Netapp overview

Netapp storage appliances connect directly to a natwork and have integrated disks.Netapp storage appliances are designed for data storage,use a Data ONTAP operating system.

Netapp supports following protocoles:
1.NFS(Network file Service):
This protocol allows UNIX and PC NFS clients to mount file system to local mount points.
2.CIFS(Common internet file system)
This protocol support windows clients(95,98,2000,NT)
3.FCP(SCSI)
FCP or iSCSI enable a storage device to communicate with one or more hosts such as solaris or windows in a SAN environment.We can configure logical units of storage(LUN) for multi protocol access,for block access or both.
Data ONTAP supports SAN protocols like filer,NearStore,FCP for SCSI and iSCSI for TCP/IP.
4.iSCSI(TCP/IP)
5.DAFS(Direct access file system)
This is designed for local file-sharing environment.Its goals are low latency,high throughput and low overhead.
6.HTTP(Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
7.FTP(File transfer Protocol)

Network Appliance's Data ONTAP provides a arcitecure contains 3 main elements that works together.

• Realtime mechanism for process execution
• WAFL file system containing NVRAM and Snapshots
• RAID Manager