Skip to Main Content
Networking Bible
book

Networking Bible

by Barrie Sosinsky
September 2009
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
912 pages
25h 20m
English
Wiley
Content preview from Networking Bible

Chapter 15. Storage Networking

IN THIS CHAPTER

  • The need for storage networks

  • Different types of SANs

  • Models for shared network storage

  • Storage devices and services

  • Fibre Channel storage networks

  • Storage over IP technologies

Storage networks use a collection of technologies that share storage assets on the network. Storage I/O can represent a very large amount of data traffic, so there is a strong incentive to isolate storage traffic on its own dedicated network. This has led to the development of Storage Area Networks (SANs). Hubs, switches, routers, servers, disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes are among the many devices that you will find on a SAN. Storage network topologies can be direct attached, point-to-point, arbitrated loops, and fabrics.

A model is described that categorizes the architecture of shared network storage. This model naturally separates storage servers into block-oriented or file-oriented solutions. The model is extended for tape devices, and it will be shown how different network backups can be accommodated by the model, and how devices would be configured for these different scenarios.

The concepts behind separating physical disks from logical addresses are described. This separation allows storage to be easily virtualized. Aggregation is used to reassemble the data stored on disk into files and information that applications can use.

Fibre Channel is the dominant media connection technology used to create SANs. The Fibre Channel protocol, architecture, ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Fundamentals of Communications and Networking, 3rd Edition

Fundamentals of Communications and Networking, 3rd Edition

Michael G. Solomon, David Kim

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780470431313