Product data

Storage Concepts and Technologies
Linksys Differentiation
The Linksys NSS solution comes with many advanced features at relatively low cost
including
easy software installation and configuration, diskless chassis options with hot-
swap SATA drive bays, advanced RAID options, redundant power, dual NICs for
redundancy, and easy, fast backup through snapshots.
It also includes remote replication to
another Linksys NAS, disk encryption and built-in anti-virus scanning (optional). A wide
array of RAID types (including RAID 10) are supported along with spanning and JBOD.
Client support for Windows, Mac, and Linux is included. Protocol support includes
CIFS/SMB, AFP, NFS, HTTP, and FTP.
The key differentiators of the Linksys NSS solution architecture are as follows:
• Highest Feature Set/Lowest Cost Product in its Class: Linksys NSS offers a pre-
configured RAID array/NAS solution with a feature set comparable to higher priced
solutions. The high end feature set also distinguishes the NSS from entry-level,
desktop NAS systems.
• Ease of Use. The Linksys NSS does not require complex CD based software
installation. Its browser-based configuration GUI simplifies installation and operation.
The browser-based GUI can also be used to see if there are problems, like a drive
failure, that you need to fix.
• Data Protection: The diskless chassis based design with encryption enables advanced
data protection. Data integrity is assured with features such as XFS journaling file
system, hot spare disk capability, and RPSU options for power redundancy. The
Linksys NSS solution supports 256-bit AES on-disk encryption of individual volumes,
an important data protection feature.
• Resiliency & Flexibility: With Linksys NSS, network drives can be reconfigured at any
time, with the ability to hot swap and re-sort hard drives to different storage bays.
Expanding storage capacity is as simple as adding more drives or NSS units. NSS also
offers migration of RAID sets between systems and secure local and offsite backup
options.
• Cost-Effective: Businesses can realize substantial cost savings with a diskless chassis
storage architecture when compared with more expensive and inflexible server arrays.
The NSS chassis architecture supports options for diskless or populated disk drive
bays with Linux OS and RAID residing in the intelligent chassis of the device. Serial
ATA (SATA) disk drives provide increased storage efficiency.
• Reduced Total Cost of Ownership: With the Linksys storage solution there is no need
to purchase new and pre-configured NAS systems, drives, third-party OS software
upgrades, third-party licenses, license renewals, or accessories. Linksys NSS products
come pre-integrated with Microsoft Active Directory Integration, hot-swappable
drives, hot-spare drives, and much lower power consumption requirements than more
expensive, feature-comparable NAS products from other brands. Significant cost
savings on energy expenditures can be realized for these always-on devices. The
savings deliver a much lower total cost of ownership and quicker return on
investment for the budget-conscious business.
• Linksys One Integration/Upgradeability: Linksys NSS devices are Linksys One Ready,
so they can be incorporated into a Linksys One network. Each NSS device contains
firmware code that enables it to be automatically discovered by a Linksys One Services
Router. This further increases the level of investment protection for the business
should they later decide to transition to a hosted solution.
White Paper: Network Storage LINKSYS © 2007
25 EDCS-593805 v1.0
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