Components of a Storage Area Network (SAN)

File Server

Multiple servers, from different vendors, on different operating systems can all be connected to a Storage Area Network (SAN). Unlike DAS (Direct Attached Storage), all servers connected to the Storage Area Network (SAN) can share all of the storage available, which reduces the overall cost per megabyte for your business.

Storage Area Network Fabric

The Storage Area Network (SAN) Fabric is effectively the SAN network that connects the servers to the storage. The Storage Area Network (SAN) Fabric is made up of 2Gb fibre channel switches (supplied by multiple vendors including CISCO, Brocade and IBM) which manage the connectivity from the servers HBA (Host Bus Adaptor) to the Storage Area Network (SAN) storage.

Host Bus Adaptors (HBA's)

PCI adaptor connects a server to the SAN fabric. Each HBA installed is referred to as a host. Two HBA's can be installed into each server for additional resilience.

Fibre Cabling

High speed fibre optic cabling used to interconnect between servers, storage and tape backup devices.

Tape library

Linking a tape library into the Storage Area Network (SAN) Fabric provides a fast and reliable solution to backup critical data. Data stored on the Storage Area Network (SAN) is transferred directly to the tape library, using "serverless" technology. This reduces the load on each server and ensures data is backed up within the time window available.

Management Software

The software enables individual components to be configured and optimised for performance. It monitors network for bottlenecks enabling IT Managers to preempt problems and adjust accordingly