
Chapter 9: Emerging Technologies
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the company LAN and WAN to ensure consistently high performance on both
networks.
Figure 9-4 Storage Area Network (SAN)
The technology that provides connectivity between servers and storage
devices attached to a SAN is currently based on Fibre Channel switches and
storage protocols. Fibre Channel was developed by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) to support high-speed data transfer rates (currently up
to 2 gigabits per second [Gbps]).
Although Fibre Channel is high-performance, it also is high-cost. It might be
affordable to large enterprises, but it can strain the IT budgets of most small
businesses ...