<s>
A	O
Global	B-General_Concept
Namespace	I-General_Concept
(	O
GNS	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
heterogeneous	B-Protocol
,	O
enterprise-wide	O
abstraction	O
of	O
all	O
file	B-Operating_System
information	O
,	O
open	O
to	O
dynamic	O
customization	O
based	O
on	O
user-defined	O
parameters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
becomes	O
of	O
particular	O
importance	O
as	O
multiple	O
network	B-Application
based	I-Application
file	I-Application
systems	I-Application
proliferate	O
within	O
an	O
organization	O
—	O
the	O
challenge	O
becomes	O
one	O
of	O
effective	O
file	B-Operating_System
management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Global	B-General_Concept
Namespace	I-General_Concept
has	O
the	O
unique	O
ability	O
to	O
aggregate	O
disparate	O
and	O
remote	O
network	B-Application
based	I-Application
file	I-Application
systems	I-Application
,	O
providing	O
a	O
consolidated	O
mount	O
point	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
mounted	O
on	O
any	O
machine	O
via	O
network	O
protocols	O
and	O
it	O
can	O
greatly	O
reduce	O
complexities	O
of	O
localized	O
file	B-Operating_System
management	O
and	O
administration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
prior	O
to	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
namespace	O
consolidation	O
,	O
two	O
servers	O
exist	O
and	O
each	O
represent	O
their	O
own	O
independent	O
namespaces	O
;	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
a	O
GNS	O
,	O
an	O
organization	O
can	O
access	O
a	O
virtualized	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
namespace	O
;	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Global	B-General_Concept
Namespace	I-General_Concept
technology	O
can	O
virtualize	O
file	B-Operating_System
server	O
protocols	O
such	O
as	O
Common	B-Operating_System
Internet	I-Operating_System
File	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
(	O
CIFS	B-Operating_System
)	O
protocol	O
and	O
the	O
Network	B-Protocol
File	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
(	O
NFS	O
)	O
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
are	O
standard	O
protocols	O
used	O
by	O
all	O
servers	O
,	O
network	B-Application
attached	I-Application
storage	I-Application
(	O
NAS	B-Application
)	O
devices	O
and	O
client	O
systems	O
for	O
handling	O
file	B-Operating_System
data	O
.	O
</s>
