Skip to main content

Five budget-friendly open source storage servers

Image
By

Storage is essential for the enterprise: Data must be stored. Data must be retrieved. Data must be shared. Data must be secured. At the same time, storage must not consume the entirety of your IT budget. Fortunately, you can find effective solutions in the world of open source.
Outside of cost effectiveness, one of the biggest benefits of these solutions is the ability to modify them to perfectly fit your needs. You can make minor changes or even roll your own storage solution based on one of these tools.
If you want enterprise support and a "solution in a can" that will meet just about any enterprise storage need, you should turn to Red Hat or SUSE. Both Linux-based companies offer some of the most powerful enterprise-ready tools on the market. But if you'd rather get your hands dirty and craft something of your own—something that won't demolish your budget—these five open source tools are a great place to start.

1: ownCloud

ownCloud (Figure A) is on the rise, faster than any cloud-based storage system. It's easy to use, it can be installed locally, and it offers desktop and mobile sync clients. The ownCloud solution is ideal for companies of all sizes that need a cloud storage solution for files, photos, contacts, and even a cloud-based calendar.

Figure A

Figure A
ownCloud is a powerful tool, and the sync client allows you to keep multiple folders in sync with your desktop. One feature that should appeal to enterprise clients is the ability to recover accidentally deleted files. ownCloud offers a Community edition and an Enterprise edition. In addition to the long list of features found in the Community edition, the Enterprise edition offers LDAP/Active Directory support, Single Sign In, Encryption 2.0 support, and much more.

2: Pydio

Pydio (formerly AjaXplorer) allows you to master a universe of files with an amazingly simple interface (Figure B). With the Pydio Sync tool, you can determine how sync occurs between server and clients, enabling real-time, manual, or time-based synchronization. You can also determine whether users can sync an entire workspace or only subfolders within a workspace.

Figure B

Figure B
File syncing can be paused to avoid data loss (should work need to be done on the server), and Pydio lets users share files internally and externally. In addition, it offers the ability to create public "mini-sites" for publishing lists of documents on the internet. It provides an outstanding plug-in system to extend your solution, as well.

3: Openfiler

Openfiler (Figure C) is a powerful network storage solution that offers file-based network attached storage (NAS) and block-based storage area networking (SAN) functionality in a single, cohesive framework. Because of its flexibility, Openfiler allows you to deploy either a SAN or NAS solution, both with a simple web-based interface.

Figure C

Figure C
Believe it or not, this solution can be up and running in no time. The block-based storage has point-in-time snapshot support with scheduling as well as online volume size expanding. Openfiler features Windows domain controller support as well as built-in Samba support.

4: FreeNAS

FreeNAS (Figure D) is a rock solid open source NAS solution that delivers all the features your enterprise needs in a NAS solution. With this storage-built operating system, you'll enjoy replication, data protection, encryption, snapshots, file sharing, and a powerful plug-in system... all in an easy-to-use web interface.

Figure D

Figure D
FreeNas also includes a powerful reporting tool that keeps track of CPUs, disks, memory, network, partition, and system usage.

5: ProjectSend

ProjectSend (Figure E) is a bit different. Although it can (and does) serve as a storage solution for documents and files, its primary focus is enabling your company to share those documents/files with clients. Not only can you easily send documents and files to clients (without having to rely on a third-party solution), your clients can also upload files to you with ease. You can add individual clients and even create/manage client groups for more control.

Figure E

Figure E
Uploaded files are given a title and description and can be easily searched using the built-in search function. ProjectSend also includes a powerful email template system, so you can create company-specific email for notifications like new file by user, new file by client, new client, new user, and password reset.

What's worked for you?

There are many open source storage solutions available to fit enterprise needs. Whether you want to shell out the budget for big-time support and service, like you'll find with SUSE, or you want to do it all in-house, open source has you covered.
Have you used any of the solutions discussed here? Share your thoughts and experiences with fellow TechRepublic members.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SoftBank Lands $236M From Alibaba And Foxconn To Bring Its Pepper Robot To The World

By
Remember Pepper,  the intelligent robot that SoftBank unveiled last year ? Pepper goes on sale in Japan this coming weekend, but in advance of that launch  SoftBank has revealed  that Alibaba and manufacturer Foxconn have invested $118 million each in its robotics division. That deal will give Alibaba and Foxconn 20 percent shares in SoftBank Robotics Holdings (known as SBRH), with SoftBank retaining a dominant 60 percent stake. “SoftBank, Alibaba and Foxconn will build a structure to bring Pepper and other robotics businesses to global markets, and cooperate with the aim of spreading and developing the robotics industry on a worldwide scale,” SoftBank said in its announcement. SoftBank isn’t short on money, of course — it is building up quite a portfolio of e-commerce investments across Asia — but its two partners bring know-how, strategy and global networks to the table. So, it looks like Pepper has eventual world domination plans. Or, at least, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Visa confirms Coinbase wasn’t at fault for overcharging users

By
Yesterday, we wrote that Coinbase customers were being charged multiple times for past transactions. While some speculated that the erroneous withdraws were down to a Coinbase engineering issue, Coinbase issued a statement saying it wasn’t liable for the duplicate charges. The blame, instead, rested with Visa for the way it handled a migration of merchant categories for cryptocurrencies, Coinbase said. While you can read my post yesterday for an in-depth description of what happened, the basic gist is that Visa refunded and recharged (under a different merchant category) a month of old transactions. Many users saw the recharge come through before the refund processed, making it look like they were double charged. Honestly, the issue was likely exacerbated by existing payment rails — it’s normal for refunds to take multiple days to show up on credit and debit statements. But here’s where it gets weird — this morning Visa issued a statement to some publications shifting the blam...
Post a Comment
Read more

Apple Releases First Battery Case To Eat Third-Party Accessory Makers’ Lunch

By
In a surprise move, Apple just announced an external battery case for the iPhone 6s. Named the  iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case , the battery extends the battery life of your iPhone 6s by up to 25 hours. The new accessory is available in black and white for $99 starting today. Let’s start with the design. Apple is using silicone as the main material like on its other cases. The company doesn’t disclose the capacity of the battery except that you’re supposed to get 18 to 25 hours of extra battery. Like third-party battery cases, Apple uses a Lightning male port at the bottom to plug your iPhone. You can charge the case using a traditional Lightning cable — most third-party batteries rely on a microUSB cable. Apple’s accessory also works with the iPhone 6 and it looks like there isn’t a 6 Plus and 6s Plus version. The Smart Battery Case features an unfortunate hump at the back. Mophie’s  Juice Pack  design is a bit sleeker compared to Apple’s official accessory. Apple...
Post a Comment
Read more

Iron Man Galaxy S6 Edge Arrives With An Arc Reactor Charger

By
Samsung’s  Iron Man-branded Galaxy S6 Edge  arrives tomorrow, with a custom paint job, 64GB of on-board storage and a limited edition wireless charger accessory with an appropriate arc reactor graphic included on top. It ships with a clear cover, too, so you can protect your precious “armor” when ticketing around in the real world. The box it comes in is also red and gold, and there’s a big ol’ Iron Man helmet stencil graphic on the back of the device, too, as well as a software theme to match. I probably would’ve left off the face personally, letting the colors speak for themselves, but this was a partnership with Marvel with the intent of promoting the new Avengers film oversees, so they probably could’ve been a lot less tasteful with the branding overall. The sad news for those of you who were hoping to advertise their Stark fandom on their phones is that availability is listed as only Korea as of tomorrow, with sales beginning in China and Hong Kong...
Post a Comment
Read more