Network-attached storage along with storage area networks (SANs) are increasingly important as enterprise storage solutions. SANs are optimized for high-volume block-oriented data transfers, while NAS provides storage services for applications that access data at the file level. Network-attached storage systems include centrally managed servers and an operating system that is optimized for fast file access and heterogeneous file sharing over an IP network.
NAS provides facilities for high availability, rapid recovery, data protection, ease of management, and data backup and recovery. NAS is typically implemented for messaging, development applications, business and regulatory compliance, and general file sharing. NAS is flexible and extensible, allowing for the addition of storage devices to a network, as needed.
A NAS system includes a network server, file servers, and software for configuring and mapping file locations to the network-attached devices. Each NAS device is attached to a local area network (typically, an Ethernet network) and assigned an IP address. The storage system may be a separate back-end system connected either logically or physically to the NAS system.
A NAS system discovers Control Station as a host through SNMP and gets information on file servers using HTTP adapter. A logical entity called NASChassis will PackageSystem host and fileservers.
