SAN Server
A storage area network is typically assembled using three principle components: cabling, host bus adapters (HBAs), and switches attached to storage arrays and servers. Each switch and storage system on the SAN must be interconnected, and the physical interconnections must support bandwidth levels that can adequately handle peak data activities. IT administrators manage storage area networks centrally.
The Architecture and Benefits of SANs
A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated high-speed network or subnetwork that interconnects and presents shared pools of storage devices to multiple servers.
A SAN moves storage resources off the common user network and reorganizes them into an independent, high-performance network. This enables each server to access shared storage as if it were a drive directly attached to the server. When a host wants to access a storage device on the SAN, it sends out a block-based access request for the storage device.
The Future of Software-Defined Storage
Server SAN is software-led storage built on commodity x86 servers with directly attached storage (DAS). It is designed to pool storage resources, consisting of more than one DAS, from multiple separate servers. Server SAN leverages standardized/commodity hardware (including hyper-converged appliances) and enables organizations to run applications on the same server as compute and storage.
Server SAN architectures are an alternative to traditional SAN architectures for Service Providers and Enterprises looking to adopt software-defined storage infrastructures that are extremely scalable, flexible, cost effective and simple to manage. It is a server-based design, but it has storage in it and, by design, should be very simple and extremely scalable.