its file storage issues and is not sure where to begin. NetApp and authorized NetApp partners provide leading technologies and professional services that can help move your file services environment forward so that you can realize immediate and long-term benefits. 5 Source: Total Cost Comparison: IT Decision-Maker Perspectives on Network Appliance and EMC Solutions for Windows File Services Consolidation, Oliver Wyman, NetApp. All rights reserved. Specifications are subject to change without notice. NetApp, the NetApp logo, Go further, faster, Data ONTAP, FlexShare, FlexVol, MultiStore, SnapLock, SnapMirror, SnapRestore, Snapshot, SnapVault, VFM, and Virtual File Manager are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Mac is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. Windows and Microsoft are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. WP