Why Use Cisco Network Storage Systems for Your Business

White Paper
Why Use Cisco Network Storage Systems for Your Business

Introduction ®This white paper highlights two new additions to the Cisco Small Business Network Storage System (NSS) line of products. The Cisco NSS2000 Series is a 2-bay network attached storage (NAS) system, and the Cisco NSS3000 Series is a 4-bay system. These desktop devices connect to the network through a switch and provide additional storage capacity and redundancy for important business data.
Highlights ? Small, versatile desktop form factor ? Lockable drives for greater security ? Support for redundant data backup (multiple RAID settings) ? Gigabit Ethernet interface ? Support for Microsoft Distributed File System ? 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) file encryption for highly secure data storage ? Ability to combine NSS devices to expand storage capacity ? Quiet operation The Cisco NSS2000 and NSS3000 Series are ideal for small offices and workgroups. Both are available either with or without hard drives. The NSS2000 model comes without hard drives, and the NSS2050 comes with two 250-GB hard drives preconfigured for easy setup and installation. Similarly, the NSS3000 comes without hard drives, and the NSS3100 comes with two 500-GB 1drives and two empty drive bays for expansion . The latest approved vendor list for hard drives is published on Cisco.com at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9957/prod_technical_reference_list.html.
1 The NSS3100 will soon be available in 2009. © 2009 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 1 of 9White Paper
Small, Versatile Desktop Form Factor The Cisco NSS2000 and NSS3000 are quiet desktop devices, ideal for environments in which small size and low noise levels matter, such as small offices or workgroup areas. The small form factor allows the device to fit easily on a desktop or shelf, while the low noise level means it can operate without disturbing the day-to-day activities of the office.
Figure 1. Desktop network attached storage - NSS3000 (left) and NSS2000 (right)

Lockable Drives The Cisco NSS2000 and NSS3000 Series include features that help prevent misuse or tampering. The disk drives in the NSS2000 are protected by locks to prevent unauthorized removal. The NSS3000 has a locking front panel that protects all of the drives. Both devices can be secured with a laptop-type lock to help prevent theft.
Support for Redundant Data Backup The Cisco NSS2000 and NSS3000 Series give the user the option of choosing a redundant backup configuration for further data protection. The devices support several Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) configurations that allow you to divide and replicate data among multiple disks. For example, a RAID1 configuration stores data simultaneously on two disks, in a configuration known as mirroring. This reduces the overall storage capacity but preserves data in case one of the hard drives fails. More RAID configurations are available on the NSS3000 because it supports up to four hard drives. For more information on which RAID settings are right for you, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/smallbusiness/storage or contact a Cisco certified partner.
Gigabit Ethernet Interface The Gigabit Ethernet interface increases the backup and restoration speeds of the Cisco NSS2000 and NSS3000, allowing it to get the best from either a conventional Fast Ethernet network or a full Gigabit Ethernet network deployment.
© 2009 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 2 of 9White Paper
Support for Microsoft Distributed File System Many small businesses work with Microsoft platforms. In environments in which users must remember where data is stored, each storage drive must be mapped. With the Microsoft Distributed Files System (MSDFS ), you can map multiple storage devices so that they are seen by users as one location (Figure 2). This means that users do not need to worry about which NSS drive their data is stored on. The MSDFS capability also works with more than one NSS device; for example, a Cisco NSS4000 and an NSS2000 can be combined into one logical device.
Regardless of the operating system you are running on your computers or servers, they can all access the NSS storage device.
Figure 2. Sup... [download for more]