Most of us take for granted the storage of data as a technological achievement occurring independent of our recognition and operating solely as a behind-the-scenes process. The closest laypeople come to data storage is use of their floppy drive or in configuration of network tree designations for their particular compartmentalized information. Data storage is much more than this. It is an essential component of daily recognized and unrecognized computer activities. Within various industries, myriad tasks such as telephone communications, banking and automatic teller machine (ATM) transactions, airline reservations, radio or television programming, and e-commerce depend on fast, effective data storage. Storage area networks (SANs) serve as the preeminent emergent technology of today for bringing islands of information together. As stated in previous chapters, SANs interconnect servers and storage devices at high speeds called gigabits. Speedy connection times minimize the need for backup servers. Speedy connections improve interoperability, data management, and security. SANs eliminate network gridlock and are scaled to fit organizational needs. How do legacy systems interact in the SAN methodology, you may ask?

Within the last 10 years, the Internet has grown from thousands of users to millions (53.5 million in 2001). This increase, coupled with an increase in the amount of data generated by users and organizations, has resulted in information aggrandization. Statistics confirm that within the last 5 years, the growth of data storage has quadrupled. Businesses store approximately 50 times the amount of data now as they did 10 years ago. Data storage...