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.

Unlike networking technology, where there is already a great deal of literature available, many professionals still need to understand the basic building blocks of storage networking. This book provides vendor-neutral, independent analysis and terminology.

The inside scoop on a leading-edge data storage technology The rapid growth of e-commerce and the need to have all kinds of applications operating at top speed at the same time, all on a 24/7 basis while connected to the Internet, is overwhelming traditional data storage methods. The solution? Storage Area Networks (SANs)--the data communications technology that's expected to revolutionize distributed computing. Written by top technology experts at VERITAS Software Global Corporation, this book takes readers through all facets of storage networking, explaining how a SAN can help consolidate conventional server storage onto networks, how it makes applications highly available no matter how much data is being stored, and how this in turn makes data access and management faster and easier. System and network managers considering storage networking for their enterprises, as well as application developers and IT staff, will find invaluable advice on the 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 from SANs Killer applications for SANs Full coverage of storage networking and what it means for the enterprise's information processing architecture Individual chapters devoted to the storage, network, and software components of storage networking Issues for implementation and adoption

A comparative analysis of Ethernet, TCP/IP, and Fibre Channel in the context of SCSI Introduces network administrators to the requirements of storage protocols Explains the operation of network protocols to storage administrators Compares and contrasts the functionality of Ethernet, TCP/IP, and Fibre Channel Documents the details of the major protocol suites, explains how they operate, and identifies common misunderstandings References the original standards and specifications so you can get a complete understanding of each protocol Helps you understand the implications of network design choices Discusses advanced network functionality such as QoS, security, management, and protocol analysis Corporations increasingly depend on computer and communication technologies to remain competitive in the global economy. Customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, and e-mail are a few of the many applications that generate new data every day. Effectively storing, managing, and accessing that data is a primary business challenge in the information age. Storage networking is a crucial component of the solution to meet that challenge. Written for both storage administrators who need to learn more about networking and network administrators who need to learn more about storage, Storage Networking Protocol Fundamentals is a concise introduction to storage networking protocols. The book picks up where Storage Networking Fundamentals left off by focusing on the networking protocols that underlie modern open systems: block-oriented storage networks. The first part of the book introduces you to the field of storage networking and the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. The second part compares networked storage technologies, including iSCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface over IP) and Fibre Channel. It also examines in detail each of the major protocol suites layer-by-layer within the OSI reference model. The third part discusses advanced functionalities of these technologies, such as quality of service (QoS), load-balancing functions, security, management, and protocol analysis. You can read this book cover to cover or use it as a reference, directly accessing the particular topics of interest to you. “Storage networking is a critical concept for today’s businesses, and this book provides a unique and helpful way to better understand it. Storage networking is also continuously evolving, and as such this book may be seen as an introduction to the information technology infrastructures of the future.” —from the foreword by Claudio DeSanti, vice-chairman of the ANSI INCITS T11 Technical Committee

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.

Annotation Enter the new era of data storage that combines database and networking technologies with this introductory comparison and practical implementation of Storage Area Networks. Multiple vendor reference: This book provides solutions and schemes from competing SAN vendors, including an appendix of available SAN products. Readers will learn to customize their own SAN solution: Authors forecast future growth of SANs in an Advanced Study of Virtual Interface. Technically accurate instruction: NIIT recently earned the National Education and Training group Excellence Award for defect-free deliveries of Learning products. Even highly experienced system or network professionals are unfamiliar with SAN functionality and terminology. This book opens with an overview of the need for data storage in an enterprise environment, the different types of data storage devices, and existing data storage techniques. The authors build on that foundation with an exploration of the evolution of SAN, the various networking models and data-centric applications, a chapter dedicated to fiber channel, and practical solutions for centralized, heterogeneous, and high-speed data storage challenges. The second half of this book delves into more practical applications of the SAN: designing, implementing, managing, and troubleshooting a SAN. The last chapter explores how SAN fits into the current Web scenario, and VI Architecture as a new system of cluster communications. Unlike competing titles, this book provides solutions for alternative SAN vendors, comparing SAN schemes for competitive products. NIIT is a global eBusiness IT Solutions Corporation that has provided over 650 Educational Multimedia Software titles and more than 10,000 hours of instructor-led training during its 16 years of training delivery. Judged the Best Training Company through an opinion poll among over 1000 CIOs, software professionals, and IT users by ComputerWorld magazine, NIIT provides classroom-based training, technology-based training, and Internet-based training.