Appliance Deployment Featured Article

Nasuni (News - Alert) recently revealed that its cloud storage appliance now boasts increased capabilities, including a block interface. The new interface will allow remote locations and branch offices to implement a unified storage system, as well as solve multiple demands clients place on Nasuni as a whole.

Nasuni got its start back in 2010, bringing out a NAS cloud storage appliance and later adding the iSCSI functionality to its systems, as well as NFS and CIFS support. Under the new system, the company has added a larger controller which allows the appliance to go beyond file storage and enter the realm of block storage.

While the Nasuni appliance isn't specifically geared to be deployed, say, on an Oracle (News - Alert) database or an entire enterprise resource planning system, the appliance can serve as a domain controller. Further, it can even do all the same things that an entry-level NetApp box can do, which gives it plenty of utility in its own right. Since it can not only hold data locally but also maintain a master copy of data in the cloud, it also serves as a vital way to overcome one of the most common objections to cloud computing in general – the potential for data loss in the face of connectivity loss or power outage.

Nasuni didn't just upgrade its cloud storage appliance, however; instead, the company also deployed a set of new solutions including the 2U NF-400, which represents double the RAM (News - Alert) and local cache storage of the 1U NF-200.  The I1U appliance packs in 32 gigs of RAM and between six and 12 terabytes of cache, with a matching amount devoted to block data. Pricing on the NF-400 starts at $12,500 and goes to $17,500 depending on the options selected.

Nasuni's solution looks to provide a lot of what enterprise users will need for local storage and cloud storage. While the price tag (News - Alert) may be a bit daunting for small businesses, those businesses that actually have remote operations will likely appreciate the functionality to move data from place to place easily and rapidly with minimal disruptions. It will likely prove well worth looking into on most any level.

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