SAN Storage Basics

A storage attached network (SAN) is defined as a group of storage devices that are connected to their own network. These storage devices have the ability to communicate with each other, and can manage data backups without the need for a computer. SAN systems, however, are too expensive for home networks, and are typically used only by large corporations.

Design

Storage area networks are designed to have several storage devices connected in a high-speed network. This usually means that they are connected by fibre channel technology, which is analogous to ethernet technology except that it's much faster. The storage devices communicate with each other, which means they do not need to be controlled by a dedicated computer.

Advantages

SANs are modular in nature, which means that they can be expanded by adding more storage devices. This makes it easy to not only increase its storage capacity but also its ability to deal with individual hard drive failures. SANs can also manage backup processes without the intervention of a computer. All of this is done on the SAN private network and these tasks do not consume the company's network resources. Finally, a SAN allows for all data to be centrally managed.

Disadvantages

SAN systems are too expensive for home users. The high costs are mainly the result of the need to install a high speed network such as fibre channel, as well as the need to install special peripheral cards inside of computers that may access the SAN. Because of the use of fibre channel, SAN systems cannot be located further than 10 miles from the computers using them. This can make SANs more vulnerable to disasters if their network is located in a high-risk zone.