OCI: Getting Started with SoftNAS
Getting Started with SoftNAS® on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
Introduction
SoftNAS® is a virtual cloud storage appliance designed to deliver high-performance, enterprise-grade network-attached storage (NAS) on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). It enables organizations to run business-critical workloads such as databases, web servers, Windows file shares, and enterprise applications with secure, scalable, and highly available storage.
This guide walks you through deploying SoftNAS on OCI for the first time, exploring its core capabilities, and planning for production requirements.
The Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Compute environment is a robust, enterprise-grade virtualization and computing platform with a wide range of options and capabilities. For our purposes here, we will focus on installing SoftNAS® and configuring it for basic use. Additional options exist for tuning performance and throughput for databases, analytics, and other demanding applications, which we will touch on briefly.
In an OCI cloud environment, SoftNAS® provides the network storage backbone needed for business-critical applications.
SoftNAS® for OCI leverages OCI Block Volumes as its underlying storage. Multiple Block Volumes can be aggregated into RAID-like configurations using SoftNAS’s ZFS-based storage pools. This increases performance and throughput while providing the ability to recover from underlying disk failures. As a result, SoftNAS® delivers one of the most durable and highest-performing NAS solutions available in OCI.
Note: SoftNAS is the first high-performance NAS solution available in the OCI Marketplace, giving customers a proven enterprise storage option natively integrated with OCI.
Creating a SoftNAS® on OCI
As a first-time user, your primary goals are to:
Deploy a functional SoftNAS instance
Explore key features and capabilities
Use the results of your proof-of-concept (POC) deployment to inform production requirements
SoftNAS® for OCI Compute provides flexible, full-featured NAS capabilities for workloads such as:
Web servers and SaaS applications
SQL and NoSQL databases
Windows File Shares (SMB/CIFS)
Exchange or collaboration servers
Remote desktop and Citrix workloads
Broader Use Cases for SoftNAS on OCI
In addition to general-purpose file and block storage, SoftNAS on OCI is widely used in specialized scenarios:
Windows File Shares on OCI
One of the most common workloads for SoftNAS on OCI is supporting Windows File Shares. While OCI’s native File Storage service provides NFS support, it does not yet offer the same level of SMB/CIFS functionality needed for many Windows-based environments. SoftNAS enables organizations to deploy secure, performant Windows file shares directly in OCI, making it possible to:
Support Active Directory-integrated SMB shares
Provide file storage for Windows desktop and server environments
Enable cross-platform file sharing between Windows, Linux, and macOS clients
Deliver enterprise-grade data protection (snapshots, replication, and HA) for Windows workloads
This makes SoftNAS a powerful solution for customers who need seamless Windows file sharing capabilities in the cloud, without compromise.
Kubernetes & Media Transcoding
When paired with Oracle Kubernetes Engine (OKE), SoftNAS optimizes video and media pipelines with caching, deduplication, and compression — accelerating transcoding up to 3× faster.
High-Performance Computing (HPC) & Analytics
SoftNAS delivers high IOPS and throughput for scientific simulations, financial modeling, and large-scale analytics on E5 Flex shapes.
Large Databases & Real-Time Analytics
Provides fast and reliable block storage with snapshots and replication support, ensuring consistency and performance for mission-critical database operations.
Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity
Use SnapReplicate® and SnapHA® to replicate across Availability Domains or regions, maintaining uptime and resilience during outages.
Media & Entertainment Workflows
Supports editing, archiving, and streaming large multimedia datasets with secure, scalable storage and high-throughput file operations.
Hybrid & Multi-Cloud Storage
SoftNAS provides a consistent storage layer across on-premises, AWS, Azure, and OCI using common protocols (NFS, SMB, iSCSI).
Industry-Specific Solutions
Retail: Manage sales, inventory, and POS data with reliable access
Financial Services: Deliver compliant, secure storage for regulated workloads
Healthcare & Life Sciences: Support compliance-driven environments (e.g., HIPAA) while storing and accessing large research datasets
Core Features in OCI
SoftNAS is built on ZFS, which provides enterprise-grade capabilities unmatched by traditional file systems. On OCI, these features translate into:
Reserved Public IPs – Seamless connectivity and failover across Availability Domains or Fault Domains.
Block Volumes & Volume Groups – Organize OCI Block Volumes into ZFS-based pools for scalable performance and capacity.
Snapshots & Backup – Create efficient, space-friendly snapshots for point-in-time recovery, and leverage replication for business continuity.
End-to-End Data Integrity – ZFS checksums every block to detect and correct silent corruption automatically.
Transactional Copy-on-Write Architecture – Data is never overwritten in place; ZFS ensures consistency even in the event of crashes or power loss.
Self-Healing & Scrubbing – ZFS scrubs data to verify integrity and automatically repairs corrupted blocks using redundant data.
Writable Clones – Instantly create writable clones from snapshots to accelerate testing and development workflows.
Advanced RAID-Z Protection – Use parity-based redundancy (RAID-Z1, Z2, or Z3) for resilience without hardware RAID risks.
Caching Layers for High Performance – ZFS employs ARC (memory cache), L2ARC (fast SSD cache), and ZIL/SLOG (intent log) to boost read/write performance.
Multi-Protocol Access – Expose storage via NFS, CIFS/SMB (Windows File Shares), or iSCSI.
Product and Licensing Options
SoftNAS® on OCI is available in two models:
Product | About | Purchase | License |
|---|---|---|---|
SoftNAS® | Solves many problems, including: bulk data transfers, Lift & Shift of applications and data to the cloud, lowering cloud storage costs, and enabling digital transformation. | Subscribe via OCI Marketplace. | Embedded in subscription. |
SoftNAS® BYOL | Provides a bring-your-own-license option for enterprise flexibility. | Contact Buurst for license purchase. | Requires BYOL license key. |
Availability
SoftNAS is available in all OCI commercial and government regions.
Deployment Experience
A basic deployment typically takes 15–30 minutes:
Launch SoftNAS from the OCI Marketplace or BYOL image.
Deploy into your VCN (private or public subnet).
Access the SoftNAS StorageCenter UI.
Attach Block Volumes, create pools, and configure shares (NFS, SMB, or iSCSI).
The wizards in StorageCenter simplify setup. Advanced configuration (e.g., tuning for HPC workloads, Windows file shares, or hybrid-cloud integrations) may require additional planning.
Planning Your Instance
When planning your deployment, consider:
Instance Shape – SoftNAS is supported only on E5 Flex shapes. Choose OCPUs and memory sizing based on workload requirements (e.g., higher RAM for large-scale storage, higher CPU for compression/encryption).
Storage – Use OCI Block Volumes for performance-sensitive workloads.
Network Throughput – Ensure sufficient bandwidth, especially for workloads like transcoding, analytics, or Windows file shares.
Security – Data is encrypted at rest by default. Control access with OCI IAM, Security Lists, and SoftNAS access controls.
High Availability – For business-critical workloads, plan for HA using SnapHA®.
Next Steps
Once you’ve deployed and configured your SoftNAS instance on OCI, you can begin attaching storage, creating pools, and provisioning shares.