NetApp File Access

Get Faster Access to Files Shared on Centralized Storage

Controlling the costs of branch office storage and server infrastructure must be balanced by the need to work efficiently. No client working in a branch office wants to waste time waiting for files that are slow to transfer across a shared network. While IT efficiency dictates that file and storage systems should be delivered from the data center, slow WAN performance caused by geographic distance and limited bandwidth can grind operations to a halt. That’s where Silver Peak can help.

How Silver Peak Helps:

Silver Peak software fixes the problems that exist on the WAN, enabling faster file access regardless of the distance. Silver Peak addresses the three factors that undermine WAN performance: latency, congestion and bandwidth.

  • Latency: Silver Peak accelerates TCP applications by scaling TCP window size, and optimizing Windows file sharing and other CIFS-based applications. The result: minimized delay even over high-latency network connections.   
  • Congestion is overcome by dynamically choosing the least-congested path to a location for an application.
  • Bandwidth usage is minimized with real-time, byte-level deduplication. The Silver Peak software in each location inspects, compresses, and stores a single local copy of all outgoing traffic in real time. Subsequent instances of the traffic are never sent across the WAN, but delivered from the local Silver Peak instance, saving bandwidth.

With Netapp File Access and Silver Peak, you can protect all of your business-critical data centrally, while giving remote clients the access and performance to the data they need to get the job done.  

Customer success: Centralized file storage and access   

A Silver Peak customer implemented Netapp File Access to share over common internet file system (CIFS) protocol from their branch offices to a Netapp array in headquarters, adding Silver Peak software for data acceleration.

The results:

  • Silver Peak software reduced the amount of redundant data sent over the WAN by about 80 percent
  • Silver Peak improved file transfers by nearly 20X
  • Consolidating into centralized storage lowered customer’s CAPEX and OPEX compared to maintaining storage arrays at each branch office.

Benefits

  • Protect more data by accelerating file access 10x–20x
  • Increase the geographic distance between the data center and the branch office without impacting performance
  • Accelerate remote file access by up to 20x, making CIFS usable over the WAN, while using 70-90% less bandwidth.
  • Reduce WAN costs to the branch by making low-cost MPLS networks and Internet VPNs more efficient. Silver Peak software correct the network quality problems common to these networks in real time, increasing overall throughput. Netapp file access can move more data using less bandwidth, allowing IT to delay planned WAN upgrades.
  • Improve the performance of all branch applications sharing the WAN. Advanced QOS and traffic management features prevent applications from interfering with Netapp File Access and vice versa.
  • Secure data in transit with IPsec AES-256 point to point VPN.

Resources

  • VRX Virtual Software
    Silver Peak VRX Replication Acceleration software makes replication acceleration easy and affordable.