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Your Data Needs a Home
That Performs, Protects,
and Scales.

NAS and SAN storage solutions designed for your workload — shared file access, VM storage, database performance, and backup — with RAID, snapshot, and replication built in from day one.

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Layerix NAS/SAN storage array installation

What are NAS and SAN?

NAS (Network‑Attached Storage) provides file‑level storage over a network — shared drives, backup targets, and media libraries. SAN (Storage Area Network) provides block‑level storage over a dedicated fabric — direct, high‑performance storage for databases, VMs, and applications. Both are designed, deployed, and maintained by Layerix engineers.

Who is it for?

✓ VM storage (SAN / NAS)
✓ Database performance (SAN)
✓ Shared file access (NAS)
✓ Backup & archive (NAS)
✓ CCTV & surveillance storage (NAS)
✓ PACS & medical imaging (NAS/SAN)

The Problems NAS & SAN Solve

💾

Servers Filling Up Silently

Disk‑full events on production servers cause application crashes, database corruption, and service outages. Centralised storage with monitoring and alerting prevents this entirely.

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No Backup = No Recovery

Servers without backup are a single point of failure. NAS with snapshot and off‑site replication is the foundation of every data protection strategy.

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VM Storage Bottleneck

VMs sharing local disk on a hypervisor compete for IOPS — degrading every workload on the host. Dedicated SAN or NAS gives each VM its own performance lane.

Scope of Work

✓ Storage requirement & capacity analysis

✓ NAS / SAN platform selection & sizing

✓ RAID level design per volume

✓ Physical installation & rack mounting

✓ Network / FC fabric cabling & zoning

✓ Volume, LUN & share configuration

✓ Snapshot schedule configuration

✓ Replication to secondary site / device

✓ Backup policy setup

✓ VM storage integration (datastore mount)

✓ Monitoring & capacity alert setup

✓ Admin training & documentation

NAS vs SAN — When to Use Which

The right storage depends on your workload. We help you choose — and configure it correctly.

Use Case	NAS	SAN
Shared file access	✓ Ideal	✗ Not suited
VM datastore	✓ Capable	✓ Preferred
Database storage	✗ Not ideal	✓ Ideal
Backup & archive	✓ Ideal	✗ Overkill
CCTV / surveillance	✓ Ideal	✗ Not needed
High IOPS workload	△ Limited	✓ Ideal
Cost	Lower	Higher

RAID Level Explainer

RAID	Drives lost allowed	Best for
RAID 1	1	OS / boot drives
RAID 5	1	General NAS workloads
RAID 6	2	Large arrays, archive
RAID 10	1 per mirror	DB / high-IOPS

Layerix configures RAID per volume based on the workload — not a single default applied across everything.

Our Storage Deployment Process

Storage Audit & Capacity Planning

We analyse your current storage usage, growth rate, and performance requirements.

Platform Selection & RAID Design

NAS vs SAN, brand selection, and RAID layout per workload — documented before purchase.

Physical Install & Cabling

Rack mounting, power, network or Fibre Channel cabling — done in‑house.

Volume / LUN / Share Configuration

Create shares, LUNs, and volumes with appropriate permissions and performance tuning.

Backup & Snapshot Setup

Configure snapshot schedules, replication targets, and backup integration.

Integration & Handover

Mount datastores to hypervisors, test failover, deliver credentials and documentation.

Real Storage Deployments

Every photo is from an actual Layerix NAS/SAN project — 100% in‑house.

Technician installing NAS / SAN array into rack – Pune

Engineer connecting storage to network switch / HBA card – Bengaluru

Finished storage rack with labelled cabling and drives – Chennai

Client Success Story

HealthcareChennai

Challenge: 2 TB of PACS medical images stored on individual workstations – no central backup, slow retrieval, frequent disk failures.

Solution: 24‑bay Synology NAS with RAID 6, 10GbE networking, automated snapshot replication to a secondary unit off‑site.

Outcome: 99.9% retrieval time reduction, daily automated backups, zero data loss since deployment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is RAID and will it protect us from data loss?▼

RAID protects against drive failure by distributing data across multiple disks. But RAID is not a backup — it doesn’t protect against accidental deletion, corruption, or disaster. We always pair RAID with snapshot and off‑site backup.

How much storage capacity do we need?▼

We perform workload profiling: current usage × growth rate (typically 30‑40% per year) + buffer for snapshots and overhead. Most organisations underestimate by 2–3×.

Can NAS be used as a backup target for our servers?▼

Yes — NAS is the most common backup target. We configure dedicated shares for backup traffic, integrate with Veeam or native backup tools, and set retention policies.

What is a snapshot and is it the same as a backup?▼

A snapshot is a point‑in‑time copy of your data stored on the same array — fast recovery but not independent. A backup is a separate copy on different media. Snapshots are for quick rollbacks; backups are for true disaster recovery. You need both.

Can we expand storage capacity without replacing the array?▼

Yes. Most NAS/SAN systems support online expansion: add drives, replace drives with larger ones, or attach expansion shelves. We design with expansion headroom.

What is iSCSI and when do we use it instead of Fibre Channel?▼

iSCSI carries SCSI commands over standard Ethernet – lower cost, easier to manage, suitable for most workloads. Fibre Channel (FC) is dedicated hardware with guaranteed latency – used for high‑end databases and latency‑sensitive applications.

What brands of NAS / SAN do you deploy?▼

Synology, QNAP (entry NAS); NetApp, Dell EMC, HPE Nimble (enterprise SAN). We are vendor‑neutral and recommend the best fit for your budget and requirements.

How fast is NAS storage compared to a server's local disk?▼

With 10GbE or 25GbE networking, NAS can match or exceed local SAS SSDs. Bottlenecks are usually network or RAID configuration – we tune both.

Can NAS storage be accessed remotely over the internet?▼

Yes, but we strongly recommend VPN or SMB over QUIC – never expose NAS directly to the internet. We can configure secure remote access if required.

What is replication and do we need a second site for it?▼

Replication copies data asynchronously to another NAS/SAN at a different location. It provides disaster recovery without the complexity of traditional backup. A second site is ideal, but you can also replicate to a second unit in the same building for hardware redundancy.

How long does data recovery take from a snapshot vs a full backup?▼

Snapshots recover in minutes (instant mount). Full backup recovery depends on data size and network speed – hours to days. That’s why we configure both: snapshots for operational recovery, backups for disaster recovery.

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Your Data Needs a Home
That Performs, Protects,
and Scales.

What are NAS and SAN?

Who is it for?