Part VIII: Storage Area Network and SAN Protocols

Description Storage Area Network (SAN) is a high-speed network or subnetwork whose primary purpose is to transfer data between computer and storage systems. A storage device is a machine that contains nothing but a disk or disks for storing data. A SAN consists of a communication infrastructure, which provides physical connections; and a management layer, which organizes the connections, storage elements, and computer systems so that data transfer is secure and robust.

Typically, a storage area network is part of the overall network of computing resources for an enterprise. A storage area network is usually clustered in close proximity to other computing resources but may also extend to remote locations for backup and archival storage. SANs support disk mirroring, backup and restore, archival and retrieval of archived data, data migration from one storage device to another, and the sharing of data among different servers in a network. SANs can incorporate subnetworks with network-attached storage (NAS) systems.

There are a few SAN technologies available in today’s implementations, such as IBM’s optical fiber ESCON which is enhanced by FICON architecture, or the newer Fibre Channel technology. High speed Ethernet is also used in the storage Area Network for connection. SCSI and iSCSI are popular technologies used in the Storage Area Network.

A typical SAN architecture is displayed as follows:

Figure 2.40. Storage Area Network Architecture

Key Protocols The key SAN protocols are listed as follows:

FCIP: Entire Fibre Channel Frame Over IP
FCP: Fibre Channel Protocol
iFCP: Internet Fibre Channel Protocol
iSCSI: Internet Small Computer System Interface
iSNS: Internet Storage Name Service
NDMP: Network Data Management Protocol
SAS: Serial Attached SCSI
SCSI: Small Computer System Interface

Related Protocols LAN, WAN, TCP/IP

Sponsor Source Storage Area Network protocols are defined by IETF, ANSI and ISO.

Reference http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/SG245470.html Storage Area Network