Jerry Huang

Since we launched Gladinet Cloud Gateway beta last October (2009), thousands of users have downloaded and registered for the beta license while more than ten thousands downloaded the Gladinet Cloud Desktop.

Based on user feedback, we have since released the CloudAFS as a sequel to the Cloud Gateway, with CIFS/NFS support, with Active Directory integration and with Cloud Backup functionalities to a file server. The functionality has exceeded what a cloud storage gateway is so the product name thus becomes CloudAFS – Cloud Attached File Server.
However, Cloud Gateway is still an important part of the CloudAFS.

This tutorial covers how to configure CloudAFS as a Cloud Gateway for the Gladinet Cloud Desktop clients.



We will use AT&T Synaptic Storage and EMC Atmos Online as examples.

After you have downloaded and installed CloudAFS, you can open Management Console, which is the center UI for all the CloudAFS related management work.

Step 1 – Mount the Virtual Directories in CloudAFS



On the Cloud (Tier 2) Storage section, click on the Virtual Directories. On the right hand panel, click the Mount Virtual Directory button. You can then mount AT&T Synaptic Storage as virtual directory.

After you have mounted the AT&T Synaptic Storage as a virtual folder, you can pick any folder inside your AT&T account and publish that folder. For example, we publish it as MyATT_Folder below.

After the folder is published, you can see by default Cloud Desktop instances have access to it. You can also add Windows users to it if you want to enable the CIFS/NFS access functionalities.

The same steps can be used for EMC Atmos Online Accounts. Reference the instruction here to map EMC Atmos Online as virtual folders.



Once you are done mounting the AT&T Synaptic Storage and EMC Atmos Online Storage, you can see your published shares from the File Server Manager section on the left hand panel. For one virtual directory, you can publish multiple shares for different folders within as you like.



Step 2 – Connect to the CloudAFS from Cloud Desktop
(This UI is from the user’s desktop, not from CloudAFS)



The folders will show up on the root folder of the mapped drive.



This way, you configure the cloud storage of AT&T  Synaptic Storage and EMC Atmos Online on the CloudAFS side. You will then use it as a Cloud Gateway for Gladinet Cloud Desktop client or for CIFS/NFS clients. The users can access the AT&T Synaptic Storage or EMC Atmos Storage at local LAN speed to the CloudAFS. The CloudAFS then will act as a gateway to the destination storage.

The combination of the Cloud Desktop and CloudAFS provides institutions a complete set of Cloud Access solutions.

For more information, visit http://www.gladinet.com/p/moreaboutcloudafs.htm

Related Stories

• Cloud Storage for Your File Server