Mounting
Mounting is a process of specifying the remote host, file system or directory, and the local position of the directory for implementing an NFS share.
NFS Client and Server
When an NFS share is performed, a computer serves as an NFS client, an NFS server, or both at any specified time. In an NFS share environment, a computer that allows other computers to share its file systems is called an NFS server. A computer that shares other computers' file systems is called an NFS client.
NFS enables any computer to access not only the file systems on other computers but also its own file systems.
The client accesses a file on the server by mounting rather than copying the NFS shared file system to the local computer. With remote deployment tools invoked during mounting, accessing the NFS shared file system is transparent without application disruption.
Domain Management
A domain is a combination of computers. A domain controller is responsible for determining which computers can be added into a domain. Domain management implements central management of accounts, applications, and network configurations.
During domain management, a directory functions as a database containing descriptive, property-related information such as an email address of the system user. In addition to being an information management tool, a directory is a user-friendly tool. It helps users to quickly find the required information, facilitating information sharing and communication.
A clustered NAS storage system delivers a single logical view where users and programs are allowed to transparently access an extensive variety of network resources. Besides, the clustered NAS storage system supports multiple domain management modes, like LDAP and NIS. LDAP and NIS are open, mainstream industrial standards. They define the standards of accessing and updating information about the common directory.
LDAP
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an open standard based on the X.500 directory standard.
You can simply regard an LDAP directory as a database in a hierarchical structure instead of a relational structure. The directory service that provides organized sets of records in a hierarchical structure like a telephone directory can help centrally manage users and resources in distributed systems in a single logical view. This allows users and applications to access shared resources in a transparent way.
An LDAP directory stores data in files and adopts the read-optimized design, so it is not ideal for write-frequent applications. Also, it does not contain a multitude of functions as relational databases, which makes it ideally suited for data query services where the query-modification ratio is greater than 10:1. LDAP is especially valuable for the application where the information needs to be read from different locations but not be updated frequently.
LDAP Client and Server
An LDAP domain contains the LDAP server and LDAP clients.
An LDAP server functions to maintain the directory list that contains the information of the current storage resources, such as resource use and access permission of each user or usergroup, and translates a logical file name to a physical location of the file. According to the existing directory information, the LDAP server evolves an advanced directory service such as the search and query function based the resource property.
NIS
Network Information Service (NIS) is a directory service technology that enables users to centrally manage databases.
NIS provides the network information for all hosts in a LAN. When a user's user name and password are stored in the NIS password database, this user can log in to any computer running the NIS client program. Also, this user can centrally manage the complete network information of the LAN simply by maintaining the databases on the NIS server.
NIS Client and Server
An NIS domain contains the NIS server and NIS clients. The NIS server centrally maintains user account information in its database for the NIS clients to query it. A user will be authenticated by the NIS server prior to logging in to any NIS client.
