NAS servers

NAS servers host file systems on the Unity storage system. NAS servers use virtual interfaces to enable host connectivity to SMB, NFS, and multiprotocol file systems, as well as VMware NFS datastores and VMware Virtual Volumes. Depending on what is enabled on the NAS server, SMB file systems and NFS file systems can be created either separately or in a multiprotocol configuration. File systems and virtual interfaces are isolated to a single NAS server, allowing for multitenancy over multiple NAS servers. NAS servers are hosted on a storage processor, and automatically fail over if the SP becomes faulted. Any associated file systems also fail over.

File systems

File systems are file-based storage resources that are hosted on NAS servers. They are accessed through shares, which can be provisioned for SMB or NFS access, providing access for Windows or UNIX hosts. Depending on what protocol is selected for your file system, only shares of that type can be provisioned. For example, if an SMB file system is created, SMB (not NFS) shares can be provisioned. To provision both SMB and NFS shares from a file system, use a multiprotocol file system.

File systems can be extended and shrunk in size, and allocated space is automatically taken and reclaimed based on file system usage patterns. Finally, file systems can be configured with quotas to better regulate file system space usage. Tree quotas and user quotas are supported on file systems, and can be used in combination.

Note: For more information about file systems, see EMC Unity: Unity File System - A Detailed Review.