Nasuni Launches Local Cloud-Based Storage

Nasuni on Tuesday rolled out a new appliance that unifies file and block-based storage whether it's in the cloud or on-premises.

The NF-400 is installed in remote or branch offices, where it caches data and replicates it into the cloud for secure recovery and disaster-recovery processes. The appliance, which contains 32GB of RAM, dual controllers, and 6 to 12 TB of local disk storage, is twice the size of its predecessor, the NF-200. The NF-400 supports as many as 900 users and starts at $12,500. (The NF-200 contained 16GB of RAM, 3 to 6 TB of local disk space, and supported up to 300 users.)

The new appliance is targeted at larger branch offices and small data centers as it can support three times the workload of the NF-200.

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Installed in the remote or branch office, the NF-400 provides primary storage for its location, backup to the cloud, disk-to-disk storage, and replication of data between the remote office and the data center. It supports CIFs, NFS, and iSCSI, and is integrated with Microsoft’s Active Directory. It can provision multiple terabytes quickly without changes to the physical infrastructure.

Data is transparently located either on the local appliance or in the cloud and is encrypted for the client side for secure delivery to another office or to the cloud. Files can be shared among offices.

The appliance can be managed from a central location. A new support option allows Nasuni technicians to connect remotely to the appliance for troubleshooting and to fix problems with the infrastructure. Each remote access is logged and allowed only when specified by the customer.

Nasuni was founded in 2009 by CEO Andres Rodriguez and president Rob Mason, both formerly of Archivas, which was acquired by Hitachi Data Systems. The company was one of the original cloud storage gateway providers, in which a local virtual or physical appliance was used to shift data from an on-premises location to a cloud-based service provider.

Among Nasuni's competitors are StorSimple, TwinStrata, Panzura, and Nirvanix, which offer both virtual and physical appliances.

The company, located in Natick, Mass., counts among its customers Logitech, Milbank, Vistaprint, and Ixia. Nasuni is funded for $23 million by Flybridge Capital Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, and Sigma Partners.

Deni Connor is founding analyst for Storage Strategies NOW, an industry analyst firm that focuses on storage, virtualization, and servers.

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