DataFlow NAS provides scalable network-attached storage for file sharing, backup, AI data pipelines, analytics, and unstructured data workloads. Available in Value, Pro, and Elite tiers, DataFlow NAS combines flexible capacity, ZFS expertise, and engineering-driven support to accommodate changing workloads, data growth, and storage requirements.
Explore the key differences between DataFlow NAS Value, Pro, and Elite solutions.
Supported Features Comparison
Supported Features
Value
Pro
Elite
NFS, SMB, iSCSI
✔
✔
✔
RAID protection
✔
✔
✔
Redundant power supplies
✔
✔
✔
Redundant 10G NICs
✔
✔
✔
IPMI management
✔
✔
✔
Standard 3-year warranty
✔
✔
✔
Global hardware support
✔
✔
✔
Perpetual license
✔
✔
✔
Community supported software
✔
3 Year standard 9-5 (PST) software support
✔
3 Year 24/7 software support
✔
Redundant OS drives (SSD)
✔
✔
SAS Enterprise drives
✔
Expandability via JBOD
One
Multiple
Compression/Deduplication
✔
✔
✔
Thin provisioning
✔
✔
✔
Snapshots
✔
✔
Remote replication
✔
✔
Backup to cloud
✔
Encryption at rest (optional)
✔
WORM support
✔
Metadata offload
✔
✔
Read cache (L2ARC)
✔
✔
Write cache (ZIL/SLOG)
✔
Web management GUI (storage)
✔
✔
High Availability with active/active head nodes
✔
Why Buy from Thinkmate?
We make it simple. Thinkmate combines expert guidance,
custom configurations, and responsive support to help you choose and deploy
the right solution.
Expert IncludedSM
Expert guidance before purchase.
Custom Built
Configured for your workload/environment.
Tested & Validated
Built, tested, and validated in-house.
5-year Warranty
Comprehensive coverage + U.S. support.
Need more than storage? Thinkmate also provides workstations, servers,
networking, rack integration, and deployment services.
Typical NAS Use Cases
Use Case
Typical Workloads
Recommended Tier
File Sharing & Collaboration
Departmental NAS, shared folders
Value
Backup & Data Protection
Backup repositories, DR
Value / Pro
Media & Content Creation
Video, graphics, digital assets
Pro
Virtualization & VM Storage
VMware, Hyper-V
Pro
AI & Analytics
Data Pipelines AI datasets, analytics
Pro / Elite
Research & Scientific Data
HPC, simulation data
Elite
Archive & Retention
Long-term storage
Value / Pro
Enterprise Data Repositories
Large-scale unstructured data
Elite
Common Questions About NAS
The right NAS solution depends on factors such as capacity requirements,
performance expectations, data growth, workload type, and budget.
Thinkmate experts can help determine the appropriate balance of storage,
networking, and scalability for your environment.
Yes. Modern NAS platforms can support AI data pipelines, analytics,
and large unstructured datasets. Performance requirements vary by
workload, and Thinkmate can help determine the appropriate storage
architecture for AI, machine learning, and data-intensive applications.
NAS can provide shared storage for virtualization environments and
other software-defined infrastructure platforms, depending on
performance and availability requirements.
NAS provides file-based storage that is shared across a network,
making it ideal for file sharing, collaboration, backup, and
unstructured data. SAN storage provides block-level access and
is often used for high-performance databases and virtualization
environments.
ZFS provides advanced features such as data integrity protection,
snapshots, and efficient storage management, making it well suited
for modern NAS environments.
