Network Direct Attached Storage (NDAS) is a proprietary storage area network system, originally marketed by the company Ximeta, for connecting external digital storage devices such as hard-disks, flash memory and tape drives via the Ethernet family of computer networks. Unlike other more common forms of networked storage, NDAS does not use TCP/IP to communicate over the network. Instead a Lean Packet Exchange (LPX) protocol is used. [1] NDAS also supports some limited RAID functions such as aggregation and mirroring.
In 2001, Han-gyoo Kim of Korea and Zhe Khi Pak of Russia applied for a US patent on a "network-attached disk". [2] By 2002 the first NetDisk (up to 80 GB) was marketed as a low cost alternative to full computer based network storage options. The Ximeta company was founded in 2003. [3] In 2004 Kim applied for a patent to allow multiple clients write access to the shared block storage device. [4] By 2006, sizes up to 500 GB were supported. [5] In 2008 an NDAS device called "ShareDisk Gigabit" created by Co-World Cs in Germany briefly claimed the title of world's fastest network storage device. [6]
In 2011 IOCELL Networks announced ownership of the NDAS system and NetDisk patents. [7] The following year, IOCELL revived Linux client support for NDAS—which Ximeta had "temporarily suspended" in September 2009 [8]—by releasing the drivers under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) as the open-source "ndas4linux" project. [9]
A similar protocol is ATA over Ethernet.
Network Direct Attached Storage (NDAS) is a proprietary storage area network system, originally marketed by the company Ximeta, for connecting external digital storage devices such as hard-disks, flash memory and tape drives via the Ethernet family of computer networks. Unlike other more common forms of networked storage, NDAS does not use TCP/IP to communicate over the network. Instead a Lean Packet Exchange (LPX) protocol is used. [1] NDAS also supports some limited RAID functions such as aggregation and mirroring.
In 2001, Han-gyoo Kim of Korea and Zhe Khi Pak of Russia applied for a US patent on a "network-attached disk". [2] By 2002 the first NetDisk (up to 80 GB) was marketed as a low cost alternative to full computer based network storage options. The Ximeta company was founded in 2003. [3] In 2004 Kim applied for a patent to allow multiple clients write access to the shared block storage device. [4] By 2006, sizes up to 500 GB were supported. [5] In 2008 an NDAS device called "ShareDisk Gigabit" created by Co-World Cs in Germany briefly claimed the title of world's fastest network storage device. [6]
In 2011 IOCELL Networks announced ownership of the NDAS system and NetDisk patents. [7] The following year, IOCELL revived Linux client support for NDAS—which Ximeta had "temporarily suspended" in September 2009 [8]—by releasing the drivers under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) as the open-source "ndas4linux" project. [9]
A similar protocol is ATA over Ethernet.