SAN storage network: understand how it works

Introduced in the early 2000s, the SAN storage network was limited to large organizations and market players. Today, however, with the drop in the cost of storage devices, SANs are becoming popular and being adopted by an increasing number of companies, of all sizes and sectors.

In the following article, you will learn more about what a SAN is, how it works and all the benefits it can bring to your business. In addition, you can also check a brief comparison with NAS networks. Follow and find out!

A little about the SAN storage network

The SAN storage network, acronym for Storage Area Network, or, in Portuguese, Storage Area Network, is a dedicated, high-speed storage network that interconnects and makes available pools of storage devices to one or more servers.

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Through it, it is possible to take the storage from the common users network (LAN) and organize it in an independent high performance network. It is also possible to have access to a much more efficient, faster and scalable storage system that provides the business with everything it needs when it comes to managing its data.

In addition, a SAN simplifies information lifecycle management and plays a critical role in providing a consistent and secure data transfer infrastructure.

How a SAN Storage Network Works

A SAN storage network is quite complex and involves the use of many different devices. As a building block, it has several common hard drives that are connected to a controller unit. This, in turn, is connected to a server that distributes the information to clients through a dedicated interface.

Although it varies from structure to structure, the basic components of a SAN are storage units, or storage racks; cables, switches and one or more servers. Some companies choose to use more than one switch and server to ensure redundancy. So, if one of the components fails, the other can keep the system running.

As a network protocol, SANs generally use Fiber Channel(FC) and iSCSI(Internet Small Computer Systems Interface) . Both are good choices, but they have differences in the performance of their functions.

FC is made up of a set of protocols, technologies, services and even dedicated hardware. Being the main and most used in SAN storage networks, it can provide up to 16 Gbps of transfer.

iSCSI is a low-cost, low-performance alternative to Fiber Channel, making it a great option for smaller companies. It works with Ethernet switches and physical connections in place of dedicated hardware, being able to deliver more than 10 Gaps.

In addition to these, there are other protocol options available and it is up to the business to evaluate each alternative to decide which one to implement.

The differences between SAN and NAS storage

Both SAN and NAS are network storage solutions and may even look like the same thing. And, in fact, both can even work the same way in certain situations. However, these are completely different technologies.

NAS, or Network Attached Storage, is basically a network of servers connected to a set of disks with ample storage capacity. It, in addition to having its own operating system, works as a file server connected directly to the network; this being one of the main differences to the SAN storage network.

Among the other differences are:

  • The type of protocol used : while the SAN uses Fiber Channel or iSCSI, the NAS is connected to the network through a standard Ethernet connection;

 

  • Storage model: SAN stores data at block level and NAS accesses data as files;

 

  • Interface: a NAS appears to a client OS as a file server, while a SAN appears as a disk and exists as its own separate network of storage devices;

 

  • Complexity: A SAN storage network is much more complex than a NAS. To give you an idea, there are extremely simple NAS devices that cost less than a USB drawer.

 

The benefits of SAN storage network

A SAN storage network can provide a number of benefits and advantages to the business that decides to implement it. Among them are: high performance, availability, reliability and scalability.

Then, to finish, you briefly check each one of them and how they positively affect your company. Keep following and find out!

High performance:

Both Fiber Channel and iSCSI, as well as other protocols used in SAN storage networks, can offer very high performance. To give you an idea, the transfer rate in the most modern SANs already easily exceeds 10Gbps.

Also, depending on the disk array (RAID) , performance on a SAN can be even higher. Because the gain in data reading and writing speed can be huge depending on the arrangement used.

Thus, the company gains a lot in agility and manages to manage its data in a much faster and simpler way. The work of employees is also positively affected and the whole business benefits.

High availability and reliability:

A SAN storage network offers several ways to increase data availability. Alternatives such as redundant access paths and real-time data mirroring can guarantee access to data and applications even in the event of a serious failure in one of the disks, servers or switches.

As a result, all company data, files, information and applications are always available and protected. Which brings more security, productivity and confidence.

Scalability:

Finally, one of the biggest advantages of the SAN storage network: its enormous scalability. Unlike other networked storage solutions, storage capacity on SANs is virtually unlimited.

That’s because you can add more storage devices, racks, and switches as needed. Therefore, the business can expand its storage structure according to demand. And that, without the need to shut down the system.

 

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