What is AOS Distributed Storage?

AOS Distributed Storage is a scalable distributed storage system designed to manage data across multiple nodes in a Nutanix cluster. Its architecture provides highly available storage solutions by leveraging features such as NFS (Network File System) and SMB (Server Message Block) protocols for file storage, alongside iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface) for block storage. One of the key benefits of this approach is the elimination of single points of failure, ensuring that the system remains resilient and reliable even if some components go offline.

This distributed nature allows for increased scalability, as more nodes can be added to the cluster without disrupting the existing infrastructure or performance. The data is automatically balanced across the nodes, enhancing both performance and storage efficiency. Users can access their data seamlessly through various protocols, accommodating diverse workloads and application requirements.

The other choices, while related to storage concepts, do not comprehensively capture the essence of AOS Distributed Storage. A group of vDisks represents just one aspect of storage organization and does not reflect the system's capabilities in scalability and high availability. Similarly, while AOS can handle unstructured data, describing it merely as software-defined storage for that type of data lacks specificity about its distributed nature and the resilience offered by its architecture.