File Serving
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File Server
A file server is a computer that does file sharing in an office network environment. Using a file server has many benefits.
Benefits of a file server
Backups
There are two major backup issues which are affected by storing the files on a file-server.
- Files on the server - When all the office files are on the server, backing them all up at one time is simplified. Instead of needing to have a backup system for every individual workstation, you can backup the file-server and have all the main data backed up. (Email and some per-user configuration information needs to be backed up other ways at times)
- Workstation Images - When there are no main user files on any workstations, then workstations are people independent. It is very easy to migrate computers around the office, have a user temporarily move for some reason, or rebuild an individual computer. Many IT people will have an extra computer lying around if someone has an issue. They can immediately replace the problematic computer with the spare, and work on the problematic computer as time permits.
Sharing of files
Files can be shared across users easily (with most file-servers). You may have a finance group that can access the finance directory, a HR group that can access the human_resources directory.
Security
Many forms of file-servers have built-in security models which provide good security for handling user and group access. This allows you much more flexibility with how files are handled. Some users can have read/write access to particular files, while others will only have read access. And some users will not get any access whatsoever.
Types of file servers
NAS
NAS stands for "Network Attached Storage," and is usually a simplified form of a file-server. Some NAS systems integrate into your security model without any issues, but some only offer a very basic level of permissions. The idea behind the NAS is that it gives the system administrator the ability to serve files without the need to maintain a complex operating system.