Perhaps it was the lineup of speakers, the passion for storage, or maybe the opportunity to play golf and get out of the office before the big Memorial Day Weekend. Either way, the day was packed with customers, speakers, and seasoned architects to continue the ongoing discussion of SAN vs NAS.
David Browning, thinkASG’s CEO, kicked off the event with introductions, review of the days agenda, and the instructions on how to use the Plain and Peanut M&M’s to cast the vote for SAN or NAS. During the morning session the participants were encouraged to drop an M&M for every time something tipped the scale of either technology. The goal was to determine which break out session would best meet the participants to storage requirements. I think I saw more M&M’s eaten than dropped in the cup. Who could blame them?
David Howard, thinkASG’s Storage Architect, presented a high level overview of both SAN and NAS solutions discussing the pros and cons. During his presentation customers were encouraged to voice their opinions, and a few of them were not shy.
Lee Graham, from Fresh n Easy, was passionate and provided a great argument why he would not use anything but traditional FC SAN for both performance and availability. Ed Young, from Qlogic, raved about his NAS and that he couldn’t imagine backing up all his data without one. Ed noted how easy their NAS was to use and support. The one thing that both Ed and Lee agreed upon, was how critical it is to maintain proper discipline in managing the network fabric.
We took a look at yesterday’s SAN and NAS pros and cons.
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We discussed the trends and improvements in both technologies as they continue to tip the scales back and forth.
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At the end of the opening sessions all participants counted their M&M’s (what was left of them) to determine which breakout session to attend.
Aaron Hoobler, thinkASG’s Solution Architect, lead the discussion on NAS solutions and demonstrated the various hardware and software offerings of the IBM N series storage. Dispelling the common stereotype that NAS solutions cannot scale.
Sudheesh Vadakkedath, IBM’s XIV Sr Solution Architect lead the discussion on IBM’s exciting XIV Grid Storage Solution. Discussed XIV’s unique value proposition “Tier 1 performance at Tier 2 price” as well as demonstrated the simplicity and ease of use of SAN based storage. Sudheesh easily dispelled the stereotype that SAN’s are too complex and expensive.
David Howard, thinkASG’s Storage Architect, presented the value of IBM’s Storage Volume Controller (SVC) and demonstrated why SVC is the number one storage virtualization product in the market.
Lunch was served but the conversations didn’t stop then. The battle of SAN vs. NAS continued on throughout lunch and onto the golf course. Of course once the golf event began the focus became who will have the longest drive, closest to the pin, and lowest team score. Ed Young was the big hitter of the day winning the two longest drive awards. Tim Nguyen, from thinkASG and his customer team consisting of Bob Howard, Cheng Yeh and Steve You, won the lowest score. Cheng Yeh was a big winner a 2nd time with a closest to the pin, along with Dru Murphy, our own thinkASG Account Executive. Congratulations for a great game of golf to all!
As we wrapped the day the ultimate question was still left to be answered.
SAN vs NAS – “Which one is right for me?”
There must have been a politician in the room when the answer came back “It depends”
Obviously, there is no single answer. Each customer has unique challenges and different business needs.
So, the correct answer is to contact “The Human Drive” at thinkASG to help you build a solution to meet your needs.
