File Server - For Sharing Your Documents

File server is a form of disk storage medium within the computer system that hosts files within a network. File servers requires high disk spaces so that large number of data may be stored in them. There is a concept that file servers are high end storage system, but in the real sense it does not need to run on high power system or super fast computers. File servers run through a certain software program that lets other computers in the network to access the file server disk. In fact a file server refers to a disk space in a computer, which can be mapped by the other network computers. The file server disk or the directory could be mounted on a user PC, making the directory appear to be available on the computer in use. Further, the user of the file server can read/write on that disk space in the same manner as he would on the disk available in his computer. The file system in the file server is located in a remote computer, which is are generally accessed by using a particular protocol, such as, WebDAV, SMB, CIFS, NFS, Appletalk or their mutations. Although computers in a network may be connected in such a way, that would facilitate sending and receiving files from each other, this does not generally fall into the category of a file server.

With the advent of Information Technology, and with prices of PCs falling, computers have found its place in large, small and medium enterprise (SMEs), deployed at different level of their operation. In SMEs, you will find that there is a computer for every employee, with individual departments using their PCs for different tasks, such as, technical drawing, drafting a memo, or writing an email. The PC has become an ideal tool for information creation. In such a setup, several data are interchanged, with information flowing from one department to the other. This is achieved via a file server, which is a huge disk space within a remote computer, which can be accessed by the computers in the network, via a protocol.

Today, with the fall in computer prices, a file server can now be easily accommodated in a 30 GB hard disk, which would now cost less than $200. These days, the computers that you purchase are all equipped with large storage spaces, which is more than the average use of the computer. Though, retrieving files and writing back is much faster in the local hard drive that you have, a file server is mainly used for sharing different data files within a network.

A file server is required for the simple reason that there are so much of data being created in the process of information generation, which is relevant to other departments as well, the individual PCs need to exchange data to keep up with the information flow. To do this a simple network is not enough. Imagine that in absence of a file server, people would need to send the same data over and over again to others as requests come in. Take this instance for example. A secretary sends out status reports every week to the other members of the staff. During the course of the week she gets requests from many to send that status report again, for they have forgotten where they had filed the reports in their hard disk, or deleted them accidentally.

A file server becomes an important feature in this respect. The large space that it provides, serves the purpose of a repository of all the user data that needs to be shared within the business operation, which may be accessed by the ones needing the information. The file server helps in information distribution, upside-down, where the recipients access the data from a centralised location, from a single storage area. The importance of a file server is the ability to share various information stored in the files, sharing them so as to provide a smooth flow of information through-out the enterprise.

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