Book excerpt: IBM® Scale Out Network Attached Storage (SONAS) is a scale out network-attached storage offering that is designed to manage vast repositories of information in enterprise environments that require large capacities, high levels of performance, and high availability. SONAS provides a range of reliable, scalable storage solutions for various storage requirements. These capabilities are achieved by using network access protocols such as Network File System (NFS), Common Internet File System (CIFS), Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Secure Copy Protocol (SCP). Using built-in RAID technologies, all data is well-protected with options to add more protection through mirroring, replication, snapshots, and backup. These storage systems are also characterized by simple management interfaces that make installation, administration, and troubleshooting uncomplicated and straightforward. This IBM Redbooks® publication is the companion to IBM SONAS Best Practices, SG24-8051. It is intended for storage administrators who have ordered their SONAS solution and are ready to install, customize, and use it. It provides backup and availability scenarios information about configuration and troubleshooting. This book applies to IBM SONAS Version 1.5.5. It is useful for earlier releases of IBM SONAS as well.