There are a variety of features that make storage cluster to stand out as an option for many organizations that are looking for data storage options that they can use for their benefit and even that of their clients. The storage that is offered is connected using networks which have a function that is responsible for the administrative duties of the storage cluster that includes physical disk collection. Clients that are using storage cluster can easily access it when the need arises such as the creating of volume within the cluster.

High availability is another feature that storage cluster offers its clients which translates to the elimination of single points of failure, capability to self-heal and transparent fail over. Furthermore, while using storage cluster the performance which includes the bandwidth or IOPs are adjusted to be able to accommodate read or even write operations that are large and sequential and those that are transaction oriented as well. In addition, the architecture that is used in storage cluster has a basis in open hardware or even software that uses interconnects that are loosely coupled or even tightened. Lastly, the server access as well as the storage capacity is connected through different ports such as the fiber channel or Ethernet among others. However, these features may differ depending on the type of storage cluster solution.

Overall, storage cluster focuses on the capacity as well as the availability of storage space which is important for those organizations seeking a lot of storage for their data. Other types are known to support the scaling of the performance such as I/O operations; also it is user friendly and can be managed quite easily irrespective of the organization that is using it for storage purposes.

Network attached storage is a powerful storage system which provides centralized data storage management. But to make the most of the possibilities of NAS solution it is crucial to choose the right NAS software.

Nowadays, many operating systems support not only a single NAS functionality but also a more complex solutions. Therefore, to establish a NAS system on standard operating system does not seem to be a problem. Additionally, every NAS server has an already installed and configured operating system for network storage.

NAS hardware is relatively cost-effective solution, so you can minimize the costs of adopting and upgrading your storage resources. NAS software simplifies the network administration services, reduces complexity of the system, automates many tedious tasks and satisfies the requirements of high performance and reliability of the system.

A growing number of enterprises already deploy NAS technology, if only with devices such as CD-ROM towers that are connected directly to the network. NAS software enables one of the most attractive characteristic of the system – the expandability. If a more storage space is required, the user can add another NAS device and expand the available storage. NAS also brings an additional level of fault tolerance to the network. One of such fault tolerant solutions is RAID. Disk arrays like RAID can be used to make sure that the NAS device does not become a point of failure.

The main processes that are served by NAS software are data reduplication, backup storage, system security, disaster recovery, automatic failover and NAS storage virtualization. The software also supports iSCSI functionality, therefore it is possible to create a SAN –NAS hybrid system. It means that you can add a functionality of iSCSI target and initiator for a NAS storage device.

What is the reason to virtualize?

There are many diffrent reasons for increased popularity of virtualization. Virtualization in specifi conditions will give one huge savings, makes easier to manage and optimize resources and it increases security.

Below I listed main advantages of virtualization:

Easy creation of test environments- thanks to virtualization we can install on single computer many environments, for i.e developers to test their software. Thanks to that we do not create additional costs of new computers or office space.

Easy management- virtual machines are easier to manage and configure and it is easier to check how they work. They are also more flexible and are not so much affected by hardware restrictions. It is esy to create and delete new virtual environments and it’s easy to move one environment from one to another machine.

Greater security- it is a result of fact that you are able to isolate one virtual environment from another. It lets you to install and run diffrent programs without a risk of corrupting or deleting important system files. It is also easy to control those environments and easy backup creation and data restoration.

Opportunity to coexistence and cooperation diffrent incompatible environments- the opportunity to install diffrent operating systems and runinng them on one machine is great advantage, which is appreciated by software developers, support workers or testers. Thanks to that there is no need to buy new system or apps without testing it first in virtual environment. One can install the old version of software to find out if it will be still compatible or have a chance to check the network configuration for example between Linux and Windows.

Virtualization allows for example to separate hardware from OS, two operation systems from each other or applications from data. It can be called as a some kind of fraud, which allows to ‘explain’ to your OS that it works in totally diffrent environment. This way you can separate operating system from the hardware where it was installed.   You can virtualize computer, it parts i.e RAM, graphics, applications. Thanks to that any given envirornment have more memory, there can be more than one operating systems run on the computer or diffrent language versions of the same program. It is possible to virtualize single station, server or even whole IT systems.

The criteria of effectiveness of virtual machines where formulated in th eighties. According to these rules software working on virtual machine must be working in the same way as on real computer. Virtual machine must also control whole virtualized resources and most of the instructions should be executed without machine.

There are diffrent types of storage virtualization but the most common one is called hardware virtualization. It is about creating virtual machien, which fakes complete computer system and separates virtual machines from the hardware they are run on.  It always one to install and run in the same time many diffrent OS in another system. One step further is desktop virtualization which separates user’s desktop from the machine. Computer with hypervisor managing all virtual machines becomes therefore server and users using virtual systems connect to it through the network or other tools. Thanks to thaat it is easier to manage multiple operating systems and from users perspective, the one is allowed to get access to the machine from diffrent locations. This solution gives also graeater flexibility computing power.

End of part 1

A lot of businesses and organizations lose billions of dollars every year due to the loss of data from hardware or system failure, human error, and even due to software corruption. For this reason, it is essential for businesses and organizations to look for reliable data storage means to ensure that their data and information are properly stored and secured despite the system error or other catastrophes. However, data protection is not the only concern that must be addressed. Data access must also be quick and easy so that the people working for the organization will have the right information when needed.

The Importance Of Data Storage And Backup

Data storage may refer to any hardware or software with data or information stored on it. The most popular explanation of this term is the storage of information on computers or other similar devices. The computer data storage has two main categories which are primary and secondary storage for data. The primary consists of the computer’s central processing unit and the random access memory. The secondary storage data consists of the internal hard disk drives, flash memory sticks, memory cards, and many others.

Today, there is an increasing need to have fast and easy access to information. The executives and even the employees of a certain organization need fast access to the right information to perform their jobs exceptionally. For this reason, it is essential to pay close attention to storage and ensuring proper data backups. As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of circumstances that can lead to data loss.

The best way to recover the lost data is to store backup data in a separate location. A data backup is a copy of one or more data and logs. This backup copy is usually stored in another storage medium such as magnetic tape, disk, or another hard drive. The data backup system contains at least one copy of all the information and data that the organization has thus considering the right kind of data storage to use is essential.