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noblemchikezie
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If you ask the experts when a server is not a server, they will tell you that a server is not a server when it is a storage server. If you ask ordinary people what this machine is, you will get many different answers. Some think of it as being a regular server which has a few extra features while others might describe it is as being a special machine that has been stripped down to enable it to perform specific functions. Others consider this term to be something related to a network attached system (NAS) box.
Basically, a typical storage server is configured to ensure that it is able to perform more than one function. It can be made to operate as file and print as well as application database and even as a Web or a miscellaneous server. It must, in most cases, also have chips that work extremely fast and it must also have higher RAM and plenty of internal hard disk capacity to handle the users every need.
A storage server is also a machine that has been designed for a special purpose and so is configured in a different way. Of course, it will, in most cases, also have more storage available which typically can mean having between 6 to 24 hard disks in the machine. At the same time, these machines are also individual units.
These machines can be built into 4U rackmounts and in some cases may be two boxes which are a storage unit and a server that are located close to each other. There are other aspects to this machine that help to make it unique. Mostly, these machines will have many specialized services including software to handle storage management and there may also be need to use additional hardware to make the machine more resilient.
There are many vendors that define a storage server as being a NAS appliance and will even go to the extent of defining it is as NAS filer. The truth of the fact is that one cannot say for certain that the storage server is indeed nothing more than a NAS appliance because there are several points of difference between the two.
To those who understand NAS, it is clear that NAS is not really about storage networking. In fact, NAS is a term that is being used to market certain systems and in fact is nothing more than a file server that has been adapted to serve one purpose which is to serve files.
Some of the major vendors have even introduced their own storage servers and these they take pains to explain are different to normal servers that run many of the current popular operating systems. Most dedicated storage servers are dedicated file as well as print servers that are based on the popular operating systems and then tailored to handle network based storage.
Most people can get confused between storage servers and disk arrays. It is hard for them to know where one ends and the other begins. Whereas the former type of servers can have at most 24 disks, the latter can hold hundreds of disks. This is one way to distinguish one from the other.
Basically, a typical storage server is configured to ensure that it is able to perform more than one function. It can be made to operate as file and print as well as application database and even as a Web or a miscellaneous server. It must, in most cases, also have chips that work extremely fast and it must also have higher RAM and plenty of internal hard disk capacity to handle the users every need.
A storage server is also a machine that has been designed for a special purpose and so is configured in a different way. Of course, it will, in most cases, also have more storage available which typically can mean having between 6 to 24 hard disks in the machine. At the same time, these machines are also individual units.
These machines can be built into 4U rackmounts and in some cases may be two boxes which are a storage unit and a server that are located close to each other. There are other aspects to this machine that help to make it unique. Mostly, these machines will have many specialized services including software to handle storage management and there may also be need to use additional hardware to make the machine more resilient.
There are many vendors that define a storage server as being a NAS appliance and will even go to the extent of defining it is as NAS filer. The truth of the fact is that one cannot say for certain that the storage server is indeed nothing more than a NAS appliance because there are several points of difference between the two.
To those who understand NAS, it is clear that NAS is not really about storage networking. In fact, NAS is a term that is being used to market certain systems and in fact is nothing more than a file server that has been adapted to serve one purpose which is to serve files.
Some of the major vendors have even introduced their own storage servers and these they take pains to explain are different to normal servers that run many of the current popular operating systems. Most dedicated storage servers are dedicated file as well as print servers that are based on the popular operating systems and then tailored to handle network based storage.
Most people can get confused between storage servers and disk arrays. It is hard for them to know where one ends and the other begins. Whereas the former type of servers can have at most 24 disks, the latter can hold hundreds of disks. This is one way to distinguish one from the other.
