Tulsient eyes entry-level NAS market

Srikanth R P / Mumbai

ALThough the enterprise NAS market is dominated by Network Appliance, the entry-level NAS market is still a largely untapped segment. Mumbai-based Tulsient Information Systems, a storage solutions provider is creating a flutter in this space by offering an entry-level NAS device for less than $500 per box. Unlike most entry-level NAS boxes that are Windows-based, this one uses Linux.

Rahul Shah, director, Tulsient Information Systems said, “We are looking at positioning this entry-level NAS device for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that want to deploy services such as file sharing, online backup and offline data management.” Tulsient has spent eighteen months developing this product.

The NAS device starts with a capacity of 360 GB and scales up to 2.4 TB in the same enclosure. Tulsient says that this approach is suited to SMEs. Shah claims that this flexibility is useful as most players in the NAS segment have fixed configuration models giving rise to the phenomenon of forklift upgrades. The NAS device has an optional integrated Ethernet switch within the box that can be directly connected

to external storage devices. Tulsient has already done four beta installations of the product and it plans to promote it through a network of 15 channel partners. The company will offer a mid-range NAS device for $5000 that will be targeted at large enterprises.

The Indian storage market is booming. IDC estimates that this market will grow at a CAGR of 65 percent till 2007. The total external storage market in India was worth $87.15 million in 2003, of which the NAS segment accounted for $16.77 million.