Configure QuantaStor NAS Gateway Server

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IBM Cloud deployment of QuantaStor NAS Gateway servers provide NAS storage access to IBM Cloud S3 Storage buckets via NFS and SMB protocols. This bidirectional access to objects as files enables IBM Cloud Storage to be leveraged for many use cases.

Key Features

  • Provides NFS and SMB access to IBM S3 Object Storage
  • Objects map one-to-one as Files and vice-versa
  • Backup policies enable backups of NFS/SMB shares to IBM S3 Object Storage
  • Snapshot Schedules with long term snapshot retention options make file recovery from system local Network Shares easy.
  • Automatize operations via QS CLI and REST API

Reference Configurations

Extra Small Tier - Hybrid SAN/NAS – 4TB Use Cases System View
2x E5-2620v4
32GB RAM
8x 2TB
QS XSSmall Tier (4TB) License
2x 960GB SSDs (write log)
2x 2TB SATA HDD, 2x 1TB SATA (mirrored boot)
2x 1GbE or 10GbE Private Network ports
Accessing IBM Cloud Object Storage as NAS via NFS or SMB protocols
File backups of NFS and SMB shares to IBM Cloud Object Storage
General purposed NAS file storage which is optionally backed up to IBM Cloud Object Storage
Svr supermicro 2u12 6029p.png

View Design

Small Tier - Hybrid SAN/NAS – 16TB Use Cases System View
2x E5-2620v4
64GB RAM
8x 2TB
QS Small Tier (16TB) License
2x 960GB SSDs (write log)
2x 1TB SATA (mirrored boot)
2x 1GbE or 10GbE Private Network ports
Accessing IBM Cloud Object Storage as NAS via NFS or SMB protocols
File backups of NFS and SMB shares to IBM Cloud Object Storage
General purposed NAS file storage which is optionally backed up to IBM Cloud Object Storage
Svr supermicro 2u12 6029p.png

View Design

Quick Configuration Steps

Step One: Cloud Containers Tab → Cloud Storage Providers → Add Credentials → select Softlayer S3, enter keys → Click OK
Step Two: Cloud Containers Tab → Cloud Storage Containers → Cloud Container Create → enter share name → Click OK
Step Three: Storage Management Tab → Network Shares → Modify Network Share & SMB Access → adjust settings → Click OK

Expandable

Since the NAS gateway based Network Shares (QuantaStor Cloud Containers) are backed by IBM Cloud Object Storage there are no local storage requirements except that the boot device should be SSD based to improve cache performance. NAS gateway to object storage is for general unstructured data and backups. Gateways cannot be used directly for database and virtualization workloads. Add additional drives to expand capacity. Additional systems may be added to a given storage grid for easy management of all systems across IBM data centers. OSNEXUS recommends provisioning a 24-bay or 36-bay server with free drive bays available for expandability as expansion disk-enclosures are not available as an add-on except at the time of initial server/system deployment.

Performance

NAS Gateway based Network Shares are not for high-performance use cases and will typically see 50MB/sec with 1GbE uplinks. If higher performance is required then an system local Network Share should be provisioned which is then backed up to a cloud-based Network Share using a Backup Policy. The performance of an system local Network Share is limited to the number of disks in the storage pool and can deliver over 1.2GB/sec of read/write throughput for large files on systems configured with dual 10GbE.