Archiving On-Premises NAS and File Storage to Vaultastic

Overview

Enterprise data stored on on-premises NAS devices and file servers often represents a large portion of an organization’s intellectual property. This data may include:

• Shared drives

• Departmental file servers

• Application exports

• Scanned documents

• Backup repositories

• Compliance evidence archives

Unlike cloud-native platforms, on-premises storage environments are often:

• Poorly indexed

• Inconsistently backed up

• Vulnerable to ransomware

• Lacking immutable retention controls

• Difficult to supervise for compliance

Archiving NAS and file server data into Vaultastic Open Store or Deep Store enables organizations to establish secure, centralized, and long-term archival storage.

Key outcomes include:

• Long-term cost-optimized retention

• Centralized indexing and governance

• Protection from ransomware and insider threats

• Audit-ready compliance posture

• Geographically durable object storage

Why Archive On-Prem Storage

Ransomware Protection

NAS systems are common ransomware targets. If encrypted, recovery depends entirely on the integrity of the backup.

Vaultastic archival provides:

• Object-based storage isolation (air-gap from production NAS)
• Immutable retention policies (WORM enforcement)
• Separation from production networks

This reduces blast radius and prevents unauthorized modification or deletion of archived data.

Compliance and Regulatory Retention

Many regulatory frameworks require:

• Long-term retention

• Non-rewritable and non-erasable storage

• Defensible audit trails

Traditional file shares do not natively support these controls.

Vaultastic archival tiers provide:

• Immutable storage with retention enforcement
• Audit logging for access and actions
• Search and retrieval for audit workflows

Storage Cost Optimization

Primary NAS storage is optimized for active workloads and is typically expensive.

Archiving infrequently accessed data:

• Reduces primary storage consumption

• Delays hardware refresh cycles

• Improves backup performance

Vaultastic provides two archival tiers:

Centralized Governance

Consolidating NAS archives into Vaultastic enables:

• Unified retention policies

• Centralized audit logging

• Cross-source search across email, chat, and files

• Simplified compliance supervision

Vaultastic Storage Targets

NAS data is typically archived into the following Vaultastic storage tiers.

Selection depends on:

• Expected access frequency

• Retention duration

• Recovery time requirements (RTO expectations)

• Storage cost considerations

Archival Methods

Vaultastic supports multiple methods for ingesting data from NAS and file servers.

AWS DataSync

AWS DataSync is recommended for large-scale migrations or continuous synchronization.

An on-prem DataSync agent connects to NAS systems via NFS or SMB and securely transfers data to Vaultastic’s S3-compatible endpoints.

Benefits include:

• High-speed parallel transfers

• Incremental synchronization

• Built-in data integrity verification

• Scheduling and bandwidth control

Vaultastic technical teams assist with configuration, endpoint validation, and performance tuning.

Best suited for:

• Multi-terabyte migrations
• Continuous synchronization use cases.

Data Upload via FTP

The Data Upload application can ingest data from FTP or SFTP locations.

Workflow:

1. NAS exports files to an FTP or SFTP server.

2. An Upload request retrieves the files.

3. Data is uploaded to Vaultastic Open or Deep Store.

Supports:

• Scheduled ingestion

• Controlled batch transfers

• Recurring archival workflows

Best suited for:

• Periodic archival jobs
• Medium-scale datasets

Upload via Vaultastic Applications

Vaultastic UI supports direct uploads into Open Store and Deep Store.

Use cases:

• Small datasets
• Legal hold collections
• Ad-hoc archival

Limitations:

• Manual process
• Not suitable for large datasets

Direct Upload Using S3 Tools

Vaultastic provides S3-compatible endpoints and credentials for Open and Deep Store.

Supported Tools:

• S3 Browser

• Command-line S3 clients

• Custom automation scripts

Process:

1. Configure the Vaultastic S3 endpoint.

2. Provide the access credentials.

3. Upload files directly into the target bucket/location.

Best suited for:

• Automation pipelines
• DevOps-driven ingestion

Selecting an Archival Method

Archiving NAS Data to Vaultastic

Follow these steps to archive NAS or file server data.

1. Classify Data

Identify datasets that should be archived based on:

• Retention requirements

• Access frequency

• Compliance obligations

• Data Sensitivity (governance completeness)

2. Select the Storage Tier

Choose the appropriate Vaultastic store:

• Open Store for searchable archival

• Deep Store for long-term cold storage

3. Select the Ingestion Method

Choose the archival method based on:

• Data volume

• Automation requirements

• Network bandwidth and latency

• Available infrastructure

4. Perform Initial Data Migration

Transfer existing NAS data into the selected Vaultastic storage tier using the chosen ingestion method.

Operational detail

• Perform test migration on a small dataset
• Validate permissions and file structure
• Measure throughput and duration

5. Configure Ongoing Synchronization

If required:

• Schedule incremental sync jobs
• Define frequency (hourly/daily/weekly)
• Ensure new and modified files are captured

6. Validate Archival Integrity

Verify that:

• Files are uploaded successfully

• Retention policies are applied

• Indexing and search functions operate correctly

Critical Completeness:

• Validate checksum/hash where supported
• Perform sample restore testing
• Confirm file metadata preservation

Benefits of NAS Archival in Vaultastic

Archiving NAS storage into Vaultastic provides:

• Ransomware-resilient protection

• Compliant long-term retention

• Reduced primary storage costs

• Centralized governance and auditing

• Unified search across communication and file data

Moving aging or compliance-sensitive data from NAS environments into Vaultastic Open or Deep Store creates a structured, secure, and defensible archival environment.

Security and Access Considerations

• Use least-privilege access for ingestion credentials
• Restrict S3/API access using IP allowlists where possible
• Ensure encryption in transit (HTTPS / TLS)
• Review data classification before archival
• Apply retention policies before ingestion (recommended)

Data Integrity and Validation

To ensure defensible archives:

• Use tools with checksum validation (e.g., DataSync)
• Maintain ingestion logs
• Perform periodic validation checks
• Document the chain of custody for compliance data

Monitoring and Operations

• Monitor ingestion jobs for failures or throttling
• Track storage growth and cost
• Set alerts for failed sync jobs
• Periodically review retention policy compliance

Limitations and Considerations

• Large initial migrations may require bandwidth planning
• Deep Store retrieval may have higher latency
• UI uploads are not suitable for bulk ingestion
• File-level permissions may not always map 1:1 in object storage