TeraStation 6000 series from Buffalo

Editorial Type: Review Date: 2020-02-01 Views: 5,224 Tags: Networking, Storage, NAS, Cloud, Buffalo, TeraStation 6400DN
A revolution in the use, application and regulation of data requires organisations to consider a range of storage solutions

Which to select and how to integrate them is significantly influenced by the data and its intended use. Network attached storage (NAS) has always been a strong contender and the new Buffalo TeraStation 6000 series confirms NAS as a flexible, credible and powerful storage element and in this case, one enhanced by the cloud and not compromised by it.

Available in desktop and rackmount with hard drive capacity options, Buffalo supplies populated devices which, tested immediately prior to despatch, improves out of the box operation and support. Our test model, the TS6400DN, had 4 x 4TB NAS hard drives, a 2.1 GHz Intel Atom C3538 Quad-Core processor (8 GB ECC RAM), 1 x 10GbE, 2 x 1GbE Ethernet ports and two USB 3.0 ports: also a VGA port, a Kensington lock, a reset button behind a locked door which can be disabled, an LCD panel, a power cord securing hook and naming label. All Buffalo products enjoy a 3-year warranty which can be extended.

Product benefits will vary by application. If ransomware and business continuity concern you then the new Snapshot feature offers cost-effective and rapid recovery that challenges traditional backup. Snapshot starts with a full backup including meta-data, then only incremental backups to capture changes. It's actually quite clever; if for example a large image is edited, the increment only includes the changes, not the entire file.

We downloaded NAS Navigator2 to find and monitor any Buffalo products then used the browser based management UI to adjust the Snapshot frequency and its use of public cloud services, including Dropbox, OneDrive & Azure. When ransomware has blocked file access, restoring data using the last known-good increment is a fast way to get digital services back online. Snapshot is also useful to resolve accidental deletion and editing errors. Indicative of the thought put into this product, the GDPR Right to Erasure Policy can be accommodated in Snapshots and if policy requires, Snapshots can be archived away from the NAS.

TeraStation essentially works out of the box but the rich menu of options allows an organisation to really tailor the role of NAS in its storage estate. On first power-up a setup wizard rapidly steps through initial configuration and from the UI you can configure network shares, determine properties of shares and view the NAS estate.

Logging in to the UI provides access to all options including those viewed during setup, from menu headings, Dashboard, File Sharing, Storage, Cloud Storage, Applications, Network, Backup and Management. The Dashboard navigates the Administrator to memory, storage, CPU and system details along with a colour-coded message bar alerting critical conditions. Other options are self-explanatory and allow File Shares to be hidden and configured in high detail, including user access, recycle bin use and quotas. Groups can be created to aid collaboration and RAID modes selected. Should the default RAID 6 not suit at setup, you can select a different one which is implemented incredibly quickly. Security and management is covered with detailed system logging and AES encryption.

If required TeraStation can be used as an iSCSI Device, allowing direct TS6000 to TS6000 backup without impacting network server loads. This is just one example of the extensive flexibility and choice offered and in a mixed vendor estate, TeraStation supports rsync, leaving the organisation in charge of its data.

In a modern, digitally transformed network the challenge for Network and IT managers will be to decide where not to deploy the feature-rich NAS TeraStation 6000: its application range, workload capability and flexibility is substantial. NC

Product: TeraStation 6400DN
Supplier: Buffalo
Web site: www.buffalo-technology.com
Email: sales@buffalo-technology.com
Telephone: 0845 3511005
Price: TS6400DN1604-EU - £1269.00