Network Attached Storage (NAS) © 2009 EMC Corporation

Section 2 : Storage Networking Technologies and Virtualization

Network-Attached Storage

Chapter 7

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The #1 Certification Program in the information storage and management industry

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Chapter Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: o Describe NAS, its benefits and components o Discuss different NAS implementations o Describe NAS file-sharing protocols o Discuss NAS management options

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. File Sharing Environment o File system is a structured way of storing and organizing data files o File Sharing o Storing and accessing data files over network o File system must be mounted in order to access files o Traditional client/server model, implemented with file-sharing protocols for remote file sharing o Example: FTP, CIFS (also known as SMB), NFS, DFS

Portable Media Networked PCs Stand Alone PC for File Sharing

Clients

Application Print Server Server NAS Device

Applications File System

Print Drivers Operating System

File System Network

Operating System

Network

Single Function NAS Device

• Dedicated for file-serving • Uses real-time OS dedicated for file- serving purpose

General Purpose Servers (Windows or UNIX) © 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Benefits of NAS o Support comprehensive access to information o Improves efficiency – uses special purpose OS o Improved flexibility – platform independent o Centralizes storage o Simplifies management o Scalability o High availability – provide redundant components o Provides security integration to environment (user authentication and authorization)

UNIX NFS Network Interface NAS Head NFS CIFS IP

NAS Device OS

Storage Interface CIFS

Windows

Storage Array

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. NAS File Sharing Protocols o Two common NAS file sharing protocols are: o NFS – Network File System protocol o Traditional UNIX environment file sharing protocol o CIFS – Common Internet File System protocol o Traditional Microsoft environment file sharing protocol, based upon the Server Message Block protocol

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Network File System (NFS) o Client/server application o Uses RPC mechanisms over TCP protocol o Mount points grant access to remote hierarchical file structures for local file system structures o Access to the mount can be controlled by permissions

Additional Task Research on NFS & CIFS

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. NAS File Sharing - CIFS o Common Internet File System o Developed by Microsoft in 1996 o An enhanced version of the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol o Stateful Protocol o Can automatically restore connections and reopen files that were open prior to interruption o Operates at the Application/Presentation layer of the OSI model o Most commonly used with Microsoft operating systems, but is platform- independent o CIFS runs over TCP/IP and uses DNS (Domain Naming Service) for name resolution

Application Storage Interface

3 Operating System Network Protocol Block I/O to storage device I/O Redirect NAS Operating System

NFS / CIFS NFS / CIFS Storage Array Client uses file I/O TCP/IP Stack TCP/IP Stack 1

Network Interface Network Interface

Client IP Network NAS Device

Integrated NAS

NAS Device

Gateway NAS

IP FC SAN

NAS Head

Storage Array

Clients

Application Server IP

Integrated NAS System

Application Server

Client

IP FC SAN

Client

Application Server

Storage Array

Client NAS Gateway

Steps to host a file system: o Create an array volume o Assign volume to NAS device o Create a file system on the volume o Mount the file system o Access the file system o Use NFS in UNIX environment o Execute mount/nfsmount command o Use CIFS in windows environment o Map the network drive as: \\Account1\Act_Rep

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. NAS Management o Most ship with vendor management software o Have unique management issues o Require preliminary analysis o Need additional complementary software

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Managing NAS Environments o Managing an Integrated System o Both NAS component and the storage array are managed via NAS management software o Managing a Gateway System o NAS component managed via NAS management software o Storage array managed via array management software

Business Clients Surfers, Shoppers

Web Database Transaction Mission Windows Critical UNIX File File Server Servers Server

FC SAN

Internal Users

Business Clients Surfers, Shoppers

LAN/WAN

Database NAS Transaction Head Mission Critical Servers

FC SAN

UNIX NT W2K

UNIX Windows

General purpose OS serving files via FTP, CIFS, NFS, HTTP. . .

NAS

UNIX Windows

General purpose OS serving files via FTP, CIFS, NFS, HTTP. . .

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Chapter Summary o Key topics covered in this chapter: o NAS Benefits o NAS Components o NAS File Sharing Protocols o CIFS and NFS o NAS Implementation o Integrated NAS o Gateway NAS o Hosting and Accessing File on NAS o NAS Management o NAS Examples Additional Task Research on factors affecting NAS Performance, Virtual LUN & Jumbo Frames

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.  Check your Knowledge o What is the difference between an Integrated and Gateway NAS solution? o Which NAS type would you deploy if you already have a SAN and storage array? o Which NAS type is the simplest to deploy? o Which file serving environments typically uses CIFS and NFS?