Nexsan Makes Case for Unifying Storage in a Private Cloud

Cloud Forecast: Where It’s Been and Where It’s Heading

With the rise of the private cloud, a shift is under way in terms of how storage is managed and data is shared across enterprise applications. Historically, file and block storage systems were managed in isolation. Going forward, within the context of a private cloud, storage will be managed in a unified manner.

The latest storage vendor to rise to that challenge is Nexsan, which has unveiled a Nexsan UNITY platform that combines network-attached storage (NAS) and storage area networking (SAN) functionality in one system capable of being attached via Fibre Channel, Ethernet and SAS connectors.

In addition, Nexsan CEO Bob Fernander says Nexsan has included a secure n-Way Sync file synchronization capability that will over the course of the coming year support mobile computing devices running Android, Apple or Windows software. That approach will essentially eliminate the need to rely on virtual private networks (VPNs) to access primary storage, says Fernander.

With a platform that is designed to scale up to five petabytes of storage using a mix of DRAM, hard disks and solid-state disk drives (SSDs), Nexsan is making a bet that storage management in the era of the private cloud is about to fundamentally change.

Naturally, the degree to which that may occur will vary greatly by individual IT organization. But the days when IT organizations could limit the types of data that applications need to access are starting to wane. As such, new approaches to storing and managing data within the context of private cloud will almost certainly be required.