Monday, August 29, 2011

What Is Network Attached Storage?

Network attached storage (NAS) is a means of storing large computer data while being attached to a network of different computers. Network Attached Storage has increasingly been becoming more popular in recent years with its convenient and effective way of centralizing stored data and sharing computer data between a myriad of computers.
Years ago, floppy drives were more commonly used for mobile data storage. However, as the world progresses more into the digital age, even an average person's requirements for electronic data storage can no longer be contained in a floppy disk. Not even several floppy disks. The advent of both personal and work files, copies of pictures, MP3s, downloaded movies had definitely pushed floppy drives into irrelevancy due to their small storage capacities. And this is just for your average Joe on the street. So imagine the data storage requirements of medium-sized companies employing several computers across how many floors.
Need had always been the mother of all inventions, and as such NAS was developed and crept its way to our doors. NAS offered an alternative to the traditional file server approach by providing an effective system which is especially made for storing large amounts of data. Furthermore, NAS is sometimes referred to as a computer appliance - a computer specifically set up from the bottom up for storing files. NAS usually does not have a keyboard or uses a display. It is controlled over the network, normally by using a browser. NAS systems can contain one or more hard disks that are logically arranged. It can also contain redundant storage containers called RAID arrays. Computers in the network access data stored in NAS over an Ethernet connection. The IP address of the head device appears as a single node in the network. NAS systems aims for smooth, dependable operation and usually includes safety features such as disk space quotas, automated email alerts if there are errors detected, sometimes it may also contain secure authentication. NAS can store almost any types of data that are in the form of files. Files such as web content, email boxes and remote system backups. In a way, NAS pretty much provides the same services as that of traditional file servers.
NAS is not only useful for industrial uses in the office. In recent years, as the prices of NAS went down, NAS for home use had also been increasingly popular. As previously mentioned above, data storage requirements of a person has drastically increased in recent years. In addition, a typical household now contains more than one compute. These days, homes usually have a 1:1 ratio computer/laptop ownership. This allows NAS another avenue for its services. In any case, NAS is not just for standard centralized storage. Via its huge storage-providing services, NAS can also pave the way to enable much lower cost systems. This can include, but is not limited to, fault tolerant email and web-server emails. The best NAS in the market also well-suited for home-use is usually built upon PowerPC, ARM, or MIPS processors that usually run under an embedded Linux operating system.

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