Windows Server IoT Network Storage: Overview and Benefits

The Buffalo WS5020 network-attached storage (NAS) is a reliable, multi-purpose NAS that is perfect for smaller usage environments, especially SMB with limited budgets. The TeraStation combines the feature-laden Windows Server operating system and reliable hardware to deliver a versatile storage solution that can fulfill multiple roles with a single cost-effective device, and offers MSPs a means to offer more value to their customers.

Full Windows Server Features

The WS5020 runs native Windows Server IoT 2019 for Storage Standard Edition, which is a binary equivalent to the Windows Server 2019 operating system but has been designed to be run on NAS hardware. Windows Server IoT 2019 provides the full capabilities of Windows Server 2019, and offers a host of tried-and-true data management, archiving, and security features in order to make file storage and backup effortless.

Windows Server IoT features more efficient Active Directory integration than other operating systems. If you need to manage over hundreds of users with your NAS, a device running Windows Server IoT offers smoother and quicker response. Windows Server IoT also integrates with any Windows-compatible software or service, including cloud services. You can easily set up any existing cloud services you already use, such as Amazon S3, Dropbox, or Azure and OneDrive, for bi-directional data backup. For additional backup options, Hyper-V allows for virtual machine (VM) creation, backup, and recovery, allowing for more streamlined, low-cost quick data recovery. By utilizing the NAS device as a VM archive, you can create entire VMs on any hardware that supports them, enabling an effortless data recovery solution should a disaster occur.

Other native Windows features include Data Deduplication that optimizes redundancies, reducing reduces the amount of space needed, and Shadow Copy, which creates a means to quickly recover data should it becomes compromised by cyberthreats such as ransomware.

Low-Cost Deployment

The Windows Server TeraStation offers versatility and cost savings as a NAS device. The Windows Server operating system allows the NAS to be effortlessly integrated into an existing Windows environment. Whether you are replacing an aging NAS or installing a new on-site storage or backup server, you can easily implement the Windows Server IoT NAS without extra cost or hassle.L

With the Windows Server TeraStation, you can integrate any Windows product, service, or platform you are already using. In addition, the WS IoT TeraStation does not require any Client Access Licenses (CALs). Typically, each connection to a Windows Server device requires a CAL, as the OEM is required to purchase either User CALs (for every user accessing the server) or Device CALs (for every device accessing the server). If you have a large number of users or client devices, this can add up quickly. Since the Windows Server IoT 2019 NAS does not require any CALs, you can have any number of users access the NAS without needing to pay additional costs.

Multi-Purpose NAS for Cost-Effective Versatility

The Window Server TeraStation is designed to provide small-scale business environments with a dynamic and cost-effective data storage and backup solution, but can also double as a standalone business and disaster recovery (BDR) appliance, a low-scale surveillance server, etc. By leveraging the operating system, you can optimize file storage and backup, enable a streamlined file server for an office, or create a scalable storage solution with the flexibility to be expanded as you see fit, all the while saving you hardware overhead and associated IT staff costs.

Buffalo’s Windows Server TeraStation are the perfect storage and backup solutions for SMB. Buffalo prides itself in providing data storage solutions that offer the security, stability, and simplicity you need so you can manage your data with peace of mind. Responsible for many industry firsts and technology standards, Buffalo has four decades of networking and computer peripheral manufacturing and design experience.