File services

What Are File Services?

File services is a solution where files can be stored, managed, tracked, and shared with users across the network. When users require an important file that is intended to be accessed by many users, such as a project plan, they can access the file remotely on the file server instead of having to pass the file between their separate computers.

Multiple users can simultaneously share multiple files of any size. File services solutions track document versions, ensure files are delivered securely, and prevent changes to or illegal copying of them.

Leading file services solutions offer much more than just basic file sharing. They help businesses consolidate data silos and securely manage unstructured content and application data, including digital libraries, archives, rich media, video surveillance, big data, and backup data sets.

Why Are File Services Important?

Traditionally, businesses would have silos of file servers and network-attached storage (NAS) infrastructures distributed throughout their organizations. These disparate systems would be located in each business office or location where employees needed to store and access files. But it was difficult for users to share files across these silos, leading to inefficiencies, inflated costs, and loss of business productivity—as well as increased security risks. By storing all enterprise files in a cloud-based global file system managed by a file services solution, businesses get universal and secure access to all their files.

What Is the Role of File Services?

In the past, businesses used email attachments and USB devices to transfer files. But the distributed nature of the new digital workplace coupled with the increasing size and type of files made these file-sharing methods impractical. File services solutions with appropriate file management and security software create global file system services that replace these outdated file-sharing methods.

What Is the Importance of File Services?

Among other benefits, file services:

• Enable anytime, anywhere access to global files through a cloud-based platform
• Improve security with robust data protection against unauthorized access, modifications, or copying of files
• Increase productivity by allowing multiple users to collaborate on the same file simultaneously
• Assure users up-to-date access to the latest version of files by imposing strict version controls over them

What Does a File-sharing Service Mean?

A secure file service means that multiple users can share the same files at the same time. Files can be of any size, and can be accessed at any time from anywhere in the world by authorized users.

Also known as cloud storage solutions, today’s file services platforms do so much more than just basic file sharing. Here are more things you can achieve with the help of leading online file-sharing solutions:

• Singular solution — One platform offering seamless file and object management from on-prem, to the edge, to the cloud
• Extend as needed — Depend on a software-defined solution which can scale limitlessly and cost-effectively
• Dramatically reduce TCO — Get variable-length deduplication, compression, and small file optimization among other industry-leading capacity efficiencies

What Are the Different Types of File Servers?

A file server is simply a server that gives you access to files. Traditionally, a file server would be located in a central storage place to be accessible by multiple applications. Without file servers, users would have to exchange files via email or USB devices.

There are two types of file servers: dedicated and non-dedicated. Dedicated servers are used only as file servers. Non-dedicated servers have multipurpose uses such as being database servers as well as file servers.

What Is an Example of a File Server?

Any computer can be configured to be used as a file server. For example, a simple file server could be a database server that also is configured to process requests for files and distribute those files via the network.

Another, more sophisticated example might be found in a larger enterprise. A file server might be a dedicated network file storage system that also serves as a remote drive for other computers, allowing network users to store and access files as if on their own drives.

Cohesity and File Services

Cohesity takes a different approach to file services, focusing on simplicity and on being data-centric rather than focusing on storage or being infrastructure-centric.

Cohesity SmartFiles modernizes and simplifies IT operations by providing one massively scalable platform for multiple data management workloads. It is a software-defined, unified file and object solution designed for the hybrid cloud that allows enterprises to securely and efficiently govern data at scale. SmartFiles delivers ongoing value from organizational data using Cohesity Marketplace apps to analyze data in-place on-premises. To maximize availability, Cohesity’s unique distributed file system provides resiliency and consistency while eliminating disruptive upgrades.

SmartFiles transcends traditional offerings in terms of manageability, scale, security, efficiency, and multitiered data management. A pay-as-you-grow model, it never requires disruptive upgrades.

Universally compatible — With its natively multiprotocol design, SmartFiles supports NFS, SMB, and Amazon S3, ensuring broad compatibility across users and applications whether on-prem or in the cloud.

No disruptive upgrades — SmartFiles’ unique distributed file system helps ensure resiliency and consistency while eliminating the need for periodic upgrades.

Scalable to support business growth — SmartFiles’ linear performance and capacity to scale allows you to grow at your own pace by incrementally adding additional nodes.