If you want to share files between cloud desktops in a workspace, you can create an Apsara File Storage NAS (NAS) file system in the workspace. The NAS file system is automatically mounted to the cloud desktops to facilitate file sharing. You can also encrypt the NAS file system to ensure the security of desktop data. This topic describes how to create and delete a NAS file system.

Prerequisites

NAS is activated in the NAS console.

Overview

Elastic Desktop Service (EDS) provides the shared storage feature by using NAS. You can create a NAS file system for each workspace to share files between cloud desktops in the workspace. When you create a NAS file system, a general-purpose NAS file system is automatically created and a default mount target is generated. For more information, see General-purpose NAS file systems.
Note If you want to create multiple NAS file systems in a workspace, submit a ticket.

You are charged for the NAS file system hourly based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. Bills are generated based on the maximum storage usage per hour after a billing cycle ends. You can also purchase storage plans to offset the storage fees of the NAS file system. Storage plans help save costs. For more information, see Billing of General-purpose NAS file systems.

Limits

  • Only standard workspaces support NAS file systems.
  • You can enable the data encryption feature only when you create a NAS file system. After you enable the data encryption feature for a NAS file system, you cannot disable the feature.

Create a NAS file system

The following section describes how to create a NAS file system.

  1. Log on to the EDS console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Storage > Apsara File Storage NAS.
  3. In the upper-left corner of the top navigation bar, select a region.
  4. On the Apsara File Storage NAS page, click Create shared storage NAS.
  5. In the Create shared storage NAS panel, configure parameters. The following table describes the parameters.
    ParameterDescription
    Shared Storage NAS nameEnter a name for the NAS file system based on your business requirements.
    Note The name must be 2 to 128 characters in length. The name can contain letters, digits, underscores (_), and hyphens (-). The name must start with a letter but cannot start with http:// or https://.
    WorkspaceSelect the workspace of the cloud desktop to which you want to mount the NAS file system.
    Note You cannot create a NAS file system for basic workspaces. If your cloud desktop is created in a basic workspace and you want to mount a NAS file system to the cloud desktop, you must migrate the cloud desktop to a standard workspace and create a NAS file system in the standard workspace. For information, see Migrate a cloud desktop across workspaces.
    DescriptionEnter a description for the NAS file system.
    Note The description must be 2 to 128 characters in length. The description can contain letters, digits, underscores (_), and hyphens (-). The description must start with a letter but cannot start with http:// or https://.
    Encryption TypeSelect None or NAS-managed Key.
    Note
    • None: The encryption feature is disabled.
    • NAS-managed Key: The encryption feature is enabled. Each NAS file system is encrypted by using a NAS-managed key.
    Storage TypeSelect Capacity or Performance. The capacity of a Capacity NAS file system is 10 PiB, and the capacity of a Performance NAS file system is 1 PiB.
    Note The NAS file systems of both storage types are general-purpose NAS file systems that have different performance metrics. For more information, see General-purpose NAS file systems.
  6. Confirm the information and click OK.

    When the status of the NAS file system on the Apsara File Storage NAS page changes to Started, the NAS file system is created.

    A default mount target is generated for the NAS file system. You can click Management in the Actions column to go to the NAS console and view the details of the NAS file system.

Delete a NAS file system

You can delete NAS file systems that you no longer require.

Warning Before you delete a NAS file system, make sure that you have backed up the data that you want to retain. If a NAS file system is deleted, data in the NAS file system cannot be restored. Proceed with caution when you delete NAS file systems.
  1. On the Apsara File Storage NAS page, use one of the following methods to delete NAS file systems:
    • Find the NAS file system that you want to delete and click Delete in the Actions column.
    • Select one or more NAS file systems that you want to delete and click Delete in the lower part of the page.
  2. In the message that appears, click Confirm.

What to do next

Check whether a NAS file system can be accessed

After you create a NAS file system for a workspace, the cloud desktops in the workspace can share the NAS file system. When you create, start, restart, or recreate a cloud desktop in the workspace, the system mounts the NAS file system to the cloud desktop. You can log on to the cloud desktop and use one of the following methods to check whether the NAS file system can be accessed as expected:

  • By default, the NAS file system is mounted to drive Z for Windows cloud desktops. If a conflict occurs in drive Z, or if multiple NAS file systems are mounted to drive Z, the NAS file system is mounted to the next drive in reverse alphabetic order.
    Note If the NAS file system is created in an Active Directory (AD) workspace and the SMB access control list (ACL) feature is enabled for the NAS file system, the NAS file system is automatically mounted as a domain user.
  • By default, the NAS file system is mounted to the /share/nas/0 directory for Linux cloud desktops. If you mount multiple NAS file systems, each NAS file system is mounted to the directory in numerically ascending order.
    Note When a NAS file system is automatically mounted to a Linux cloud desktop, the NAS file system can only be anonymously mounted. If the workspace to which the Linux cloud desktop belongs is an AD workspace and you want to enable the SMB ACL feature for a NAS file system, you must manually mount the NAS file system. For more information about specific operations, see Mount a NAS file system on a Linux cloud desktop.
If a NAS file system is created in an AD workspace and the SMB ACL feature is enabled for the NAS file system, you can add the mount target of the NAS file system to the AD domain. This way, you can authenticate user identities and perform access control on files as an AD domain user. For information about how to configure an AD domain and how to add the mount target of a NAS file system for which the SMB ACL feature is enabled to an AD domain, see Configure access control rules.
Note For Windows cloud desktops, NAS file systems can be automatically mounted by domain users. For Linux cloud desktops, NAS file systems can only be anonymously mounted. To mount NAS file systems to Linux cloud desktops as a domain user, you must manually mount the NAS file systems. For more information about specific operations, see Mount a NAS file system on a Linux cloud desktop.

Reset a mount target

A mount target is an entry point that is used by a cloud desktop to access a NAS file system. You can mount multiple cloud desktops in a workspace to the same mount target to allow shared access.

When you create a NAS file system, a mount target is automatically generated and mounted. If you do not have special requirements, you can use the default mount target. If the mount target in a workspace is deleted by mistake, you can reset the mount target. The system automatically generates and attaches a new mount target to the workspace.

Important You can reset a mount target only if the mount target is unavailable, such as when the mount target is deleted in the NAS console or the NAS file system is not in the Started state.
Procedure:
  1. On the Shared Storage NAS page, find the NAS file system whose mount target you want to reset and click Reset mount point in the Actions column.
  2. In the message that appears, click OK.

    After you reset the mount target, the system automatically generates and attaches a new mount target to the workspace. Then, the NAS file system enters the Started state.