4 Must-Have Qualities of a File Server Replacement

Why your File Server is not serving you well.

It’s no surprise that data creation is rapidly growing, but did you know that we’ve actually created 90% of the world’s data in just the last two years alone? With that kind of growth rate, it’s no wonder that traditional file servers are having trouble handling these massive data sets. To compound the issue, as businesses create and share more data, it’s at greater risk of being stolen, ransomed or misused.

Attempting to solve the problem, many organizations are adopting cloud-based file sharing applications that were originally designed for consumers, not businesses. This approach may lead to nominal short-term productivity gains for some, but those gains are more than offset by security, administrative, and performance limitations.

Of course, the cloud, is an excellent option for a file server replacement, but before you take the leap, you’ll want to make sure the solution you choose features these 4 must-have qualities:

1. Easy administration

What you don’t need is a solution that seems to check all the boxes, but is complicated to manage. Choose a replacement technology that lets you manage all content through a single system - even if your users are across multiple locations. It should also further minimize your burden by letting you delegate specific administrative tasks to other users.

2. Optimized for performance

Every location has different connectivity and access requirements, and cloud-only solution is ideal for many of them. However, at sites that have heavy usage, work with large files, or have limited bandwidth a cloud-only solution can experience performance hits. Address this by selecting a solution that lets you cache large or frequently-accessed files to low-cost storage at specific locations

3. Consistent User Experience

Let’s face it, change can be disruptive to users, and cause headaches for you. Avoid those headaches by choosing a solution that feels like what their used to. For example, when accessing files at the desktop, make sure your users still have familiar capabilities like drive-letter access (i.e. H: drive). This is particularly important for organizations like finance that use sophisticated spreadsheets that contain direct links to other spreadsheets.

4. Robust Security and Compliance

As the threat landscape continues to evolve, your replacement technology has to deliver business-class security. This means capabilities like granular access permissions, built-in ransomware protection, and real-time alerts for suspicious activities are key.  And while the threats increase, so do regulations like GDPR and CCPA, which are intended to ensure that you keep people’s sensitive information. Consequently being able to actively scan for regulatory-specific risks, to prove compliance via reporting and auditing is essential.

Modernizing your infrastructure for tomorrow and beyond is not a decision that should be taken lightly. Research is imperative. To give you a head start, download our free e-Book, “Moving Your File Servers to the Cloud?”