Task Force on Network Storage Architecture: Empowering the clients

John H. Hartman - Department of Computer Science, The University of Arizona,
Tucson AZ 85721

Network-attached storage is an idea whose time has come.  In the extreme,
a storage system using network-attached storage would contain only storage
devices and clients, eliminating the file server altogether.  The file
server's functions need to be handled elsewhere if the file server is
eliminated.  I propose that network file systems based on network-
attached storage push much of the work currently done by file servers
up to the clients, rather than down to the storage devices.  The
advantage of this client-centric approach is that the clients can employ
file system algorithms suited to their needs, rather than relying on those
provided by the storage devices.