Section 3.9. Summary

   

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3.9 Summary

Network-attached storage ( NAS ) is an industry term applied to a class of storage devices that has storage disks, a network card interface, and a host CPU running a file server protocol. NAS devices are typically tuned for performance (thin operating system) and relatively easy to administer. The problem of storage administration is replaced by a better- understood problem: server administration.

NAS devices are typically accessed by clients . Note that client is a relative term here. A NAS device client may very well be a database server. Clients use either the CIFS/SMB protocol or the NFS protocol. Whereas Windows clients typically use the CIFS/SMB protocol, UNIX clients typically use the NFS protocol. Both Microsoft and SNIA have a CIFS specification that covers the protocol as implemented by Windows clients accessing Windows NT 4.0 servers. The SMB protocol enhancements for Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 may be licensed from Microsoft on a for-royalty basis.

NAS devices that serve both NFS and CIFS/SMB clients have some serious technical problems to solve for interoperability and preserving file metadata.

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