SAN Storage

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Rack mounted storage server hard drives

SAN, or Storage Area Network, is a dedicated high-speed network that connects and manages shared storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes, to multiple servers. SANs are designed to provide centralized and consolidated storage resources that can be accessed by servers in a data center or enterprise environment.

Here are some key characteristics and components of SAN storage:

SAN Storage

  1. Dedicated Network: SANs typically use a separate network infrastructure, such as Fibre Channel (FC), Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), or iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface), to connect storage devices to servers. This separation ensures high-speed and efficient data transfer between the storage and servers without interference from regular LAN traffic.

  2. Block-Level Access: Unlike Network Attached Storage (NAS), which provides file-level access, SANs offer block-level access to data. This means that SAN storage is presented to servers as raw blocks of data, and the servers themselves are responsible for managing file systems and data structures. This block-level access is advantageous for applications that require direct access to disk blocks, such as databases.

  3. Storage Arrays: SAN storage often involves the use of storage arrays or disk enclosures, which contain multiple hard drives or SSDs. These arrays are configured for redundancy and high availability, and they can be expanded to accommodate growing storage needs.

  1. Fibre Channel and iSCSI: Fibre Channel is a high-speed, low-latency networking technology commonly used in SANs. It provides dedicated, point-to-point connections between servers and storage devices. iSCSI, on the other hand, is an IP-based protocol that allows for SAN connectivity over standard Ethernet networks, which can be more cost-effective.

  2. Storage Virtualization: SANs often incorporate storage virtualization, which abstracts the physical storage resources and presents them as logical volumes to servers. This abstraction simplifies storage management and enables features like thin provisioning and snapshotting.

  3. Redundancy and High Availability: SANs are designed for reliability and availability. They often include features like redundant paths and failover capabilities to ensure uninterrupted access to data even in the event of hardware failures.