Now that we are open for business, trial users are beginning to upgrade to customer status, which will allow them to experience the full power of the Nasuni Filer. We have gone on at length about the Filer’s many features and strong security, but the appliance will also lead to considerable cost savings in the long run. The exact amounts will be different in each case, of course, so we thought we would detail one customer case study here, to give you an idea of how it works.
This customer, a large intellectual property law firm, serves over 300 clients. They handle large cases and have reams and reams of data, much of which is pored over, stored, and rarely if ever accessed again. The firm already owns EqualLogic storage, and they know that their library of files is only going to grow.
We looked at what it would take to add 5 TB of protected storage by expanding the company’s SAN through Dell’s EqualLogic solutions. Then we compared this with what it would take to add 5 TB through the cloud-backed Nasuni Filer.
To get 5 TB of raw capacity, the customer would actually have to order 7 TB – the extra 2 TB would be needed for protection. Then, to add snapshots, the firm would need a NAS head. Here, EMC’s Celerra would be a good option. A double blade enclosure would come to more than $49,000.
Finally, to fully protect that data, they would need to mirror that first array. They would need another 7 TB at a different location in case that first data center goes down. The cost of one array would be nearly $30,000, plus more than $48,000 for the second.
Once you add in tax and shipping, this configuration alone, in terms of capital expenditures, works out to a little over $128,000. And this is before factoring in the cost of renting rackspace at that second location, which would likely work out to more than $5,000 per month.
With the Nasuni Filer, the firm would spend just $26,000 over the first five years. That is less than one-fifth the cost of SAN expansion, without factoring costs of maintaining the second array. How is this possible? The Filer takes advantage of cost-effective cloud storage, but it also expands in line with the customer’s needs. Instead of paying for those 5 TB upfront, then filling that space file by file, the firm’s storage capacity will expand as needed. The firm will only pay for what it uses.
Despite the significantly lower costs, the Filer delivers the same protection, strong security, and local-like performance.
The Filer would not get rid of the firm’s SAN. This is not an either/or choice. The Filer would optimize it, since the system would no longer be bogged down with reams of data that users rarely access. Infrequently accessed files that are now sitting on the firm’s local, expensive fast disks will be encrypted and moved to the cloud, where they will be stored and protected at a fraction of the price.
Not to mention that this is all done automatically, through intelligent caching algorithms. This reduces the IT workload – you won’t have to manage capacity manually.
Any questions? Contact us at feedback@nasuni.com. We hope you make the transition.