Networking Tips Tricks

Data Deduplication Data deduplication is a technique for reducing the amount of storage space an organization needs to save its data. In most organizations, the storage systems contain duplicate copies of many pieces of data. For example, the same file may be saved in several different places by different users, or two or more files that aren't identical may still include much of the same data. Deduplication eliminates these extra copies by saving just one copy of the data and replacing the other copies with pointers that lead back to the original copy. Companies frequently use deduplication in backup and disaster recovery applications, but it can be used to free up space in primary storage as well. In its simplest form, deduplication takes place on the file level; that is, it eliminates duplicate copies of the same file. This kind of deduplication is sometimes called file-level deduplication or single instance storage (SIS). Deduplication can also take place on the block level,...

IP storage is a term for approaches to using the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in a storage area network, usually over Gigabit Ethernet. IP storage is an alternative to the Fibre Channel framework of the traditional SAN. IP storage can extend the data storage capacity of a network indefinetly. Common Abbreviations SAN stands for Storage Area Network. IP stands for Internet Protocol. FC often stands for Fibre Channel. Definitions Storage networking is a system within which various remote storage devices are combined in such a way so that they appear attached to a local operating system. Internet Protocol (also known as TCP/IP) is a protocol for transmitting data over packet-switched internetworks. Fibre Channel is a giga-bit speed network technology used for storage networking. Fibre Channel Fibre Channel SANs use protocols to carry FC frames within IP packets or convert these frames to packets (iFCP) to ride over IP. On the other hand, non-Fibre Channel SANs such as IP storage us...

A SAN (storage area network) is an operational network that contains storage devices/elements as its nodes and end points. It is an architecture that contains multiple storage devices and disk arrays interconnected with each other and is connected to a remote data-sharing network (like LAN or WAN). It is through this data-sharing network that information is interactively stored in and retrieved from the storage area network. Function The concept of a SAN is to create a logically local but geographically separated pool of storage devices to simultaneously store and retrieve huge amounts of data from multiple locations at high speeds. To achieve this concept, the framework of a SAN is designed as an extremely high-speed network, which not only is dedicated to store and retrieve data but is interactive and controllable in nature as well. Architecture The architecture of a SAN is very simple: It normally contains a set of high-capacity storage devices interconnected to each other with the ...

As businesses and technology have grown, databases have increased tremendously. To combat the increase in size, new storage systems and architectures have grown in popularity. The storage area network (SAN) allows a company to keep a central data center with the ease of local drives. Description A storage area network (SAN) is a system designed to facilitate the transfer of data between clients and storage. The SAN portrays storage devices as local devices, allowing for a central storage location amongst many clients, including those that are long distance. Advantages & Disadvantages A SAN relies directly on the storage facility, the network accessing it, and the end client. Because of this, performance depends on the performance of each of these parts. If a network does not have sufficient speed to transfer the data, system access can be slow. In terms of scalability, storage data centers can be added on to near endlessly, providing adequate storage for any potential system or pro...

A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a dedicated network for storage devices. A SAN allows servers and client PCs to access a large amount of data while utilizing minimal system resources. Storage Area Networks let users access quickly data from remote locations. Indirect Access to Data Prior to the development of SAN technology, each server would act as a storage device and would "own" its data. With a SAN in place, data can be stored independently of the server. A SAN allows storage devices to have their own network segment. Scalable Any number of storage devices can be attached to a SAN; therefore, the potential storage capacity of the network is nearly unlimited. The capacity of a SAN is nearly unlimited. Optimized Network Traffic By placing storage devices on their own network, requests for storage data can be segmented away from other network traffic. This is particularly desirable when performing backups or restores. Confining storage traffic to the SAN frees up bandwidth o...

Network attached storage (NAS) and storage area network (SAN) are systems that expand storage capacity on a network. They achieve this goal in different ways. How They Connect NAS devices are connected to a local area network (LAN) through the network router or a network switch. Typically, ethernet cables are used for the connection in the same way that computers on the network are connected. SAN devices connect to a number of servers using fibre channel. Most SAN systems use the small computer system interface protocol. An add-on card must be installed in each computer that will be connected to a SAN device. How They Are Seen Any computer on the network can see a connected NAS device, and each computer recognizes it as a shared, external storage drive. Because the NAS system hides machine-dependent, low-level data management, files on a NAS device can be shared with most operating systems simultaneously. A SAN is seen by a connected server as a local drive. Since th...

SAN (storage area network) storage is a type of computer data storage system designed specifically for use with large networks where many people need to access or update information. SAN storage networks are made of many different storage devices that are all interconnected with each other via special switches. This allows SAN networks to be very flexible, letting them back up data without taking up server bandwidth and continue functioning even when part of the network fails. Definition A SAN storage network is a type of data network used to store large amounts of information for Internet servers. A SAN network consists of multiple storage devices, which means there is more than one device with a hard drive used to hold data, and although the devices communicate and can be located in the same place, they are separate from each other. SAN networks can be made of only two storage devices or have many more, depending on usage. Features The main feature of a SAN network...