Considerations to ensure NAS storage performance for demanding workloads
Storage performance is crucial for the overall productivity of any organization. NAS or Network attached storage is one of the popular storage solutions used by various organizations to store their data. If you have a massive data center and want to experience NAS storage at its best, you may need to employ some standard best practices to optimize the performance of your Network Attached Storage. If you are experiencing slowdowns, lags, or just a feeling that your storage isn't performing as well as it once did, this article is for you.
Different RAID levels for data redundancy
Most Enterprise NAS storage vendors incorporate RAID to protect data during component failure and increase availability and performance. This helps to avoid performance lags as well as maximize storage performance. However, RAID levels differ in how they handle data redundancy and performance overhead at different capacities.
For example, using a RAID 5 configuration will provide higher data protection than a single drive array.
RAID 1 is one of the simplest redundant storage schemes: you mirror on a disk so that each mirror has the same data. But If the disk goes, you lose all the data. RAID 5 is more complicated: stripe data across disks so that each disk has data from many different locations. If the disk goes, you lose some data, but not all.
RAID 5 requires more disks than RAID 1 because, with RAID 1,you store the same data twice. With RAID 5, you store the same data twice but in different places. But using RAID 5 requires careful management, and careful management requires extra software as well.
Make use of deduplication
It is far too common to have multiple copies of data for no reason at all. Deduplication is the most effective way to maximize storage utilization, unlock potential cost savings, and prioritize precious operational data. Deduplication ensures that you save space by reducing redundant data that not only takes up space but also affects performance.
Use automated storage tiering
Storage administrators often have trouble managing and prioritizing data. Storing the right data on the right storage device for the right application can be time-consuming. In addition, it limits your IT department's ability to move to the latest technology and demands additional overhead for testing.
The solution is simple – use automated storage tiering that smartly moves data between different disks attached to your NAS or to cloud storage or even an offsite location.
Finally, Assess Your Options
Consider security features like encryption, access controls, monitoring capabilities when using your NAS solution. You may need to pay for additional capabilities or add-on software depending on your security requirements. Luckily, however, StoneFly provides the best NAS systems that support Anti-virus and anti-ransomware, Immutable delta-based snapshots, Write-Once Read-Many (WORM) volumes, Automated storage tiering, Deduplication, AES 256-bit encryption, Sync/async multi-appliance/multi-site replication without any additional charges.