Chapter 5. NetWare 6 Storage Services (NSS)

This chapter covers the following testing objectives for Novell Course 3000: Upgrading to NetWare 6:

• Identify how NSS Works

• Configure NSS

• Manage NSS

The NetWare 6 server acts as a midpoint between two different directory trees: the eDirectory (above the server) and the file system (below the server). See Figure 5.1 for an illustration of this important relationship.

Figure 5.1. The two NetWare 6 directory trees.

As we discussed in Chapter 3, eDirectory is a highly scalable, high-performing, secure directory service that provides a database of network resources that is organized in a logical hierarchical tree structure and shared by all servers in the network. As shown in Figure 5.1, the directory tree above the NetWare 6 server organizes logical containers and physical resources into a network hierarchy.

The directory tree below the NetWare 6 server is the file system. It organizes network data files located on each server into a functional application hierarchy. As you can see in Figure 5.1, the typical NetWare file system organizes storage devices into one or more volumes, which are then divided into directories that contain subdirectories and/or files.

In addition to the traditional file system, NetWare 6 includes a powerful new high-performance file storage and access technology known as Novell Storage Services (NSS). NSS is the default storage and file system for NetWare 6. It is used to create, store, and maintain both traditional and NSS volumes, and is compatible with DOS, Macintosh, Unix, and long name spaces. As a network administrator, you need to be well versed in both traditional and NSS file-system management.

In this chapter, you will learn how to manage NetWare 6 NSS with the help of these three lessons:

• Understanding NSS NSS is a 64-bit file storage system that provides NetWare 6 networks with larger storage capacity, more efficient file management, and faster volume-mounting speeds. NSS architecture is much more complex than the traditional file system. It relies on the following five different hierarchical components: storage devices, storage deposits, partitions, storage pools, and volumes. In the first NSS lesson, we will explore this complex architecture and examine NSS features in five different categories: performance, reliability, security, storage, and management.

• Configuring NSS Although NSS is installed and configured, by default, during NetWare 6 installation, you may need to configure specific features after installation. NSS configuration is actually simpler than its architecture suggests. In the second NSS lesson, you will learn how to prepare the file system for NSS, how to create NSS volumes, how to create traditional NetWare volumes, and how to configure NSS software RAID.

• Managing NSS After you have configured NSS and created one or more NSS volumes, you can take advantage of the new NSS file system. Of course, this means that you will have to become an NSS management pro. In the third and final NSS lesson of this chapter, we will explore file-management tasks, volume-management tasks, and some time-proven techniques for NSS troubleshooting.

Now let's explore Novell's twenty-first century file system, starting with the basic architecture.