Highly Available (HA) file server

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced business world, the daily exchange of information among employees generates a substantial volume of critical documents, serving as the lifeblood of organizations. These files are indispensable for efficient decision-making, collaborative efforts, and the swift execution of tasks. Therefore, it becomes imperative to house structured business data within a robust and empowering environment that fosters seamless and efficient teamwork.

Problem

Businesses grapple with two contrasting yet equally formidable challenges in getting a reliable file server and storage. Firstly, the expenditure associated with hosting file services on expensive dedicated SAN and NAS boxes that are fair in terms of performance, availability, and support but they come with a hefty price tag to obtain and retain. High-end file server solutions are complex and usually are built with multiple vendors involved. Support issues often result in finger-pointing among hardware and software vendors, creating a frustrating and costly experience for businesses. While downtime may be restricted to Service Level Agreements (SLAs), the support costs remain a significant burden. On the other hand, businesses can host a file server on commodity servers, which is significantly lower to get, resulting in increased maintenance costs, and demanding dedicated IT resources for continuous babysitting. The real cost emerges during ongoing support as the cost of fixing issues in-house can be unreasonably high. Businesses must possess the knowledge to configure hardware and software components from various vendors, and constantly monitor and support the system.

Solution

To address these pressing challenges, we offer StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN). StarWind VSAN simplifies the creation of a file server infrastructure, offering versatile Network File System (NFS) and Server Message Block (SMB) file servers tailored to meet the diverse data requirements of businesses. StarWind VSAN effectively bridges the gap between performance, cost, and support concerns. It alleviates the cost burden by providing support under a single umbrella, working with verified hardware components to offer robust SLAs. Furthermore, StarWind’s support team actively monitors and maintains customer file servers, proactively addressing any overlooked issues. As a result, StarWind VSAN not only costs less than solutions from other vendors but also proves more cost-effective to maintain, with fewer maintenance-related frictions. It consolidates support under one umbrella, making it easier for businesses to achieve the desired performance and availability, all while reducing expenses.

Conclusion

StarWind Virtual SAN emerges as an all-encompassing solution that not only delivers redundant and high-performance file servers but also empowers businesses to establish a secure environment where teams can collaborate seamlessly. With StarWind Virtual SAN as your trusted solution, your organization can confidently navigate the complexities of the modern business landscape, fully harnessing the value of your data to achieve lasting success. StarWind Virtual SAN eliminates the dilemmas of excessive costs and DIY maintenance, providing a cost-effective, high-performance, and reliable approach to file server management that paves the way for enhanced productivity and collaboration.