What Is Difference Between San And Nas

By Author: Ted Starsky
Total Articles: 11
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Storage Area Network (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) are two technologies for network storage. They are used for data storage and have similar advantages, in that they offer improved standards, better capacity and protection of data storage systems. They also enable data sharing between various storage devices which are in distant locations such as disks, tape libraries and virtualized devices. However, they differ from each other substantially. The medium which is typically used in transmitting the data to and from the devices in NAS is the network TCP/IP protocol. On the other hand in SAN the SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)and Fibre Channels are used to transport the data. In Network Attached Storage the data is accessed via file system, whereas Storage Area Network uses individual disk blocks level access. Storage Area Network provides advanced virtualization software. Storage functions can be assigned flexibly to different servers. It can also be equipped with software which enables customization when storage hardware ...
... is upgraded. SAN optimizes usage and management of storage offering best capability and high availability. Here you can get more information about the Storage software technology.



The difference between SAN and NAS is also found in their overall cost for the target user. NAS is definitely more cost-effective. This is also why it is preferred in home use and in smaller businesses. SAN technology involves more investment but it also means more storage capacity. The SAN environment is more efficient than NAS when the files are larger and reading/writing operations are sequential. For example, when a substantial copy of the whole data base is created. Despite the differences in the two systems, it is possible to create a system which will consist of both SAN and NAS systems. It is called a SAN-NAS hybrid. There are many producers such as Amdahl, Network Appliance, Cisco, Foundry, Veritas, and Legato who are working to combine the best of NAS and SAN solutions into one coherent data management solution.