Enabling Storage Access; Advanced Storage Technologies; Network-Accessible Storage - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 4 - INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION Administration Manual

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Restore the backup onto the new storage
•
Rename the
• engineering
engineering-archive
configuration for a month)
Make the necessary changes so that all engineering personnel can access their files on the new
•
storage
Of course, such an approach does have its shortcomings. For example, if people frequently move
between departments, you must have a way of being informed of such transfers, and you must modify
the directory structure appropriately. Otherwise, the structure no longer reflects reality, which makes
more work — not less — for you in the long run.

5.5.4. Enabling Storage Access

Once a mass storage device has been properly partitioned, and a file system written to it, the storage
is available for general use.
For some operating systems, this is true; as soon as the operating system detects the new mass storage
device, it can be formatted by the system administrator and may be accessed immediately with no
additional effort.
Other operating systems require an additional step. This step — often referred to as mounting —
directs the operating system as to how the storage may be accessed. Mounting storage normally is
done via a special utility program or command, and requires that the mass storage device (and possibly
the partition as well) be explicitly identified.

5.6. Advanced Storage Technologies

Although everything presented in this chapter so far has dealt only with single hard drives directly-
attached to a system, there are other, more advanced options that you can explore. The following
sections describe some of the more common approaches to expanding your mass storage options.

5.6.1. Network-Accessible Storage

Combining network and mass storage technologies can result in a great deal more flexibility for system
administrators. There are two benefits that are possible with this type of configuration:
Consolidation of storage
•
Simplified administration
•
Storage can be consolidated by deploying high-performance servers with high-speed network con-
nectivity and configured with large amounts of fast storage. Given an appropriate configuration, it is
possible to provide storage access at speeds comparable to locally-attached storage. Furthermore, the
shared nature of such a configuration often makes it possible to reduce costs, as the expenses associ-
ated with providing centralized, shared storage can be less than providing the equivalent storage for
each and every client. In addition, free space is consolidated, instead of being spread out (and not
widely usable) across many clients.
Centralized storage servers can also make many administrative tasks easier. For instance, monitoring
free space is much easier when the storage to be monitored exists on a centralized storage server.
Backups can be vastly simplified using a centralized storage server. Network-aware backups for mul-
tiple clients are possible, but require more work to configure and maintain.
directory on
(before deleting it entirely after running smoothly with the new
Chapter 5. Managing Storage
the original storage to something like