The document discusses enabling standard file-based applications and SQL tools to access data stored in Hadoop. It describes how the MapR distribution for Hadoop supports the NFS protocol, allowing applications expecting file system interfaces like NFS to read and write data directly from Hadoop. It also explains how MapR implements scalable and highly available NFS access through multiple NFS gateways with load balancing and high availability features. This allows existing applications and tools to leverage data in Hadoop without requiring changes to use native Hadoop APIs.