Network storage
Edit Watch this page Read in another language Network-attached storage Not to be confused with Storage area network . A Netgear NAS Network-attached storage ( NAS ) is a file-level computer data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients. NAS is specialized for serving files either by its hardware, software, or configuration. It is often manufactured as a computer appliance – a purpose-built specialized computer. [nb 1] NAS systems are networked appliances which contain one or more storage drives , often arranged into logical, redundant storage containers or RAID . Network-attached storage removes the responsibility of file serving from other servers on the network. They typically provide access to files using network file sharing protocols such as NFS , SMB / CIFS , or AFP . From the mid-1990s, NAS devices began gaining popularit...