FAQ

1. What is Nasuni?

Nasuni is a software-defined platform that consolidates Network Attached Storage (NAS), distributed file servers, data protection, instant recovery, file archiving, multi-site file synchronization, and global file locking in one simple, scalable solution that spans the data center and the cloud. Together with public or private cloud object storage, it is the modern way to store, protect, synchronize, and collaborate on unstructured file data. Nasuni – short for “NAS Unified” – is basically better NAS, at half the cost.

2. How does Nasuni work?

At the heart of the Nasuni platform is Nasuni UniFS®, the first file system designed for the "new disk" - public or private cloud object storage such as Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure blob storage, Dell EMC ECS, Google Cloud Storage, Hitachi object storage, IBM Cloud Object Storage, and Western Digital HGST. Freed from the constraints of legacy disk-based file systems, Nasuni's patented global file system has no limits on file size, file type, number of files, or volume size. UniFS also has the unique ability to extend itself anywhere high performance file access is needed using Nasuni Edge Appliances, which cache just the actively used files and their associated metadata from object storage, and support the same standard CIFS and NFS file sharing protocols as traditional NAS. By replacing full-sized file servers and NAS devices with virtual or physical Nasuni Edge Appliances that are just big enough to cache the active files, fast file access can be provided in all locations at a fraction of the cost. Nasuni's unique "cache from cloud" architecture offers unlimited primary and archive file storage capacity, continuous file versioning, instant recoveries, easy DR, fast file synchronization across sites, and global file locking.

3. What are the main benefits?

Nasuni aligns business and IT objectives with powerful benefits for both.

For IT, Nasuni reduces file infrastructure TCO by an average of 60%, while freeing administrators from the traditional pains of unstructured data management. Nasuni enables IT to:

• Eliminate inefficient capacity allocation across sites, NAS and file server refreshes
• Eliminate file backups and backup software maintenance, hardware, and media costs, as well as the operational costs of managing backups.
• Restore access to file data in minutes after malware, Ransomware, accidental deletions or major disasters Enable file sharing across multi-site users easily
• Centralize management of multiple sites
• Restore user files in minutes
• Reduce infrastructure costs and simplify management
• Enable consistent data protection and DR strategy for multiple sites
• Eliminate dedicated DR sites and the associated costs of hardware, replication, and backup.
• Reduce MPLS, DFSR, and WAN acceleration costs needed for cross-office file access.
• Increase business productivity with multi-site file sharing and global file lock capabilities.
• Accelerate product time-to-market and project completion by streamlining product life cycle management (PLM), business information model (BIM), and creative workflows.
• Streamline integration of acquired companies by quickly ingesting new file data and giving acquired offices instant access to parent data.
• Enable remote workers

1. What technical challenges does Nasuni address?

• Unstructured Data Growth: Storage hardware refreshes, forklift upgrades and repeated data migrations consume too much IT time and effort. With Nasuni, storage scales on-demand, and there is no practical limit to the volume of data stored securely in the cloud. The size of the file system is decoupled from the capacity of local hardware.
• Multi-Site Access: To extend access to remote users, many companies today are forced to rely on added solutions such as VPNs, replication or WAN optimization/acceleration. Nasuni Edge Appliances cache frequently accessed files at every location across the enterprise. That means designers, engineers, creatives and other end users in remote offices enjoy the same fast access to critical files as their colleagues in headquarters.
• Cross-site Collaboration: End users in multiple locations can efficiently collaborate on the same project files through Nasuni’s global namespace. IT can establish new collaborative shares in minutes, and Nasuni reduces reliance on replication, WAN optimization, VPN and related technologies.
• IT Complexity: By delivering storage, protection and multi-site access in a single platform, Nasuni reduces the number of point solutions in the IT environment. This cuts costs and complexity, and massively simplifies management.
• IT Silos: Regardless of your present infrastructure, Nasuni unifies the entire storage environment across all locations under a single platform. Nasuni puts an end to storage silos and empowers IT with a single-pane-of-glass management console that allows lean IT teams to oversee remote infrastructure as if they’re on site.