STORAGE AREA NETWORK (SAN)

A SAN is a specialized, high-speed network attaching SERVERS and STORAGE DEVICES. A SAN allows “any-to-any” connection across the network, using interconnects elements such as routers, gateways, hubs, SWITCHES and DIRECTORS.

It eliminates the traditional dedicated connection between a server and storage, and the concept that the server effectively “owns and manages” the storage devices. It also eliminates any restriction to the amount of data that a server can access, currently limited by the number of storage devices attached to the individual server.

Instead, a SAN introduces the flexibility of networking to enable one server or many heterogeneous servers to share a common storage utility, which may comprise many storage devices, including disk, tape, and optical storage. Additionally, the storage utility may be located far from the servers that use it.

It can be local, or can be extended over geographical distances. SANs create new methods of attaching storage to servers. These new methods can enable great improvements in both availability and performance.

Today’s SANs are used to connect shared storage arrays and tape libraries to multiple servers, are used by clustered servers for failover and are used to bypass traditional network bottlenecks. It facilitates direct, high-speed data transfers between servers and storage devices.