Which device provides centralized file storage accessible over the network?

• A. Network Attached Storage
• B. Storage Area Network
• C. Direct Attached Storage
• D. Tape Library

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is centralized file storage that can be accessed over the network. A Network Attached Storage device is built to provide shared file access to many clients across the network. It runs its own dedicated file-serving software and offers shares or directories that users and applications can mount or map, often using common protocols like SMB/CIFS for Windows or NFS for Unix/Linux. This setup makes it easy to manage permissions, quotas, and backups from one central location, while any networked client can reach the stored files.

Storage Area Networks, while networked, deliver block-level storage to servers rather than shared files, meaning servers manage their own file systems on top of the presented blocks. Direct Attached Storage is stored directly inside a single computer and isn’t readily shared across the network by default. A Tape Library is primarily for backup and archival storage with typically sequential access, not general-purpose file sharing. So the device that provides centralized, network-accessible file storage is the Network Attached Storage.