What is SAN?

[PATRICIAF5]

Hi!
I want to know that what is SAN? Can you please help me with your comments?

[debasri]

SAN is stands for Storage Area Networks, which also include iSCSI, are unlimited to shared files. This technology, which is also known as IPSAN or Storage over IP for storage networks, specially how direct storage protocols can be operated natively through IP. The procedure encapsulates SCSI data into TCP/IP packets and transports them through IP networks. An SCSI router transports the encapsulated SCSI commands to the corresponding target system on the basis of existing mapping tables. So iSCSI allow to access the storage network through a virtual end-to-end connection without having to set up separate storage devices.

[Diana]

A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a high-speed sub-network of shared storage devices. A storage device is a machine that contains nothing but a disk or disks for storing data.

[PATRICIAF5]

Thank you debasri.

Can anyone explain that What are the difference between SAN and NAS?

[WebMaster]

1. Technology used in NAS and SAN:
Most SAN systems Utilize the iSCI or the Fibre Channel technologies which basically send SCSI commands and transfer SCSI packets one at a time. SAN utilizing iSCI are the most popular these days and iSCI uses the IP to transfer data
NAS utilize file based protocols such as NFS and Microsoft's CIFS.

2. Cost considerations using NAS and SAN:
NAS systems are generally much cheaper than SANs
NAS basically provide such a low cost of ownership compared to SAN that IT departments of large organizations are beginning to wonder whether SANs are really an overkill.

[77wmaster]

There is one more difference.
Target market of NAS and SAN: NAS systems are normally found in SME storage environments while SANs are generally found in large corporates and large corporate departments