Add Network Attached Storage, And Compete With the Big Guys

System builders have met the challenges set forth by today's businesses by increasing storage in both white-box PCs and white-box servers -- only to find out that a customer's business can quickly outgrow a unit's internal storage capacity.

Enter Network Attached Storage, or NAS. It solves the problem of networks' ever-increasing storage needs. NAS technology connects a hard drive -- or series of hard drives -- to a network's backbone via straightforward components and a slimmed-down operating system.

System builders have been at a loss when it comes to NAS. Most NAS sales have gone to larger players like Snap Appliance, Maxtor, and other major vendors. But their solutions tend to have high per-gigabyte costs. They also offer enterprise-level features that for many white-box implementations are overkill.

But now, thanks to suppliers like American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) and reByte Inc., system builders can jump on the NAS bandwagon and offer inexpensive alternatives to the big players.

AMI and reByte offer system builders both the tools to build a NAS unit and the flexibility to work with nearly any PC-based architecture. With the help of those vendors, system builders will find entering the NAS market quite easy. What's more, there is a hidden benefit to selling NAS: System builders can use the technology to move older components, such as previous-generation motherboards, processors, and hard drives. NAS involves low processing requirements to provide gigabytes of storage to a small network. In other words, NAS lets you recycle older PCs and servers into storage devices.

Here are five rules for system builders who want to build NAS systems successfully:

• Keep it simple: Avoid exotic hardware. NAS solutions do just fine with basic processors and motherboards.
• Offer Lots of Storage: More is better. Go with IDE drives to control costs.
• Offer More Memory: While RAM requirements for a NAS solution tend to be light, increasing memory size can improve performance.
• Network Fast: Use 100BaseT Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) as a starting point. Sites looking for additional speed may want to jump to gigabit Ethernet.
• Right-Size the System Case: Larger cases offer room for more drives and upgrade opportunities. Smaller cases can be tucked away more easily. Your choice.

This Recipe concentrates on building a NAS unit using simple, off-the-shelf components. These offer low-cost storage for a small business. NAS can be used for several storage-related functions, including live storage, archival storage, and online backup. System builders should take the intended use into account when building a unit. For example, while live storage tends to require more speed, backup can forgo speed enhancements, but may need an increase in capacity.

StorTrends

For the first half of this Recipe, I selected AMI's StorTrends NAS software; the latest version is 2.2 and is based on a Linux kernel. On the hardware side, I selected a basic 2.4-GHz Pentium 4 system with 512 MB of RAM and an 80-GB Maxtor EIDE hard drive.

Installation consisted of booting off a CD that contained the AMI StorTrends software. Stortrends is based on a RedHat Linux Kernel and includes all the hardware and software drivers needed to set up a NAS unit. AMI will customize the product for partners to meet specific hardware needs. The product will boot from the CD and guide your through the install.

After bootup, StorTrends will load up the applicable drivers, then detect the hardware to format the drive and configure the operating system. If the hardware meets the requirements and no errors are encountered, the software will present installers with a success message.

The rest of the operating system install is completely automated and provides technicians with informative configure screens, two of which are shown below.

After the hardware configuration is completed, you will be presented with the software configuration screens, which are only needed for the initial install. The rest of the process can be accomplished via a network attached PC and a browser.

Installers will use a basic console to setup the unit's defaults. Most importantly, administrators will need to set the network settings correctly, as shown in the next screen shot.

After the basic configuration is done, restart the system. Then connect to your network. Working from a Web browser, point at the IP address of the StorTrends NAS (in our case, 192.168.1.25. The IP number was assigned based on existing network conditions.) You will be presented with a log-on dialog box.

Once you're logged in, you will be presented with an attractive browser-based console that is intuitive and includes links to context-sensitive help. The browser-based console offers a plethora of options and allows admins to create volumes, RAID configurations, user accounts, groups, and interface the unit with Microsoft, Novell, and Linux networks.

StorTrends' primary Web console screen proves easy to navigate and offers both status and configuration options. The information menu allows administrators to drill down into the status of the configured NAS unit. This proves to be handy for troubleshooting and monitoring the unit. Administrators can further fine-tune their network settings and integration options by following the selections offered on the networking menu of the browser console, shown below.

Control of file protocols, which further enhances client support and integration chores, is offered by the file protocol sub menu. It's shown in this next screen shot.

All things considered, AMI StorTrends NAS software offers an intuitive method for building white box based NAS units that can support businesses of all sizes, ranging from a small, simple network to an enterprise network using Windows, Netware, and Unix Servers.

Another option: reByte Card

But building a NAS unit doesn't begin and end with AMI's software. Other solutions exist on the market that are an ideal fit for building a low-end NAS unit, too.

reByte offers a hardware solution that converts almost any desktop PC into a NAS unit. With a list price of $159.00, the reByte upgrade card inexpensively adds a NAS operating system to a PC by physically plugging into the motherboard's IDE controller. The reByte Card sports a firmware-based operating system, optimized for NAS functionality, that lends itself well to the lighter needs of small businesses. Here's what the card looks like:

Once the reByte card is connected to the primary IDE controller, it controls bootup of the system and identifies the various hardware components. This enables the system to function as a NAS device. Once you've booted the system, you'll be presented with a text-based menu to accomplish the initial install tasks.

The only element you may need to change is the unit's default IP address. You may need to change it to something compatible with the current infrastructure. By default, Rebyte uses 192.168.1.10. Changing the IP address is simple via the text-based console.

After the basic configuration is done, restart the system, connect to your network, and then from a browser, point at the IP address of the reByte Card (in our case, 192.168.1.25). An authorization screen will appear. reByte offers a handsome main menu that is quite easy to navigate. Installers will prefer to use the Web-based console over the unit's text menu.

Most options are easy to set. The browser-based console makes short work of those changes. For example, to set up the network options, you simply visit the networking menu and input the appropriate values, as shown below.

The same measure of simplicity follows when it comes to setting up storage and RAID options. The screen below is used to configure RAID.

What's more, reByte offers an inexpensive way to reuse outdated hardware or increase the value of low-end components. System builders will find that custom-built NAS solutions offer a new path into businesses of all sizes. They offer the promise of moving outdated equipment back into service. In this way, NAS builds new opportunities.

FRANK J. OHLHORST is Technology Editor at CRN and a frequent contributor to TechBuilder.org.

Did you try this Recipe? If so, how did it work out? Discuss with more than 2,600 of your fellow system builders on TechBuilder's Recipe Forum.