Which protocol is primarily used for communication between hosts and Network Attached Storage (NAS)?

Network Attached Storage (NAS) primarily utilizes the Network File System (NFS) protocol for communication between hosts and the storage device. NFS is a distributed file system protocol that allows users to access files over a network in a manner similar to accessing local storage. This capability makes it especially suitable for environments where many users and applications need to share files seamlessly.

NFS works by enabling clients to mount remote file systems, facilitating file access and management across different systems. It supports various operating systems and encourages collaboration among users by providing a unified way to access files, which is a fundamental characteristic of NAS solutions.

While other protocols listed, such as CIFS, also serve for file sharing purposes, NFS is particularly designed for Unix-like systems and is often associated with NAS, making it the most prominent choice for this type of storage communication. SAS, being a point-to-point connection for storage devices, does not pertain specifically to NAS communication as it is more relevant to direct-attached storage. iSCSI, on the other hand, is used for block-level storage access over IP networks, making it less suitable for NAS, which primarily deals with file-level access.