What Does File Virtualization Mean?
File virtualization is a storage virtualization technology that involves developing an abstraction layer between the file server and the users accessing these files. The result is that multiple storage devices are grouped together to form a single, logical file mount.
Techopedia Explains File Virtualization
File virtualization may often be implemented as an off-the-shelf solution. Because it works over all the resources connected to the network, tasks such as deduplication are made much easier.
File virtualization offers several important advantages, which include:
- a global namespace to index files on network file servers,
- the ability to overcome file system size limitations by allocating storage for files on various servers,
- providing storage management for network-attached (NAS) and storage area network (SAN) storage systems.
File virtualization solves many issues that IT administrators face on a day-to-day basis. The technology offers both performance and helps reduce unnecessary expenses.