Network-attached storage units are working well at OneSource’s Auckland offices.
The technology service provider, formerly U-Bix and Cogent Communications, had to replace its aging, non-upgradable Olo file and print server. This month it went live with a new system based around a NAS product from Iomega.
Originally OneSource planned to use two Iomega 415m NAS units at its Auckland headquarters for the file side, after deciding to split the file and print functions.
However, things are working fine with just one unit, says OneSource senior LAN analyst Denny Govender.
“There were two reasons to have two units; first for load balancing and, second, so the data would be in two places for easy recovery.”
The original plan called for a back-up NAS unit which would use replication software to duplicate data, “but the first unit is so reliable we said we don’t need the second one”.
The data is backed up with a tape drive. The unit runs an ATA drive, rather than SCSI, as the former was cheaper, Govender says.
A SCSI-interface version of the product is in use down the road at OneSource’s Queen St copy centre, to store data relating to customer print orders and documents. It’s the pilot for a plan to run the device at other OneSource copy centres and went live just after the headquarters one, he says.
The head office device runs on Windows 2000 Advanced Server and allows gigabit access. The print side of the Olo replacement is a Compaq print server running Windows 2000.
The Auckland upgrade and copy centre project isn’t necessarily the end of NAS deployment at OneSource, Govender says.
"We’re looking at upgrading the server in our Wellington office and one option is NAS for the storage side.”
Standalone NAS is an alternative option to a storage area network (SAN), a network solely devoted to storage.