What type of centralized data storage should I use for 1.5 TB of data across multiple locations?

What type of centralized data storage should I use for 1.5 TB of data across multiple locations?

I would like some advice related to centralized storage and backups. I have to design a solution for a company that has approximately 1 to 1.5 TB of data scattered across various workstations (documents, presentations, spreadsheets, drawings, etc.). The company has multiple locations and they require a centralized storage and backup solution with redundancy built-in. What would you suggest for storage and connectivity?

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The type of centralized data storage and connectivity you should get depends on your available budget, future growth plans, what data backup or data protection and management tools you have, types of servers and operating systems, your existing data storage and networking connectivity, preferences for various technologies, and so on. You'll want to make some basic assumptions for what type of centralized data storage you need based on what you already have in place.

Based on the information you provided, it sounds like a network-attached storage (NAS) product is your best bet. Look at NAS systems with multiprotocol support such as block or file systems with iSCSI or Fibre Channel (FC)/FCoE, or NFS and CIFS, and perhaps even AFP for Macs. Choose a NAS system that uses redundant paths and connections that also have dual controllers (nodes, processors, NAS heads) for high-availability (HA).

Still not sure what to do? Send me an email or tweet me @storageio and we can further explore your scenario and options.

This was first published in June 2010