NetApp FAS2050 (dual controllers)

NetApp FAS2050 (dual controllers)
Test Score: 4.2 out of 5

Editor's note: This is a summary of our testing of this product, for a full rundown of how it fared in our testing across iSCSI SAN Server categories; please see our full coverage.

The FAS2050 is a 4U appliance with room for 20 SAS drives (ours was filled with 15K RPM 144GB drives), dual independent hot-swappable controllers and dual hot-swappable power supplies. Expansion options include additional FC or SATA shelves, connected through Fibre Channel interfaces that are built-in to the two controllers.

As the second oldest storage server vendor in this test (HP, still using the StorageWorks brand it acquired with Digital Equipment days), it quickly became obvious that NetApp (the artist formerly known as Network Appliance) brings an enormous pile of innovative technology to the table, especially in the area of snapshots and multi-site replication. That technology, combined with outstanding performance numbers, helped NetApp to achieve the highest score in our testing. This makes NetApp a safe bet for any enterprise that wants leading technology and strong performance from a well-established vendor. If no network manager ever got fired for buying Cisco, no storage manager will ever get fired for buying NetApp.

At the same time, a storage manager will have to get hired if your company buys a NetApp SAN Server, because this product has the worst management interface of any of the devices we tested. A combination of an incomplete GUI, an overwhelming amount of NetApp-invented misleading terminology, and a ridiculous command-line interface architecture make this a product badly in need of a management overhaul. 

Despite NetApp's loud claims that management of its products is faster and easier, our testing shows that neither of those assertions ring true. Managing a FAS2050 is like sitting down to eat a fine piece of cheese and finding it void of any of the goodness you expected. Buy a NetApp FAS2050 and you'll get a great product, a fast product, but you're also committing to higher training costs and higher ongoing management expenses than other products we tested.

The heritage of the NetApp product line lies in network-attached storage (NAS), which helps explain some of the complexity of the product line. Because you can mix NAS and SAN functionality in the same chassis — and get a large set of features with each — NetApp is going to be especially attractive to enterprises that have a need for both NAS and SAN functionality but don't want to buy two boxes or manage products from two vendors.

NetApp has a product to love that is a nightmare to manage.