IBM Scale Out Network Attached Storage Architecture, Planning, and Implementation Basics

IBM® Scale Out Network Attached Storage (IBM SONAS) is a Scale Out NAS offering designed to manage vast repositories of information in enterprise environments requiring very large capacities, high levels of performance, and high availability.

IBM SONAS provides a range of reliable, scalable storage solutions for a variety of storage requirements. These capabilities are achieved by using network access protocols such as NFS, CIFS, HTTP, and FTP.

Utilizing built-in RAID technologies, all data is well protected with options to add additional protection through mirroring, replication, snapshots, and backup. These storage systems are also characterized by simple management interfaces that make installation, administration, and troubleshooting uncomplicated and straightforward.

In this IBM Redbooks® publication, we give you details of the hardware and software architecture that make up the SONAS appliance, along with configuration, sizing, and performance considerations. We provide information about the integration of the SONAS appliance into an existing network. We demonstrate the administration of the SONAS appliance through the GUI and CLI, as well as showing backup and availability scenarios. Using a quick start scenario, we take you through common SONAS administration tasks to familiarize you with the SONAS system.