NetApp Fabric Attached Storage (FAS)
The NetApp Fabric Attached Storage (FAS) solution covers a range that starts with just one 14 bay drive shelf, and the high performance Fibre Channel disks and operating system that you use in the entry level system are the same that will work in the solution with over 1000 disks, so if you need a storage solution today but don’t know what your demands will be in the future NetApp is the ideal solution for you.
Whether you require a SAN or a NAS, with Windows or Unix, with iSCSI* or Fibre Channel connection, NetApp FAS can accommodate them all. If you want to make some of your storage WORM drives for archive or compliance purposes, then this is enabled by some system configuration and a licence activation - no separate storage system and new operating system is required. In multi shelf systems high performance Fibre Channel disks and high capacity SATA drives can both be accommodated.
A major strength of the NetApp FAS is its snapshotting capability. Not only can you make up to 255 snapshots of files and data volumes, but you can also do the same with your Exchange or SQL systems, recovering these in a matter of minutes, not hours – a truly impressive feature.
For higher availability and protection, mirroring or replication to another NetApp FAS system is possible. Unlike other vendors, NetApp does not demand that your backup system is identical to the first so your DR protection system costs are not as much as your primary production system. The main system could be a fully redundant system with Fibre Channel connection and Fibre Channel disks and the backup system could simply be a single controller solution with iScsi connection and SATA disks.
What Next?
*iSCSI is a networking protocol that enables SCSI to be used over TCP/IP networks. It works over conventional ethernet cabling so will work over a gigabit ethernet CAT5e cabling infrastructure.
