What is NAS?

A NAS (network-attached storage) system is a file-dedicated storage device attached to a network that allows data to be accessible from multiple authorized users and devices. NAS devices connect to the network via standard Ethernet and provide a single access point for storage, making data continuously available for employees to collaborate and work effectively, regardless of where they are located.

Compared to SAN environments, which can be complex and costly to set up and manage, requiring a switched network, NAS is relatively inexpensive and much easier to deploy.

With growing volumes of data and the need to simplify operations, NAS devices enable businesses to consolidate storage and to facilitate backup and archiving, and they also serve as a tier to the cloud. In addition to its attractive price-point and overall ease of use and deployment, NAS provides simplified data management and keeps data secure and accessible to authorized users in order to promote collaboration across teams.

NetApp^® NAS solutions simplify data management and help you keep pace with growth while optimizing costs. Our NAS solutions give you nondisruptive operations, proven efficiency, and seamless scalability within a unified architecture. Having built the NAS industry 27 years ago, we continue to innovate scale-out NAS for unstructured file-based data management at speed and scale across your hybrid multicloud.

NetApp ONTAP^® scale-out NAS leverages the massive ONTAP ecosystem, with a significant innovation lead and vision for aggressive future innovation. Every day, we’re future-proofing our customers’ investments by helping them to build their own unique data fabric, weaving on-premises AFF, FAS hybrid flash arrays, and software-defined ONTAP Select to AWS, Azure, Google, IBM, and more. Integrated replication, backup, tiering, and caching support ONTAP on any endpoint. We’re proud to be the leader in cloud-connected flash across the hybrid multicloud for scale-out NAS and across our entire portfolio.