QuickSpecs

4
SAN components
Servers
Multiple servers, from different vendors, running different
operating systems can all be connected to a SAN.
Servers with a fibre channel SAN connection require
a special FC card called a host bus adapter (HBA) in
each connected server. In an IP SAN, you can use a
standard Ethernet NIC.
Benefit of a SAN:
Allows multiple servers to share storage for greater
efficiency and increased availability.
SAN infrastructure
The SAN infrastructure (also called “fabric”) comprises the
hardware, cabling and software components that enable
data to move into and within the SAN. Principally, these
are network cards (fibre channel HBAs or Ethernet NICs)
and switches.
Switches can detect failed or congested connections
and intelligently reroute data to the appropriate device.
When linked together (cascaded), they increase the
number of available SAN connections—providing greater
performance and resilience against individual connection
failures. You can choose a single connection or a dual,
redundant connection that performs a failover should one
connection break.
Benefit of a SAN:
Creates a high-performance, resilient infrastructure that
can easily be modified as your needs change.
Disk storage
A disk array can be seen as a centralized storage pool
for servers. Data from multiple servers is stored in
dedicated areas called logical unit number (LUNs),
and can be protected against data loss in the event of
multiple disk failures using RAID protection. Redundant
array controllers assures that servers can access their
data, even if one controller or network connection fails.
In addition, the modular design of disk storage allows
you to grow capacity as you require.
Benefit of a SAN:
Provides increased availability and capacity utilization,
plus simplified management, by consolidating data in a
disk array.
SAN components
A-E
Multiple servers
Storage capacity
Ethernet LAN network
SAN: FC or IP
(Ethernet) network
SAN management software
Consolidate
Server Storage
into Storage
Array
Disk storage Tape storage
A B C
D
E
SAN Infrastructure