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network-attached storage Last modified: Wednesday, January 02, 2002
A network-attached storage (NAS) device is a server that is dedicated to nothing more than file sharing. NAS does not provide any of the activities that a server in a server-centric system typically provides, such as e-mail, authentication or file management. NAS allows more hard disk storage space to be added to a network that already utilizes servers without shutting them down for maintenance and upgrades. With a NAS device, storage is not an integral part of the server. Instead, in this storage-centric design, the server still handles all of the processing of data but a NAS device delivers the data to the user. A NAS device does not need to be located within the server but can exist anywhere in a LAN and can be made up of multiple networked NAS devices.
Network Storage -- The Basics  This series of articles looks at the basics of network storage and some of the specific technologies in more detail. Network Storage in a New Light With the introduction of NAS about a year ago, we now have an easy and efficient way of simply adding network storage. Network Storage Solutions A white paper on NAS from Sun Microsystems. Network-Attached Storage in an Exchange Environment The recent hype about storage area networks seems to have also generated interest in NAS. Origin of NAS Planet IT looks at the birth of network-attached storage. The Truth About Servers What makes a server a server? Is there a difference between an e-mail server and a messaging server? Should a firewall be considered a server in certain circumstances? These questions and more are answered in an extensive tutorial that cuts through the marketing hype and explains the basics of key server types.	Related Categories Client/Server Computing Data Storage Ethernet Networks Servers Related Terms CAN client client/server architecture ColdFusion commerce server data mirroring DEC Excite failover load balancing local-area network network ping triangulation proxy server remote access server secure server server server farm server mirroring server-side SGI staging server Sun Microsystems virtual server