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In telecommunication, the term file server has the following meanings: Files and directories on the remote computer are usually accessed using a particular protocol, such as SMB, CIFS, NFS (Network file system), Appletalk or their mutations.
Memory Requirements File servers have historically been instrumental in pushing up the demand for RAM. The Novell NetWare file server operating system, which dominated the market for file servers at the time of greatest growth in demand, read the entire FAT table into RAM on boot, enabling rapid access to files. Whilst this guaranteed maximum performance, it also required large quantities of memory. This in turn drove demand for UPS devices (also known as the "Uninterruptible Power Supply" devices) as it became more and more apparent that power outages could cause loss of data. This has become less of an issue in recent years with faster disk access times. However, these, too, have in part been driven by file serving requirements. File and Print Traditionally, file and print services have been combined on the same computers due to similar computing requirements for both functions. Usually, such computers are distinct from application and database servers, which have different, usually more processor-intensive, requirements. However, as computing power increases and file serving requirements remain relatively constant, it is more common to see these functions combined on the same machine. Security File servers generally offer some form of system security to limit access to files to specific users or groups. In large organisations, this is a task usually delegated to what is known as directory services such as Novell's NDS or Microsoft's Active Directory. These servers work within the hierarchical computing environment which treat users, directories, computers, applications and files as distinct but related entities on the network and grant access based on user or group credentials. In many cases, the directory service spans many file servers, potentially hundreds for large organisations. In the past, and in smaller organisations, authentication can take place directly to the server itself. | ||||||||
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