What is a storage area network (SAN)? A SAN is a high-speed dedicated network that is not unlike a local area network (LAN). A SAN establishes direct connections between storage elements, clients, or servers. SANs are developed through the use of multiple storage devices (such as a redundant array of independent disks [RAID], just a bunch of disks [JBODs], or tape libraries) that are connected in an any-to-any relationship and accessed via one or more servers. In plain English, SAN systems do not require server connections; they are LAN-free backup systems. They do not need to be housed in the same box as servers, nor are they required to be from the same manufacturing companies as servers. Rather than putting data storage directly on the network, the SAN solution puts data storage network devices between storage subsystems and the servers. SANs can be built as switched- and/or shared-access networks. They offer exceptional improvements in scalability, fault recovery, and diagnostic analysis information.

Why is data storage such an important issue? Well, it is estimated that 3.2 million exabytes of information exist on the earth today, and this number exceed 43 million by the year 2005. And in case you re wondering, an exa is defined as 1 billion, so in decimal terms, one exabyte is equal to a billion gigabytes! With data, or information, constituting such a large measurement, it is no surprise that data storage has become an issue of major importance for modern...