Introduction To Storage Area Networks

The superabundance of data that is created by today's businesses is making storage a strategic investment priority for companies of all sizes. As storage takes precedence, the following major initiatives emerge: Flatten and converge your network: IBM® takes an open, standards-based approach to implement the latest advances in the flat, converged data center network designs of today. IBM Storage solutions enable clients to deploy a high-speed, low-latency Unified Fabric Architecture. Optimize and automate virtualization: Advanced virtualization awareness reduces the cost and complexity of deploying physical and virtual data center infrastructure. Simplify management: IBM data center networks are easy to deploy, maintain, scale, and virtualize, delivering the foundation of consolidated operations for dynamic infrastructure management. Storage is no longer an afterthought. Too much is at stake. Companies are searching for more ways to efficiently manage expanding volumes of data, and to make that data accessible throughout the enterprise. This demand is propelling the move of storage into the network. Also, the increasing complexity of managing large numbers of storage devices and vast amounts of data is driving greater business value into software and services. With current estimates of the amount of data to be managed and made available increasing at 60% each year, this outlook is where a storage area network (SAN) enters the arena. SANs are the leading storage infrastructure for the global economy of today. SANs offer simplified storage management, scalability, flexibility, and availability; and improved data access, movement, and backup. Welcome to the cognitive era. The smarter data center with the improved economics of IT can be achieved by connecting servers and storage with a high-speed and intelligent network fabric. A smarter data center that hosts IBM Storage solutions can provide an environment that is smarter, faster, greener, open, and easy to manage. This IBM® Redbooks® publication provides an introduction to SAN and Ethernet networking, and how these networks help to achieve a smarter data center. This book is intended for people who are not very familiar with IT, or who are just starting out in the IT world.

If you’ve been charged with setting up storage area networks for your company, learning how SANs work and managing data storage problems might seem challenging. Storage Area Networks For Dummies, 2nd Edition comes to the rescue with just what you need to know. Whether you already a bit SAN savvy or you’re a complete novice, here’s the scoop on how SANs save money, how to implement new technologies like data de-duplication, iScsi, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet, how to develop SANs that will aid your company’s disaster recovery plan, and much more. For example, you can: Understand what SANs are, whether you need one, and what you need to build one Learn to use loops, switches, and fabric, and design your SAN for peak performance Create a disaster recovery plan with the appropriate guidelines, remote site, and data copy techniques Discover how to connect or extend SANs and how compression can reduce costs Compare tape and disk backups and network vs. SAN backup to choose the solution you need Find out how data de-duplication makes sense for backup, replication, and retention Follow great troubleshooting tips to help you find and fix a problem Benefit from a glossary of all those pesky acronyms From the basics for beginners to advanced features like snapshot copies, storage virtualization, and heading off problems before they happen, here’s what you need to do the job with confidence!

"Storage Networks Explained has much to recommend it.... a rarity in the literature of digital data storage – a complete exposition of both the base subject matter and its applications, which at the same time offers a level of readability making it suitable as an introduction to the subject. Storage Networks Explained is also flexible. It can be read cover-to-cover, browsed, or used as a reference. I recommend Storage Networks Explained as an essential component of any active information technology library." —Paul Massiglia, Technical Director, VERITAS Software Corporation Storage networks will become a basic technology like databases or local area networks. According to market research, 70% of external storage devices will be connected via storage networks in 2003. The authors have hands-on experience of network storage hardware and software, they teach customers about concrete network storage products, they understand the concepts behind storage networks, and show customers how storage networks address their business needs. Storage networks provide shared access to stored data from multiple computers and servers, thus increasing storage efficiency and availability. They permit information management functions such as backup and recovery, data mirroring, disaster recovery, and data migration to be performed quickly and efficiently, with a minimum of system overhead. This book explains how to use storage networks to fix malfunctioning business processes, covering the technologies as well as applications. A hot topic that will become increasingly important in the coming years. One of the first books to focus on using rather than building storage networks, and how to solve problems. Looking beyond technology and showing the true benefits of storage networks. Covers fibre channel SAN, Network Attached Storage, iSCSI and InfiniBand technologies. Contains several case studies (e.g. the example of a travel portal, protecting a critical database) Endorsed by the Storage Networking Industry Association. Written by very experienced professionals who tailored the book specifically to meet customer needs including support with supplementry material on Troppens website and Preface written by Tony Clark. Provides basic application information key for systems administrators, database administrators and managers who need to know about the networking aspects of their systems. As well as systems architects, network managers, information management directors and decision makers. This book also supports applications for graduate students and other relevant courses in the field. Awarded Best System Administration Book 2005 by the Linux Journal

Storage Area Network Fundamentals looks at the various areas and technologies associated with SANs, the available SAN technology, its limitations, expenditures and ways to minimize them, and the forthcoming technology, so that organizations can deploy real operational storage in data centers without further delay. Designed as an introduction to SANs, Storage Area Network Fundamentals develops an understanding of SAN basics and how to plan, implement, and manage a storage area network. The book covers the different topologies, protocols, and products required to implement and manage efficient SANs, as well as questions to test the knowledge imparted to the reader.

Evaluating, planning, and migrating to SAN storage architectures SAN concepts, components, and applications--in depth Management, backup, disaster recovery, and day-to-day administration Includes an overview of Fibre Channel, the SAN enabler The complete guide to SAN technology for every implementer and manager! Every month, enterprises require more information, delivered faster, with greater reliability--and traditional data storage methods no longer suffice. Enter the Storage Area Network (SAN), which can store enormous amounts of data, serve it at lightning speed, scale to meet accelerating growth, and deliver unprecedented reliability. Now, there's a complete guide to SAN technology for every IT professional and decision-maker. Storage Area Networks covers it all: key concepts, components, applications, implementation examples, management, and much more. Coverage includes: What SANs are, what they can do, and how they overcome the critical limitations of earlier data storage systems Evolving to SANs: best practices for building SANs from your legacy storage topologies An overview of Fibre Channel, the key enabling technology for SANs SAN configuration, device, and connectivity options--in depth Well-managed SANs: day-to-day administration, backup, restore, and disaster recovery A detailed review of Hewlett-Packard's market-leading SAN product line: Fibre Channel chips, host bus adapters, hubs, arrays, tape libraries, bridges, switches, and more Storage Area Networks also previews the future of SAN technology: policy-based SANs, emerging applications, and more.Whether you're considering a SAN for the first time, or you want a comprehensive management reference for the SAN you've already invested in, this book offers the insights, techniques, and guidance you need right now.

The inside scoop on a leading-edge data storage technology The rapid growth of e-commerce and the need to have all kinds ofapplications operating at top speed at the same time, all on a 24/7basis while connected to the Internet, is overwhelming traditionaldata storage methods. The solution? Storage Area Networks(SANs)--the data communications technology that's expected torevolutionize distributed computing. Written by top technologyexperts at VERITAS Software Global Corporation, this book takesreaders through all facets of storage networking, explaining how aSAN can help consolidate conventional server storage onto networks,how it makes applications highly available no matter how much datais being stored, and how this in turn makes data access andmanagement faster and easier. System and network managersconsidering storage networking for their enterprises, as well asapplication developers and IT staff, will find invaluable advice onthe design and deployment of the technology and how it works.Detailed, up-to-date coverage includes: The evolution of the technology and what is expected fromSANs Killer applications for SANs Full coverage of storage networking and what it means for theenterprise's information processing architecture Individual chapters devoted to the storage, network, andsoftware components of storage networking Issues for implementation and adoption

IP SANS is a technical overview of the new IP-based storage area network solutions for the explosive growth in data storage requirements faced by today's modern businesses.