what is nas

NAS is a device connected to the network with data storage function. It is a special dedicated data storage server. It is data-centric, completely separates the storage device from the server, centrally manages data, and releases data. Bandwidth, improved performance, lower total cost of ownership, and investment protection. NAS is directly connected to the disk storage array through the network. The magnetic array has the characteristics of high capacity, high performance, and high reliability.

The operating environment of this tutorial: Windows 7 system, Dell G3 computer.

NAS (Network Attached Storage) literally means a device that is connected to the network and has data storage capabilities, so it is also called "network storage". It is a dedicated data storage server. It is data-centric, completely separating storage devices from servers and centrally managing data, thereby releasing bandwidth, improving performance, reducing total cost of ownership, and protecting investments. The cost is much lower than using server storage, but the efficiency is much higher than the latter. Internationally renowned NAS companies include Netapp, EMC, OUO, etc.

NAS is defined as a special dedicated data storage server, including storage devices (such as disk arrays, CD/DVD drives, tape drives or removable storage media) and embedded system software that provides cross-platform file sharing capabilities. NAS usually occupies its own node on a LAN, allowing users to access data on the network without the intervention of application servers. In this configuration, NAS centrally manages and processes all data on the network, offloading the load from application or enterprise servers. Uploading and unloading can effectively reduce the total cost of ownership and protect user investment.

NAS itself can support multiple protocols (such as NFS, CIFS, FTP, HTTP, etc.) and can support various operating systems. Through any workstation, you can use IE or Netscape browser to intuitively and conveniently manage NAS devices.

NAS connects storage devices to existing networks to provide data and file services. A NAS server generally consists of storage hardware, an operating system, and a file system on top of it. NAS is directly connected to the disk storage array through the network. The magnetic array has the characteristics of high capacity, high performance, and high reliability. NAS connects storage devices through a standard network topology to access the Internet directly without a server. It does not rely on a general operating system. Instead, it uses a simplified operating system designed for users and specially used for data storage. It has built-in software required for network connection. protocol, making the management and setup of the entire system simpler.

Advantages of NAS data storage:

• NAS is suitable for users who need to transfer file data to multiple client computers through the network. NAS devices work well in environments where data must be transferred over long distances.

• NAS devices are very easy to deploy. NAS hosts, clients and other devices can be widely distributed throughout the enterprise's network environment. NAS can provide reliable file-level data consolidation because file locking is handled by the device itself.

• NAS is used for efficient file sharing tasks. Different hosts and clients access data on the NAS through file sharing protocols to implement file sharing functions, such as NFS and CIFS in Windows NT, where network-based file-level locking provides advanced concurrent access protection.

Limitations of NAS data storage:

• NAS devices and clients are connected through the corporate network, so data backup Or the storage process will occupy network bandwidth. This will inevitably affect other network applications on the enterprise's internal network; shared network bandwidth becomes the main issue limiting NAS performance. Therefore, the data transmission rate of the NAS system is not high, and Gigabit Ethernet can only reach 30~50MB/s.

• The scalability of NAS is limited by the size of the device. It is very easy to add another NAS device, but it is not easy to seamlessly merge the storage space of two NAS devices because NAS devices usually have unique network identifiers and limited storage space expansion. It can only provide file storage space and cannot fully meet the requirements of database applications.

• NAS access requires file system format conversion, so it is accessed at the file level. It is not suitable for block-level applications, especially database systems that require the use of raw devices.

• The initial installation and equipment costs are higher.

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