Many industry experts predict that fast-growing object storage will become the de-facto form of storage for HDDs in the coming years, largely because it sidesteps the limitations of RAID and offers excellent scaling features. Object storage manages each file as an object, as opposed to managing it as part of a complex hierarchy like a traditional filesystem.
The only hindrance to object storage adoption is its complexity. The early days of object storage are upon us, but that means that the current implementations aren't as solidified and mature in comparison to existing types of file storage. The resulting complexity discourages even large organizations from attempting to utilize this promising new form of storage, and the mid-market, such as SMB and enterprises, are even further from mass adoption.
Most of the public cloud is built upon an object storage foundation, so there is significant uptake. The large OEMs are also furiously purchasing start-ups, and several already have shipping products. However, it requires a fistful of dollars to purchase an OEM solution, and the OEM storage tax only adds to the tab.
Exablox's OneBlox 4312 wades onto the scene packing the goodness of object storage wrapped in the industry-standard SMB/NFS interface. The company abstracted away all of the complexity of object storage and attempted to create an easy-to-use and intuitive interface that requires little to no specialized knowledge. It also allows users to purchase and utilize their own HDDs, which can save a tremendous amount of money in comparison to OEM solutions.
Exablox designed the OneBlox 4312 to offer a full suite of enterprise-class features to the huddled mid-market masses, but does it make the cut? We employ the Load DynamiX Enterprise Series Performance Validation Appliance to find out in our Exablox OneBlox 4312 Enterprise NAS Review at Tom's IT Pro.
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Paul Alcorn is a Contributing Editor for Tom's IT Pro, covering Storage. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.
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