Network Attached Storage (NAS)

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A network attached storage (NAS) appliance is a device dedicated to performing a file server role.

• uses a bespoke operating system
  • typically based on Linux
• usually operate via a web app
• accessed via an IP address or domain name
• copy or backup operations are performed at file level using an application protocol
  • e.g., SMB or FTP
• most NAS devices support some level of RAID
  • information is spread between disks so that if one fails, the logical volume and its data will remain available

Drawbacks

• Main drawbacks of NAS is that it shares bandwidth with other network applications
  • adding a NAS to an already overwhelmed network:
    • increases the network traffic
    • may result in unacceptable delays for users and applications to access data
  • but it network has adequate bandwidth, then NAS is a quick and easy way of adding shared storage