Shared resource

In <a href="/facts/Computing/Kghtm9fX">computing</a>, a shared resource, or network share, is a <a href="/facts/System_resource/bX958SEx">computer resource</a> made available from one <a href="/facts/Host_(network)/HPNcFXHk">host</a> to other hosts on a <a href="/facts/Computer_network/3w5RM99p">computer network</a>. It is a device or piece of information on a computer that can be remotely accessed from another computer transparently as if it were a resource in the local machine. Network sharing is made possible by <a href="/facts/Inter-process_communication/cIQYyT6y">inter-process communication</a> over the network.
Some examples of shareable resources are <a href="/facts/Computer_program/e38jH9N9">computer programs</a>, <a href="/facts/Data_(computing)/cPjfFHph">data</a>, <a href="/facts/Data_storage_device/uCvJ6nrq">storage devices</a>, and <a href="/facts/Printer_(computing)/PnDF2QuF">printers</a>. E.g. shared file access (also known as disk sharing and folder sharing), shared printer access, shared scanner access, etc. The shared resource is called a shared disk, shared folder or shared document
The term <a href="/facts/File_sharing/7GISy0GJ">file sharing</a> traditionally means shared file access, especially in the context of operating systems and <a href="/facts/Local_area_network/edUDxJ6J">LAN</a> and <a href="/facts/Intranet/0KfpheJH">Intranet</a> services, for example in Microsoft Windows documentation. Though, as <a href="/facts/BitTorrent_(protocol)/HP9ChWWW">BitTorrent</a> and similar applications became available in the early 2000s, the term file sharing increasingly has become associated with <a href="/facts/Peer-to-peer_file_sharing/em1qEY3C">peer-to-peer file sharing</a> over the Internet.

Shared resource open-in-new

Shared resource