SoftNAS Prepares for Live Release of Cloud Computing NAS Solution

SoftNAS, a network attached storage (NAS) solution for cloud computing from SoftNAS, LLC, is gearing up for a live release on February 27. The offering was available as "feature complete" on February 1, with a trial available to all interested participants through an Early Access Program on the company's website.

The SoftNAS solution is designed to meet all NAS needs for cloud computing easily and affordably, making it a good fit for managed service providers (MSPs). It may be deployed through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model or in-house as an addition to the server room. The seamless file storage solution is described by the company as a cloud storage operating system.

Adaptable to any cloud computing environment or software configuration, SoftNAS may be deployed on true cloud platforms like Amazon EC2 or on private clouds running VMware or Microsoft Hyper-V. The software is administered through a single web-based GUI and is similar to a plug-and-play style for a storage solution.

SoftNAS claims its solution offers a 65 percent lower cost of ownership than comparable offerings, making it a good fit for small businesses. It features the SnapReplicate business disaster recovery tool, which checks the source drive against the target drive every 60 seconds and updates the target drive as necessary. This means SoftNAS is built with an out-of-the-box ability to replicate data, so when storage is synched across multiple locations, a disaster in one area can be quickly recovered in another.

Additional features include the ability to load the software onto any existing commodity server hardware. Larger businesses may also purchase their own SoftNAS Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA) to manage all aspects of NAS, file storage and backup needs. In-house VSAs may also interface with desktop virtualization solutions like Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View to provide cost effective and high performance VDI storage.

"With SoftNAS, we are making powerful, complex storage technologies simple, reliable and affordable," said Bill Hood, founder and CEO of SoftNAS, LLC. "Instead of multiple devices or software deployments with steep learning curves, our technology was designed to work within existing architectures. Anyone who understands virtualization can have SoftNAS up and running in no time. It comes as no surprise to us that CRN put us on their list of the year's hottest storage technologies."


Edited by Brooke Neuman