Home > Workload Solutions > High Performance Computing > White Papers > Enhance Availability of Storage Services with an NFS Storage System > Executive summary
HPC and AI systems often require a common shared file system for applications and tools, making file sharing one of the cornerstones. Storage solutions based on the Network File System (NFS) protocol are widely used for HPC clusters because NFS is a time‑tested standard package that comes with most of the Linux distributions, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
NFS provides a robust storage file system for primary storage in small to medium HPC clusters where simplicity, reliability and cost are the primary design factors. It can also be used for larger primary storage clusters with lower I/O needs. In systems with higher I/O requirements, NFS can be used as a secondary storage repository for home directories, application storage and longer‑term data storage.
This Dell Technologies Validated Design for HPC NFS Storage is a cost‑efficient and reliable storage solution with the right combination of features to enhance the HPC workload productivity. This design leverages the Red Hat Enterprise Linux High Availability Add‑On with a two‑node cluster to enhance availability of the storage services and help maintain data integrity.