NAS: Network-Attached-Storage
Solution
Network-attached storage (NAS) is the most mature networked storage solution, and the only type of networked storage that allows data sharing by connected host systems. Originally deployed in data sharing environments, NAS solutions have become a preferred solution for enterprise applications and database environments where automated performance tuning and sophisticated data management capabilities can reduce costs, improve data availability, and simplify operations.
Benefits
NAS appliances deliver the lowest total cost of ownership of any storage approach, together with enterprise-level performance, scalability, and availability. Your choice of SATA, SCSI or Fibre Channel drives.
Problems Solved
Direct-attached storage works well in environments with an individual server or a limited number of servers, but the situation rapidly becomes unmanageable if there are dozens of servers or significant data growth. Storage for each server must be managed separately and cannot be shared. Performance and scalability are often limited, and storage resources cannot be efficiently allocated. The data management needs of today's enterprise IT environments are typically much better served by a networked storage approach.
NAS has considerable advantages over direct-attached storage, including improved scalability, reliability, availability, and performance. In addition NetApp NAS solutions provide true heterogeneous data sharing and deliver unparalleled ease of use, enabling IT organizations to automate and greatly simplify their data management operations.
Product Description
NAS was initially designed for data sharing in a LAN environment and incorporates file system capabilities into the storage device. In a NAS environment, servers are connected to a storage system by a standard Ethernet network and use standard file access protocols such as NFS and CIFS to make storage requests. Local file system calls from the clients are redirected to the NAS device, which provides shared file storage for all clients. If the clients are desktop systems, the NAS device provides "serverless" file serving. If the clients are server systems, the NAS device offloads the data management overhead from the servers.
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