Hyper Converged Infrastructures (HCIs) can provide an organization with agility, blistering access times, significant cost-efficiency and more, but only if these systems are correctly designed, managed and maintained. Instrumental to the ongoing maintenance is a mechanism to monitor and control resources on Network Attached Storage (NAS).
NAS should only house active files, those which are routinely used by an organization. Unfortunately, in most installations, around 80% of NAS files have not been accessed in a year or more. As much as 90% of data is never even used again, after it is originally generated. This data should be migrated to archives, or in many cases deleted as it can contain duplicates or has become obsolete. Storing this unneeded and unmanaged information on your primary storage tier results in extraordinary costs and performance deficiencies.
While much of the data sprawl on primary storage may be traced to business functions, as much as 40% of it is often personal data, which is wholly unrelated to an organization’s operations and has no place in the system. Another and more serious problem attributed to employees is cyber-attacks. IBM Security research found that 60% of attacks in 2015, were perpetrated by insiders. Three-quarters of those were intentional, while the remaining were inadvertent ones, where an employee had fallen victim to phishing, downloaded a malicious file, etc. With proper archiving, resource control and monitoring, many of these acts could be thwarted or at the very least minimized.
One of the most effective methods of combatting these threats and operational inefficiencies is through the implementation of a Tier 2 storage strategy. When Tier 2 storage is coupled with elimination of redundancies, businesses can dramatically reduce both the amount for expensive primary storage required, as well as the cost, since Tier 2 storage is significantly less expensive than Tier 1 counterparts. To successfully execute a Tier 2 strategy and right size NAS, administrators require tools to analyze files and activity on NAS, implement controls, eliminate superfluace and migrate inactive data from Tier 1 storage. DefendX has just the suite of tools needed for this, and more.
DefendX’s Vision thoroughly evaluates NAS data, and generates comprehensive reports. These insights may then be used to determine what files may be deleted, because of obsolescence or redundancies, or migrated to Tier 2 storage, as internal demand or compliance dictates. With the in-depth analysis provided by Vision, IT managers can more accurately plan for future scaling, and assign costs to departments. After evaluating an environment with Vision, DefendX’s Mobility allows for the seamless migration of resources from Tier 1 to Tier 2, on a wide variety of platforms. Mobility automates both archive and backup, and via stub creation protects full files from theft or manipulation.
This is by no means a complete list of the risks and unnecessary expenditures, which stem from inadequately managed NAS, or the benefits derived from right-sizing your storage.
For a, custom, and FREE assessment of your installation, contact DefendX, today. Our consultants can also answer any questions you have and assist you with conducting a free trial of DefendX Vision and/or DefendX Mobility. You can reach us at 1-603-622-4400 or fill out a contact form here.
