Review: In Storage, It's One For All

In the past, solution providers had the option of pushing either block-based SAN products or file-based NAS devices to customers looking for the right solution. Now, more and more vendors are coming out with storage units that can handle both.

Unified storage combines both SAN and NAS in a single storage device, often also including iSCSI functionality. For this review, CRN Test Center engineers examined the Celerra NS20, a new entry-level multiprotocol storage platform from EMC.

While the Test Center's NS20 unit came from the qualification lab, it contained the general-availability code that was released to manufacturing. According to EMC, the system was as close as possible to the units that began shipping on Aug. 14, when the NS20 became generally available.

As an entry-level platform, the Celerra is ideal for installations requiring less than 20 Tbytes of IP storage capacity. The Celerra NS20 provides Network File System (NFS) and Common Internet File System (CIFS) file shares, and supports NFSv2, NFSv3 and NFSv4. The Celerra allows virtual provisioning, a feature that makes the unit's capacity seem bigger than it really is by allocating storage only when data is being written to the device. NS20 supports LDAP message signing and can join the CIFS server to a Windows domain using LDAP. Snapshots of the file system and iSCSI LUNs can be created for backup and data recovery. The Celerra also ships with eight optional Fibre Channel ports for host connectivity.

While "entry-level" is often synonymous with being a fixed solution with limited configuration options, that's not the case with the Celerra NS20. EMC has delivered a unit with full NAS and SAN functionality that allows maximum flexibility. Solution providers can deploy the NS20 as a NAS device for home directories and Web applications or as a SAN for Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft SQL Server. EMC also designed the Celerra to work with applications running in a VMware virtual environment.

Deployment was very easy, partially because engineers received the Celerra NS20 system fully cable-tested and connected. LAN cables connected the blade servers and the control station to a switch, which engineers hooked up to the Test Center network.

EMC shipped the new install wizard, Celerra Startup Assistant; the management console, Celerra Manager and add-on management tools, including Celerra SnapSure, on the software CD that accompanied the unit. The CD opens up an installation interface listing Celerra Startup Assistant, Celerra SnapSure and Celerra Manager. Depending on the selected option, the interface then installs the appropriate application.

Engineers selected a Gateway E-9425R server as the client for the Celerra platform. Engineers used Celerra Startup Assistant to detect the NS20 and to configure the system for the network. At the beginning of the setup process, the software auto-detects NS20 on the network. If the NS20 is on a different subnet than the one the client server is on, the device will not be detected. The application performs a cable connectivity and health check. The root and sysadmin accounts are also created at this time.

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