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In this article we will show you How to set up Network Attached Storage device. “Network-Attached Storage” is what NAS stands for. Basically, it’s a way to connect a hard drive to your network so that all of your devices can share files and back them up from a central location. You can also go to the official Microsoft support site to know more information.
You could also use your NAS as a remote file server that you can connect to from anywhere in the world to view your files. A long time ago, in the last 10 years of the 20th century, networks became popular and replaced old ideas of centralized computing systems. Early file servers could be as big as a refrigerator and had their own operating systems and ways of talking to each other, like Novell Netware.
IT managers eventually realized that they didn’t need computers the size of a VW van with a lot of parallel processors to serve files well. Linux-based operating systems made for these new, smaller machines worked well, and the modern NAS was born. Network-attached storage can make it much easier to organize files.
Ways to set up Network Attached Storage device
Prepare the hardware
This includes putting the appliance in the rack, installing the hard drives, and connecting the power and network connections.
Configure the storage architecture
Most of the time, this means setting up the disks so that they are part of a RAID group. But organizations usually set up NAS devices to be JBOD storage. Also, not every hard drive should always be part of a RAID setup. Hard disks are sometimes used for caching or as a hot spare.
Configure administrative accounts
If you left the default username and password on, it would be a big security risk. Change the usual password at the very least. The best thing to do is to give each person of the administrative staff their own account. Some products come with Active Directory authentication built in.
You must log into the appliance in order to set up the management accounts. Each seller has its own way of giving access to the administrative interface. Some vendors give customers access through a web browser, while others give customers a client tool that they can only use with that vendor.
Create volumes
How the business will use the device will determine how many volumes should be made. For example, if the appliance will be used as a file server, it might be best to make a single, large volume. If the company is going to use the NAS device to share files between departments, each department could have its own volume and be kept separate from the others.
Perform a diagnostic check
At the very least, this means making sure that the appliance has found all of its hard drives properly. Many manufacturers have built-in diagnostic tools that users can use to figure out how healthy the device is as a whole.
Configure network access
Unless you want to use dynamically given IP addresses, you must give the appliance an IP address and set up the DNS host record that goes with it. Most of the time, you also have to turn on the right access mode. Most high-end NAS devices handle multiple access protocols, such as SMB, AppleTalk, NFS, FTP, or iSCSI. It’s up to administrators to turn on the protocols they want to use.
Configure notifications
The rackmount NAS appliance should now be available, but there are still a few things to do, like setting up alerts. Most NAS appliances have a built-in way to let the administrator know if something is wrong with the device.
Such a system could, for example, let you know when things like fan problems, low disk space, or disk failures happen. Most of the time, turning on the notification option means setting up the appliance to talk to your mail server and then giving the email address or distribution list address where you want the alerts to be sent.