Applications for Network File Storage

Network file storage has two basic applications: centralized storage management and data sharing.

Centralized Storage Management

Network file systems provide centralized storage for large numbers of users and applications, significantly easing storage administration tasks. Instead of managing storage for hundreds or thousands of individual systems, administrators can concentrate on a much smaller number of servers.

Centralizing storage on servers also enables a systematic approach to fundamental storage management tasks like backup. In general, the end user community cannot be trusted to do this work, and workstation backup is impractical. Putting data on file servers provides the best opportunity to care for important and valuable corporate resources.

Data Sharing

Some applications and business processes are performed by multiple workers using the same data files. Data sharing with a network file system provides excellent support for this type of work. Data sharing also provides a way to distribute data to a large group of users. For example, sales and marketing materials can be placed in a network file system to ensure employees can get access to the latest news and competitive information.

Data sharing works by granting access to multiple users or applications to the same directories and files. The file service application is responsible for managing this access. Most of the time different users and applications access data files at different times, but sometimes access is made concurrently. When that happens, locking mechanisms in the file system resolve conflicts over which users and applications can perform reading and writing to files.

Some business processes involve multiple steps that occur in sequence. Network file systems provide an easy way for all users and applications to locate and use this data, regardless of the stage of the process. Engineering applications such as electronic design automation (EDA) and software development are both good examples of applications that involve a sequence of steps carried out by multiple users and applications.

Another application of data sharing is farm computing, where multiple systems perform the same or similar functions and need access to the same data. Internet server farms are an excellent example of a server farm environment. Compute-farms for solving large computations are also becoming popular for their efficiency and relative low cost. A network file system is a practical prerequisite for farm computing.