A storage area network (SAN) is a network which provides access to consolidated, block level data storage.

About the SAN

SANs are primarily used to enhance storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries.

A storage-area network (SAN) is a dedicated high-speed network (or subnetwork) that interconnects and presents shared pools of storage devices to multiple servers.

SAN solutions

SAN solutions are available as two types:

1. Fiber Channel (FC):

Storage and servers are connected via a high-speed network of interconnected fiber channel switches.

This is used for mission-critical applications where uninterrupted data access is required.

2. Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) Protocol:

This infrastructure gives the flexibility of a low-cost IP network.

Both provide advantages based on business requirements.

Advantages of SAN

1. Storage Virtualization: Server capacity is no longer linked to single storage devices, as large and consolidated storage pools

2. High-Speed Disk Technologies: An example is FC, which offers data retrieval speeds that exceed 5 Gbps.

3. Centralized Backup: Servers view stored data on local disks, rather than multiple disk and server connections

4. Dynamic Failover Protection: Provides continuous network operation, even if a server fails or goes offline for maintenance.