What is NAS?

Network Attached Storage (NAS) comprises plug-and-play devices that connect directly to the user network.

NAS appliances are not tied to a server as are SAN appliances. Instead, the appliance, which includes a group of drives, a processor and an operating system, is linked to the network by an ethernet card and acts like a server itself.

Benefits of NAS:

¥ Devices connect to an existing system, so they are less expensive to install

¥ Allows central management of storage devices

¥ Devices are hot-pluggable, so solutions can be added to the network with no downtime

¥ Intelligence is on the device

¥ Permits drives to be replaced with no server downtime