If additional performance or capacity is required, then additional controllers can simply be added to the configuration. To address the scalability limits of traditional NAS systems, vendors have developed clustered file systems which can effectively join many controllers together and present them as a single image.

The fundamental limitation in scalability often makes traditional NAS systems a poor fit for demanding video workflows. The new system is typically over-provisioned in order to meet longer term growth requirements. Buy a larger NAS system, which requires a disruptive “forklift upgrade,” and move your data to this new system. Manually re-distribute the workload across multiple NAS systems, which can become a significant management challenge as the environment grows The controller hardware defines the performance of the system once a controller is “maxed out,” the only ways to get more performance are: Traditional NAS systems typically consist of two controllers (or “NAS heads”) in a failover configuration, so that if one controller fails, the other takes control of the failed controller’s disks and continues operating. NAS systems are popular because it is relatively simple to deploy and manage an environment of a few NAS systems. Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems are attached to an Ethernet network, and are accessed via standard protocols such as CIFS and NFS. There are several available alternatives for Ethernet-based shared storage systems. Because of this, many industry experts have a very favorable view of Ethernet as a foundation infrastructure technology, and many companies are making Ethernet their strategic infrastructure of choice for storage and other uses.Įthernet-based storage systems result in a simplified infrastructure: there is no complex SAN to deploy and manage, and the need to qualify and manage deployment of expensive FC SAN HBAs for each server is eliminated. Ethernet is fast, simple, and cost-effective, and is a technology that is enjoying a “virtuous cycle” - because it is simple and cost effective, many companies widely deploy it, and wide deployment means networking technology companies can accelerate investments to make Ethernet even faster and more cost-effective. The alternative to FC SAN is Ethernet-based storage. If you are happy with the capabilities of Xsan, including scalability, manageability, reliability, and consistency of performance, then moving to another StorNext-based FC SAN is a reasonable approach. StorNext-based FC SAN systems may provide the ability to achieve high levels of performance, and to scale the system to large storage configurations. 1: Topology of a StorNext-Based Storage Solution

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