DEA-1TT5 Storage Networking (SAN and NAS) 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What protocol does NAS primarily use to share files with Windows clients?
- NFS
- SMB/CIFS (Correct answer)
- iSCSI
- FCoE
Correct answer: SMB/CIFS
NAS systems use SMB (Server Message Block), also known as CIFS, to provide file sharing services to Windows clients on an IP network.
Question 2: What is the maximum speed of a 32Gb Fibre Channel link?
- 3.2 GB/s
- 6.4 GB/s
- 3.2 Gbps
- 32 Gbps with ~3.2 GB/s effective throughput (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 32 Gbps with ~3.2 GB/s effective throughput
A 32Gb Fibre Channel link provides 32 gigabits per second of raw bandwidth, translating to approximately 3.2 GB/s of effective data throughput after encoding overhead.
Question 3: What is a 'fabric' in Fibre Channel networking?
- The physical cabling used to connect FC devices
- The switching infrastructure that interconnects FC devices and provides intelligent routing (Correct answer)
- The HBA software driver on each server
- The zoning configuration file stored on the switch
Correct answer: The switching infrastructure that interconnects FC devices and provides intelligent routing
A Fibre Channel fabric is a network of FC switches that enables any-to-any connectivity between initiators (servers) and targets (storage), providing routing, zoning, and name services.
Question 4: What is 'FCoE' (Fibre Channel over Ethernet)?
- A protocol that uses fiber optic cables for Ethernet connections
- A protocol that encapsulates native Fibre Channel frames within Ethernet frames to converge storage and network traffic on the same links (Correct answer)
- A new generation of Ethernet designed only for storage arrays
- A management protocol for configuring SAN switches remotely
Correct answer: A protocol that encapsulates native Fibre Channel frames within Ethernet frames to converge storage and network traffic on the same links
FCoE encapsulates Fibre Channel frames inside Ethernet frames, enabling storage and LAN traffic to share the same 10GbE or 25GbE physical infrastructure while preserving FC semantics.
Question 5: In a NAS environment, what is an 'export' or 'share'?
- A physical disk exported from the NAS chassis for external use
- A network-accessible directory or file system made available to clients by the NAS server (Correct answer)
- The process of exporting configuration data to a management system
- A backup copy of NAS data sent to a remote site
Correct answer: A network-accessible directory or file system made available to clients by the NAS server
An NFS export or SMB share is a defined portion of the NAS file system that is made accessible to specified clients over the network with defined permissions.
Question 6: Which component in a Fibre Channel SAN provides name services, login, and routing for connected devices?
- The HBA driver
- The FC switch acting as a fabric switch with Fabric Login (FLOGI) services (Correct answer)
- The storage controller
- The multipath software
Correct answer: The FC switch acting as a fabric switch with Fabric Login (FLOGI) services
FC switches provide the Fabric Login (FLOGI) process, Name Server (NS) for device discovery, and routing services that allow initiators to locate and connect to storage targets across the fabric.
DEA-1TT5 Storage Networking (SAN and NAS) 1
What protocol does NAS primarily use to share files with Windows clients?