What is virtual file server ?

virtual file server

in computing a virtual file server is a system consisting of one of more virtualized devices that store computer files such as documents sound files photographs movies images or databases the server can be accessed by workstations or application servers through the virtual fully server network via fen the term server highlights the role of a virtual machine in the client-server scheme where the clients are the applications accessing the storage the file server usually does not run application programs on behalf of the clients it enables storage and retrieval of data where the computation is provided by the client with a storage area network Sen the servers act purely as virtual storage devices with a client maintaining the filesystem with network attached storage ms the servers manage the filesystem both San and Nas servers may be virtualized so the users do not 

virtual file server

have to know which physical devices is hosting the files a virtual file server typically combines the security of Virtual Private Networks VPN with file synchronization distribution and sharing services of network file servers various companies offer software for use by an organization in managing virtual file servers the operating system may be stripped-down concerned only with file management functions such as synchronizing redundant copies of the file failure recovery handling concurrent updates from different clients and enforcing client access rights some companies offer virtual file servers as a service to organizations that prefer to outsource server operations with the servers residing in the cloud .